How can employers educate their employees about their health insurance?
Let’s ask the right question: What do my employees really need versus what do they want? Most employers rarely ask. Now you’re providing value, so give them the opportunity to learn about what they’ve got. The annual enrollment period is a great time to educate and inform employees about their benefits. Unfortunately, a lot of employers just get an application filled out. But what does a new application mean to an employee and his or her family?
One idea that works well is to invite the employees’ spouses in for these meetings. Why? Seventy-seven percent of health care decisions are made by women. So involve the spouses.
What is the benefit of educating employees about the plan?
The biggest benefit is truly imparting the knowledge of the cost of medical care and the value of the insurance plan the employer is providing to them. Most employees don’t understand how much it costs. All they know is how much is being taken out of their check.
The other thing they know about the cost of their health insurance is the co-pay. If their doctor’s visit only costs them $20, then why is the company taking so much money out of their account? You have to help them understand their cost is only the tip of the iceberg.
What are some of the factors contributing to high costs?
When you look at the process of pricing health insurance for a company, you look at the demographics of the group: age, sex, family participation in the group, the plan design they are interested in, where they are located, the health of the group, whether it’s through claims experience or health histories. Then the bargaining starts. The risk is determined and benefits may be modified.
How can employers marginalize those factors?
I’m a big believer in personal responsibility. People want to work for employers that take the time, not just in an enrollment meeting, but with a truly educational total approach to employment and benefits. Large or small, the companies people want to work for are ones that give employees the tools to make their own decisions. If you give people responsibility, eight out of 10 of those people are going to rise to that occasion and many exceed it.
In the health insurance business, the best way to bring down costs is by being healthy. That is why preventive care and wellness programs are so important and need to be considered.
Albert Ertel is the COO of Alliant Health Plans. Reach him at (706) 629-8848 or [email protected].
