Get Creative With Healthcare in 2014
By: Robert Pusateri, Capstone Brokerage
In 2014 your company may be in for a shock when your rates are released at renewal. Several changes in the Healthcare system that are now being implemented may cause employers to take a closer look at what they can do to help keep benefit costs from rising.
Many businesses look to their insurance broker to explore different plan options. The hope may be to try and come up with a preventative plan to help reduce health insurance premiums. However there are other more creative options that may help reduce cost and keep up employee moral.
Our top recommendation to employers is always to educate their employees. Education goes a long way to be sure everyone is getting the most value out of the health benefits being offered. Many times employees do not even really understand or use their benefits to the fullest capability. It isn’t just about healthcare and going to the doctor when you are ill. We encourage employers to reach out to their employees and explain benefits in depth. One great example is to educate employees on the difference between an Emergency Room and a Quick Care Facility and how they differ in cost.
Another money saving strategy is to encourage that your employees utilize preventative care and over all wellness. The old saying “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure” is very appropriate for today’s healthcare coverage plans. Employers and employees are able to pay less if they are proactive in trying to avoid illnesses that can cost thousands or more to treat. Have healthy luncheons, encourage exercise breaks instead of smoke breaks, reward employees who take preventative initiative, perhaps offer to pay half of athletic club memberships. Even take it a step further and create a space in the workplace.
Take advantage of the Affordable Care Act’s Prevention and Public Health Fund. This benefit means that aspects of the law are designed to assist major national groups such as the Centers for Disease Control with developing programs to discourage tobacco use as well as address obesity and other conditions that result in chronic diseases and are expensive to treat. There are several programs that are available that can be implemented in the workplace. Some great examples are the, National Diabetes Prevention Program, encourage Immunizations, Tobacco Use Prevention Programs and Workplace Health. Utilize these tools and help create a company culture that promotes health and wellness.
We also recommend to our clients to tailor their benefits to their employees. Your company’s demographics can play a huge role in which benefits you want to offer. For example one way to cut costs is to eliminate some of your benefits. Be careful to keep those in place that your employees care about the most. Rather then cutting benefits based on cost alone, pursue better efficiency and effectiveness. Try and consider the programs that have the most value to both employees and your bottom line.
There are other options that may not be as well received with employees but can be used to help keep employers costs down. One example is to switch from a lower-deductible plan to a high-deductible plan to create premium savings. Essentially it will save the company money but not the employee who actually uses the plan. They will have more out of pocket expense each year if using the insurance plan.
The other option is to increase the amount each employee contributes for healthcare coverage. This strategy shifts more of the costs of health insurance to employees. This is a less popular strategy from an employee morale standpoint; however, it’s a decision that many businesses have to make. It is also popular for businesses to reduce contributions for dependent coverage if that is still something that is being offered. Overall the rise in cost can be manageable if you are creative, again the best advice is to educate, educate, educate. It goes a very long way.
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