I grew up in the Lehigh Valley, lived and worked here my whole life. I can remember a time when Blue Cross Blue Shield was the only option for health insurance and it was great coverage. The best part about the plan, back then, was the employer typically picked up the entire premium cost and the employee deductible was very small or none at all. Well, fast forward, the coverage is still great, the deductibles are still fairly low but the cost is just unsustainable. So much so that companies are faced with the possibility of dropping coverage all together. Well, it's not just the Blue's that has this challenge. It's really any insurance provider that offers very low-deductible plans. Companies just cannot afford these extremely benefit rich plans anymore. Employees love these plans because they have minimum, if any, out-of-pocket exposure.
If you're one of these Lehigh Valley businesses desperately trying to hold on to this type of plan structure - you simply have to consider increasing the deductible on the plan. There's no other component that will get you where you need to be. You can entertain increasing co-pays and co-insurance to the existing plan but none of those options will make a significant financial impact.
Now that you've made the tough decision to raise the deductible - now what? There are some very practical things that you can do in conjunction with raising your deductibles that will lessen the impact on employee morale, as well as, cultivate more employee engagement with your companies employer-sponsored health plans. Over the next several months, of this 10 part series, we will look at some creative ways to accomplish these goals. Look for part 2, The Value of a High Deductible Health Plan, next month.
In the meantime, email me questions or concerns at bknauss@employeemployersolutions.com, visit my website at www.employeemployersolutions.com or just call our office at 484-892-3314.
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