As the world continues to navigate the COVID-19 pandemic, Indiana employers are scrambling to protect employee’s health plans while balancing their bottom line. What are some of the best strategies for managing and containing healthcare costs while promoting a healthy, skilled workforce as we move through this pandemic?
Find A Plan That Meets Your Business Needs
Prioritize factors that matter to you and your business. For instance, if cost will be your deciding factor, you may be looking for a basic plan with a limited network of doctors and facilities. If you’re looking to balance options with costs, your decision will look much different than employers who view health insurance as a recruitment and retention tool requiring a broad network of doctors and hospitals. Another important factor is risk. If you can’t afford any surprises and rely on a set amount budgeted every month, you’ll have less plan design flexibility than an employer interested in taking chances for cost-savings through self-funding options.
Set an Approppriate Level of Cost-Sharing with Employees
Your employee benefits plan should be designed to help your employees better understand the trade-off between increasing healthcare costs and other forms of compensation. Consider outlining total compensation paid as an employer. While wages make up the bulk of total employee compensation, most employees don’t realize the true value of employer contributions to health and retirement benefits. Copayments and deductibles should be set at levels that encourage employees to use services and medications most likely to produce the best outcomes.
Encourage Good Consumer Behavior From Employees
Oftentimes employees have little perceived connection between out-of-pocket costs and the actual cost of treatment and services. Introducing or increasing deductibles, co-insurance and co-pays can improve employee awareness of actual costs. Moreover, employees need to understand that chronic health conditions and poor health habits are major cost contributors to an employee benefit plan. Employers can address both issues by creating incentives for employees to make economically efficient healthcare choices to improve health so they need less medical care.
If You Decide to Make A Switch—Work with an Agent You Trust
You may want to consider switching insurance carriers to adopt a more competitive plan design or to change funding options for cost savings. If so, work with a trusted advisor who can ensure that you’re getting the best plan design with competitive rates to balance business needs while meeting employees’ healthcare expectations. PHP is Indiana’s only not-for-profit health insurance carrier and, as a dedicated local business, we reinvest in the communities we serve. Our client’s success is our success, so we’re here to support and guide your best interests along the way.
