The rising employee health insurance cost has become a matter of concern for many employers. And like the past several years, the health insurance rate has increased this year as well, though, to some degree. And the increase has been reported to be 3.5% for the year 2022.
With the health insurance costs rising with every passing year, it has also affected the health benefit plans that companies offer to their employees. And it is one of the reasons why employers are looking for ways to cut the rising employee health insurance cost.
Companies today are fighting employee retention and employee resignations amid the Covid-19 crisis. And the constant health insurance increases have added to this. Therefore, countering the expenses in terms of employee health benefits has become inevitable for organizations.
Ways Employers Can Cut The Rising Employee Health Insurance Cost In 2022
1. Making employees understand clearly
One of the reasons for rising employee health insurance cost(s) for the companies is that most of the employees are unable to understand the health benefits fully. The reason can be the unclear or complex statements in the plan, which makes it difficult for the employees to clearly learn about how and where to use it better.
When the employees have an unclear understanding of their health benefits, it leads to such scenarios where they utilize it unfairly (underutilize or overutilize it). However, what costs a company is the overutilization of health insurance.
To reduce the rising employee health insurance cost, it is necessary for a company to ensure that all its employees have a sufficient understanding of their health benefits. And for this purpose, employers should communicate on this subject to help remove the confusion of employees in regard to their health plan.
2. Making the program flexible
Many companies are facing rising employee health insurance cost(s) due to the inflexible nature of their health plans for employees. This one-size-fits-all approach is what leads employers to face a substantial loss.
Every employee has a different health need than the other. And the same is true when it comes to utilizing health insurance.
It is more than likely that an employee will be using the health plan according to their own medical emergency. Therefore, a better approach to cut the rising employee health insurance cost is to make the health plan for your employees flexible.
By devising such health insurance that is specific to the needs of every employee, a company can save itself from a substantial extra expense. Also, with it, the undue and overutilization of the health benefits decreases, which also helps a company in cutting the costs.
3. Making the employees share the cost
The simplest way to cut the rising employee health insurance cost is to increase the health insurance deductions from the employee salaries. However, it may become unfruitful if it affects the performance of the employees negatively, essentially in the form of reduced productivity and engagement levels.
Making the employees share the health insurance costs may also make you lose some of your employees due to the financial reasons that may result due to the percentage deductions. Thus, it may also lead you to face issues in regard to employee retention.
A better approach would be to make employees learn the premium health benefits that they will be receiving in return for their salary deductions. Yet, the employer should remain considerate and come up with such a policy after much discussion and weighing the pros and cons.
4. Introducing in-house clinics
A great way for an organization to reduce its rising employee health insurance cost in 2022 is by setting up clinics inside the workplace premises. And larger organizations increasingly have private clinics in their office buildings.
Such an approach can bring manifold benefits and can reduce health insurance costs to a large extent.
The first and foremost benefit that this health-cost cutting strategy brings is that employers can keep an eye on how their employees avail the health insurance facility. And this makes using the health plan by the employees rather transparent.
With the employees being treated inside the company building, it becomes clear who is actually required to utilize the health care spending and to what extent. Thus, the employees with non-emergency situations can be checked within the workplace, and those requiring extensive treatment can be referred and treated outside.
Lastly, it may also result in a company in reduced sick leave. So, this approach can prove extremely helpful considering its comprehensive benefits. But only if a company can bear the finances to build a hospital (sorts of) within its building.
5. By spreading awareness
If your employees are overall healthy, then it can also help a company reduce its rising employee health insurance cost. For this purpose, your employees either need to have internal motivation to live a fit and healthier life. However, if they are not internally motivated, the employer can introduce health and wellness plans.
As a part of this strategy, a company can also advocate the importance of a healthy lifestyle to be overall healthy. In this regard, the employees can be made aware of how essential maintaining a balanced diet along with regularly exercising is for a physically and mentally sound body.
It will incur a company little to no cost while spreading awareness about a healthier lifestyle. The results can be ideal for a company in the long run if its employees understand the absolute necessity of a sound body and mind not only for their professional but personal lives too.
Takeaway
It has become absolutely essential for the companies to cut the rising health insurance cost since with every passing year, there is an increase in its charge.
There are different ways to limit the employee health benefits expense, from making the health program flexible to making the employees learn their health plan clearly. But a newer approach in this regard of introducing clinics inside the company building may prove to be the best for some employers.
Just as importantly, a strategy that can cause a company no expense is to give a realization about the importance of a healthy lifestyle. In this aspect, a company may come up with wellness plans.
