TriSure offers nine great strategies to contain costs and create a stronger benefits program for 2009.
Here’s the long and short of it: Employers’ total benefits costs are 78% higher than they were five years ago. Employees themselves are paying 68% more. And the Triangle has one of the largest rate–increase averages of anywhere in the country.
What can you do? Start by implementing some of these strategies today and you could be looking at a healthier workforce—and balance sheet—a year from now. We also have ideas for containing health care costs for the long term.
Find out more about consumer driven health care, putting more control and responsibility in the hands of employees. Statistics show that the positive financial results are impressive, but employers need to make sure their program is structured properly.
Whether you’re using specific consumer–directed healthcare products, employee awareness campaigns or incentive programs, the key is to engage consumers in the healthcare decision–making process in a positive manner. Balancing employee responsibility and rewards is critical to achieving the best results. A TriSure benefits professional can help you implement a program using proven “best practices” from across the industry.
Wellness and prevention programs aren’t just feel–good policies. The proper mix of benefits can make your employees healthier and pinpoint diseases and conditions early when they’re easier and less costly to treat.
Popular wellness programs include smoking cessation support, health–risk assessments, onsite exercise facilities or subsidized gym memberships, and nutritional counseling. The bottom line is that healthier employees make for a healthier bottom line for your company. Talk to TriSure to learn more about successful ideas and how to get started.
If open enrollment is the only time you talk about your benefits program, then you’re missing a great opportunity to bring your employees on board in the struggle to manage health care costs.
Recent surveys show that almost 50% of employees believe their company spends less than $2,000 per employee on health insurance. Employers need to correct these mistaken assumptions and educate employees on the real cost of insurance…and the real cost of health care. With employee retention a key objective for employers, be sure your employees understand and value their health care benefits.
Spending on prescription drugs accounts for 15–20% of overall healthcare spending. Are you doing everything you can to control those costs? You might be surprised at what you’re overlooking.
For example, you can structure your pharmacy benefits to encourage higher use of generics. Promoting mail order prescription refills and using other financial incentives can lower this important driver of overall costs. Sit down with a TriSure representative to evaluate your current prescription drug benefit, and see how what opportunities exist to better control costs.
The more you know about your employees, their health and their health care needs, the easier it is for you to structure a beneficial and valuable plan. By demonstrating your commitment to their good health through education, wellness programs and other incentives, you can enlist them as active participants in controlling health care costs.
Diabetes. Asthma. Heart disease. More than 90 million Americans live with chronic diseases like these. Chances are, some of them are your employees—part of your work family. Making sure they receive the proper medical care and education to prevent complications is the right thing to do. It’s also smart for your company, since early detection and treatment can significantly reduce costs due to claims and lost productivity.
TriSure can show you how to monitor and review insurance data to make sure your employees are getting the right care, at the right place, at the right time. It’s a win–win for everyone.
The health care and insurance industries generate a lot of data. Why not put that information to work for you?
TriSure can keep you up–to–date on what other employers are doing to control costs—what works and what doesn’t. We can also help you monitor premium increase benchmarks.
We can also show you how to monitor and evaluate your plan performance and track how changes in your employee population affect cost and utilization. Plus, TriSure can offer smart strategies for identifying potential health risks among employees to ensure early treatment and management.
Employers can enhance their benefits package without adding extra overhead costs by offering voluntary insurance products with their programs. These are typically supplemental benefits that cover out–of–pocket expenses incurred with other benefit plans, or that address a particular need (such as illness). Benefits are chosen and paid for by individual employees, often with pre–tax dollars, as part of a cafeteria plan.
Examples of common voluntary worksite benefits are critical illness, accident plans, universal life and long–term care. Talk to a TriSure representative about filling in gaps in your benefits program with one or more of these attractive offerings.
Employers cite the rising cost of health insurance as a critical factor in their business’ success. And consider the investment your company makes in time and resources to provide benefits that just seem to increase in cost every year.
We recommend that employers consult a professional benefits adviser just as they would an attorney or CPA. After all, the business of benefits is extremely complex from both a financial and a regulatory standpoint. At TriSure, the business of benefits IS our business. We specialize in understanding your short– and long–term business goals and how they relate to your benefits package. We can help you navigate the range of options and tactics to develop a true benefits strategy that works for your employees and your business.