I am an HR professional and I feel like it is the same ole same ole....am I wrong? You might be.
Let's start with a quick review of what is and finish with why there is an innovative product available now that you should consider implementing!
Generally insurance works by bringing together money from many sources (premiums) with rules on when it can and can't be spent (the insurance plan). Catastrophes generally don't hit everyone at one time, so the premiums can provide resources to those that need them at that time and then the resources are replenished for when the next people need them.
Generally everything costs money and people are often motivated by receiving money or saving money. So if we all decide to invest in an insurance product, the rules are set and the money is kept and spent to support the goals that we bought into by buying the insurance product.
1960's - Tax Deductible Employer Sponsored Health Insurance Plans
Employers offer their employees access to a health insurance plan. The employer was able to reduce the cost of the insurance through tax deductions making it more possible for an employer to offer this benefit to their employees. And the premium was a little lower because a group of people were enrolled in the plan rather than relying on one by one enrollment.
Employer insurance traditionally helped pay for services right away, but high deductible plans were invented around 2004 which lengthened the timeframe in which insurance helps to reduce the cost for services for the consumer which allowed premiums to stay more affordable. Employees were motivated to choose an HSA eligible plan because of the tax savings offered to them, especially when they were already pretty healthy and unlikely to use services that would then cost them more.
2004 - High Deductible Health Savings Accounts (HSA) Health Insurance Plans were born
Higher initial costs for service can force an enrolled consumer to try some self care methods or give the issue some time to go away on its own before a medical professional is called upon which can reduce claims which can allow premiums to be lower. However, this was not an ideal plan for those that knew they had health issues.
2010 - Affordable Care Act (ACA)
In 2010, the ACA was invented. The government was trying to make health insurance accessible for all folks, even those with pre-existing conditions, as those folks typically cost the system a lot of money, so they were often deemed uninsurable. They were also trying to make insurance available to those that couldn't get a plan through employment.
In addition, Minimum Essential Coverage (MEC) was defined - basic coverage for things like preventive visits where it has started to be recognized it is cheaper for the system to treat earlier. An HSA plan otherwise would have demotivated enrollees to take care of small issues before they became big issues. MEC activities are generally very lost cost on any plan even before a deductible is met. However, our current system still depends on money to start the pool and pay out on those claims - until now.
2012 - MEC + Health Management Program
We have found a product that offers that minimum coverage AND is able to provide health management care and education while creating the savings to both the employer and the employee that allows the program to be $0 net cost to everyone participating.
Now that you may have spilled your water or your coffee .... get that cleaned up. And then schedule a one hour meeting with Dean or Kari. Let us tell you more. You can schedule that visit online or you can call our offices!
Wouldn't it be fun to report to leadership that....
1. You are a small company who has not yet implemented health insurance for your employees but you want to
and you CAN afford to give your employees access to baseline care for $0 net cost, $0 deductible, $0 copay per service....for real
2. You are an established company and you do offer your employees health insurance but you just had to ask leadership and the employees to afford higher premiums, sometimes without being able to give them a raise or a bonus...
Choose to implement this program and future years' premiums will be lower and in the mean time you will save the company some money...for real