Keeping Your Employee’s Benefits Cost Effective
By: Mary Thompson, Capstone Brokerage President, September 6, 2016
The many regulations that rolled out over the past few years since The Affordable Care Act was enacted may leave many businesses struggling to afford proper coverage and benefits for their employees. As an experienced broker I have found that the health insurance market has changed drastically over the years. Every health insurance carrier is unique on how they rate premiums for a corporation. Many companies have been faced with increased premiums, and may find themselves struggling to maintain the added cost. One of the most common solutions is to pass more of the increase onto the employees, which can cause many to feel let down by the benefits being offered to them for their devotion to the company. It is imperative to work with an educated and experienced broker in today’s group medical market.
More now than ever people need to understand that there is personal responsibility for healthcare benefits. The days of 100% employer sponsored healthcare programs are slowly becoming a perk of the past. Employees employees now are starting to understand that they will have to be more involved with where they go for medical care by comparing procedures, prescription cost and out of pocket expenses. As an employer the important thing to remember is to always offer multiple choices and plan options.
Employee workshops and surveys are always recommended to help discuss and analyze employees about what is important to them when in comes to their health insurance coverage. This will help provide the ability to control their out of pocket cost. For some employees what may matter more may be that the monthly premium is low and the deductible portion of their coverage is something they are willing to save for. While for others, usually those who utilize their policy often, the most important aspect may a higher monthly premium with lower deductibles and co-insurance amounts that can spread the cost out over time. It is important to find out what is meaningful to them when it comes to the benefit package you design.
Discontinuing offering employee benefits all together is a mistake that can lead to higher employee turnover, decreased work efficiency that may result in loss revenue and dissatisfied employees. On average businesses with 100 or more employees choose to offer benefits to their employees. The majority of those companies covered up to 75-80% of the premium for the employees. The idea of eliminating group coverage to employees is comes with a fine from the government if you average over the Employer Shared Responsibility Provision. We suggest picking plan design options that works best for your budget and your employee needs.
A minimum of 50%-75% of the premium based plan option on the lowest cost plan being offered is usually a great starting point for the employer to use when creating a budget for the following 12 months. If you would like your business to have their healthcare packaged looked at to find solutions for being more cost effective with what you are offering get in contact with a knowledgeable and educated insurance broker.
