Make It Your Business to Find the Best Employee Coverage

Choosing the Right Health Insurance Plan

Businesses should shop around for the best-priced plan. This may mean going with a higher deductible. When choosing a health insurance plan, it pays to take time to compare. If you go with this option, consider including a health savings account for your employees. This allows them to save money pre-tax to pay for co-pays and uncovered costs.

Start a Wellness Program

One way to lower the costs of insurance is by reducing the number of claims made. A program sponsored by the business often motivates employees to make healthier decisions. It may be a free gym membership, rewards for logging exercise or even points for attending nutrition or exercise classes that can be redeemed for days off or other benefits. Some of these programs are even available online, making it easier for busy staff members to participate. The benefits far outweigh the costs.

Establish a Nurse Hotline

Businesses can often purchase a nurse hot-line program with their insurance. This helps cut costs because employees can call this number rather than making an expensive trip to the emergency room or urgent care clinics.

Preventive Care

Like wellness programs, preventive care programs focus on prevention over treatment. These programs may provide free testing for such chronic illnesses or conditions as high cholesterol, diabetes, and others. At the same time, it teaches employees how to prevent issues and take better care of themselves. You can find this program through some insurance companies or even third-party providers.

Look at a Cooperative

One of the problems that small companies have in finding affordable health insurance is that they have fewer employees. To counteract this problem, these companies can partner with other small companies to get a better rate. Not all cooperatives benefit from a reduced rate, but they often get additional benefits that they couldn’t afford on their own. This may include dental or vision insurance to offer employees.

Choosing the Right Plan

Not every plan or program will be right for every company. Each small business has to decide what it can afford, what will help reduce costs the most and which programs the employees will see as benefits. The organization may want to submit a survey or send out an email to get an idea of response.

Once the company narrows down its choices, it can decide to offer a combination of programs as benefits to employees. These products help reduce the cost of health insurance and encourage the employee to be more willing to pay a little more for coverage with the additional benefits the person receives.

As health insurance costs continue to rise, small businesses must find new and creative ways to offer the coverage while meeting the budget. This ensures that both the organization and the employees come out ahead.

Author: Joyce Morse is an author who writes on a variety of topics, including business and health insurance.