Employers aren’t expecting to make too many changes to health care plans in 2012 according to a new survey by Towers Watson. However, employer health care costs will still increase by about 5.9%. Most employers agree they’ll have to do something to control costs. The study also shows that nearly half of employers have a lot of thinking to do when it comes to health care strategy and many aren’t sure how they’ll respond to state-based insurance Exchanges in 2014.

Roughly half of those surveyed say they’re expecting health care reform to move forward as planned, but their unsure about other areas. “With so much still unknown regarding both the short- and long-term impact of health care reform, most employers will not make wholesale changes to employer-sponsored health plans in 2012,” said Ron Fontanetta, senior health care consulting leader at Towers Watson in a news release. “However, a small group of employers is driving more fundamental change in 2012 by using account-based platform designs, aggressively positioning incentives and rethinking subsidization levels.”

The survey found that 71 percent of companies plan to continue health care benefits through 2014 for active employees. However, 29 percent aren’t sure if they’ll continue to offer benefits or instead provide salary increases to offset costs. The study found that over the next few years employers are considering increasing their offering of account-based health plans. Around half also plan to use value-based benefit designs or increase use of preferred networks.