Many employers start to think about health insurance renewals mid-year, so now might be a good time to look at innovative and creative ways to modify your current benefit plan to capitalize on cost savings next year while providing solid benefits for your employees.
One thing is very clear, the new normal isn’t the old normal. Employers are seeing that the status quo is no longer acceptable as a growing number of forward-thinking companies and self-insured employers are tailoring their plan design to keep up with employee demand for new solutions and benefit offerings. This is not unlike employers making adjustments to more flexible employee schedules and work-at-home options.
Employers looking to decrease their healthcare costs often rely on their workforce adopting High Deductible Health Plans (HDHPs), which offer both employers and employees lower premiums. In the U.S., 31% of covered workers were enrolled in an HDHP/SO in 2020, similar to the percentage in 2019 (30%), however the percentage of covered workers was much higher in large firms (33%) than small firms (25%).
If employees are given a choice, the HDHP strategy doesn’t always work and enrollment in HDHPs fall short of expected forecasts. Employees may have difficulty understanding the value of HDHP’s if they’ve always had a traditional healthcare plan. Also, a fear of the unknown makes the HDHP unattractive for some. It’s also well documented that high-deductible health plans do not result in their desired impact (employees being more conscientious about healthcare spending).
Proactive benefit plan adjustments—beyond shifting costs to employees
With more options at your disposal than ever before, employers can design unique benefits plans that don’t solely rely on shifting costs to their employees. Creating an ideal benefits plan isn't just about health services funding. The plan should also include benefit offerings that can help employees (and the company) keep costs down while ensuring robust access to necessary medical and wellness services.
Several trends in plan design stand out as opportunities for employers and HR managers to keep employees happy and improve recruitment and retention. Let's take a closer look at four of these trends and how you might consider modifying your current benefit plan to your advantage.
Key considerations when designing your benefits plan:
- Select a narrow network of hospitals and doctors: The use of "narrow networks," which limit to the number of healthcare providers covered in-network by a health plan, is a way to keep costs in check. This strategy has been embraced as a focused way to keep costs down while keeping providers your employees prefer. By limiting your plans' in-network health providers that offer pricing discounts for their services, your employees will have a network that has high-quality ratings for their services and more reasonable costs.
- Offer telehealth services: A telehealth service can put employees in touch with physicians, nurses or other healthcare practitioners, and enable them to video conference or otherwise connect through technology. In this way, workers can get the healthcare advice they need in a less expensive and more convenient, remote way. What's more, telehealth is particularly beneficial when employees need to see a specialist – a patient can get guidance without ever leaving their home, eliminating office co-pays.
- Self-fund and take control of your finances: Self-funding (or partially self-funding) increases an employer's financial control, plan design flexibility, and plan management options. Once strictly a big-business strategy, self-funding is now seen as an option for companies with as few as 10 employees and can reduce an employer's healthcare spending by up to 30%. Make sure the third party administrator (TPA) you work with for self-funding audits all claims, even small ones. For most self-insured plans, TPAs may only audit submitted claims over $50,000. PHP TPA Services keeps a close watch on all claims to protect employers from billing oversight and overcharges.
- Work with a carrier that takes time to understand your employees’ needs and your financial goals: PHP wants you to feel confident that we understand your unique business and employee benefits needs and objectives. By choosing the right carrier, one who takes time to understand you personally, is transparent, and empathetic to your needs, you’ll find a plan that’s right for you. Together, you and your broker can collaborate in a way that will “move the needle” on quality and costs while building an effective, long-lasting partnership.
Extra considerations
Make sure your carrier offers great support services: It's very advantageous for carriers to include access to nurses, social workers and case management. Many doctor visits and ER trips can be avoided with basic information from a professional. Also, with a medical management team for your employee’s needs, they know have an added resource for advice and medical information.
Offer integrated well-being programs. Today’s workers are seeking employers that encourage a healthy physical, emotional, social, and financial lifestyle. Today's benefits packages should encompass a wellness educational component. This can include encouragement of a healthy, physically active lifestyle which helps employees’ productivity and engagement while working.
As we look across the healthcare landscape, health benefits must be evaluated to ensure that employees receive a package that addresses staff member and dependent health needs while keeping rising costs at bay. Consult with PHP or your health benefits advisor to evaluate how you can take advantage of cost-savings benefit planning while satisfying your employee health benefit needs.
Ross Hensley is the Regional Director with PHP, Fort Wayne, Indiana. Ross’s expertise is in the large group sales space and he can be reached at: 765-517-1336 (cell) or rhensley@phpni.com.
