In a time when healthcare costs are rising significantly, employers are evaluating their benefit offerings while balancing the cost of healthcare benefits with employee attraction and retention. It can be a difficult struggle to balance what is best for the organization with what is best for your people.
Depending on the size of the organization, there are various ways to offset these rising costs.
Switching From Fully Funded to Self-Funded
Larger employers are switching from a fully funded to a self-funded plan, which can be a great way to manage costs and customize plans.
For some small- to mid-size employers where self-funding is not a viable option, there is good news: there are ways to enhance benefits without incurring high costs.
Adding a Spousal Surcharge
Some employers have adopted a spousal surcharge, so if your spouse is employed and offered coverage, there would be a surcharge per paycheck to add them to your plan.
High-Deductible Health Plans Paired with HSA
Offering high-deductible health plans paired with an HSA is very popular among employees and is generally less expensive than a low-deductible traditional plan.
While the employees may see this as a loss of a valuable benefit, pairing these options with other benefits that are low-cost to the employer but important to employees can really close that gap. It is important to understand your demographic and which employee benefits are most important to them.
Financial Wellness is Top Of Mind
A recent workplace benefits report from Bank of America found that financial wellness is top of mind for employees. Utilize your resources! Offering consultations with your 401(k) provider (free to both the employer and the employee) or choosing an EAP that offers financial wellness (free to the employee and very low cost for the employer) can be a nice benefit the employee really wants. Most benefits brokers also offer complementary resources, such as Medicare counseling for those entering retirement age.
Take Other Workplace Benefits into Consideration
When I interview potential candidates, PTO, work/life balance, and mental health often come up as priorities. In most cases, PTO doesn’t cost the employer anything and can be a great way to subsidize the rising cost of other benefits. It is important not only to offer PTO but also to encourage employees to use it and to respect their time when they are away from the office, by setting boundaries such as no communication after 5pm or no messaging while on PTO. Offering an EAP is also a low-cost way to support your employees’ mental health needs, and most EAPs offer much more, like elder care consultations, financial wellness, etc.
Offering ancillary benefits, such as pet insurance, identity theft protection, and voluntary life insurance, can also be very attractive to employees. Even if they bear all the costs themselves for these benefits, they are often cost-prohibitive to purchase.
Lastly, you must communicate the benefits regularly. 70% of what a new employee learns on the first day is forgotten within 24 hours, so consistently remind your employees of all the great offerings available to them, even if you do not think it is important. What might not be top of mind for you could be the most important employee benefit to someone else.
Keep learning
Join us for our Chamber Issues Forum this Friday, February 20 to hear from leaders on trends, strategies, and collaborative approaches to delivering great benefits amid the rising cost of health care. This session is eligible for 1.5 SHRM PDC’s.