Getting the Best Healthcare for Your Employees
Posted in Salaries & Benefits
As health care costs continue to swell, employers face the dilemma of either providing health care coverage for their employees or standing by helplessly as rising premiums eat up their employees' bank accounts.
SurePayroll however, says there's still something employers can do. They suggest you consider the following alternatives to your current health plan.
Managed care
If you currently offer traditional health insurance, you might want to consider managed care health coverage. Managed health care are often provided by Health Maintenance Organizations (HMOs). An HMO negotiates with doctors and other health care providers to lower costs. The catch is that insured employees will have a limited choice of doctors and health care providers (since they must choose one who is a part of the HMO). On the plus side, tee cost savings for employees - and employers - will be significant.
Self-insurance
Some employers choose to offer in-house health coverage to employees. What's good about this is that you don't have to continue paying ridiculous premiums to insurance companies. On the downside, you are responsible for paying your employee's health-related expenses when they happen. You can get around these costs via stop-loss insurance (insurance that cover expenses over a certain threshold). It's not 100 percent certain if you can cut health care costs through self-insurance. But, if you opt to go for this alternative, make sure to your part of the deal.
Medical savings account
Medical savings accounts enable employees to save some a portion of their pay on a pre-tax basis. Disbursements are not taxed provided that they are used for approved health expenses. The amounts that employees did not use remain in their account for future (health related) use. Keep in mind though, if you choose to offer MSAs, your plan should comply with federal regulations.
Trade associations
Trade associations grant their members with more affordable health care than employees could get on their own - thanks to their collective size which gives them bargaining power. Small benefits would benefit considerably for trade associations.
Health prevention services
Health care prevention services, in a way, hits two birds with one stone. Preventive health care services' goal is for companies to have healthy employees. Having healthy employees means: 1. Reduced interruptions in the workplace due to absences caused by poor health; and 2. Savings thanks to decreased chances of employees falling ill.
Source: SurePayroll
