I had to pinch myself before I could believe it - that a large, US-based employer is actually increasing health care benefits to their employees! Bank of America did the unthinkable, according to this post.

That seems like such an out-of-ordinary thing these days. The cost of health care has been steadily increasing over the years, and most employers have been either cutting down on benefits, or shifting more of the cost to employees, or both! But Bank of America did the exact opposite now, apparently by consolidating most of their health plans with one insurance provider (Aetna), there by passing the cost savings to their employees as additional benefits.

Here’re some of the goodies available to Bank of America’s employees from next year:

- $600 to $1200 in additional health care account contributions by the bank for employees making less than $100,000 a year
- Increased duration of maternity/paternity leave
- Additional money for childcare
- Additional tuition reimbursements

Could other employers, especially the larger ones, do the same?? Is it as simple as consolidating under a single provider or is there more to it? And what happens if that one provider wants to raise the costs, perhaps unreasonably, later on?