Effective Benefits Communications Saves Your Company Money, Time and Energy
by J. Keith Johnson
Agency Development Manager
Colonial Life
As health care costs continue to rise, it’s more important than ever that your employees understand and appreciate the benefits you provide for them. Along with increasing health insurance costs comes increasing competition for quality employees, and you want to attract and retain the best. In fact, the average turnover rate of top-performing employees is 17 percent at companies that offer rich benefits programs but poorly communicate them to workers, as opposed to 12 percent at businesses with less comprehensive programs but better communication strategies.[1]
A sound benefits package is a plus but only if employees know and understand what you make available to them. A quality voluntary benefits partner can help by providing professional, consistent communications throughout the entire enrollment process. As a result, employees will not only understand their benefits but also appreciate them.
Effective benefits communications has two integral phases: before the enrollment and during the enrollment. For each phase, your voluntary benefits partner should be able to deliver a wide range of services and capabilities.
Pre-Enrollment Communications
Custom Communications. A quality voluntary benefits provider can provide enrollment communications such as letters, fliers, PowerPoint presentations, brochures, e-mails, posters, tent cards — whatever works best to help employees learn the about the upcoming enrollment and the key details of the benefits offerings.
Group Meetings. To help provide background on the overall benefits program, highlight any major changes in the program and introduce any new offerings, the enrollment process should begin with a group employee meeting that covers key highlights of the benefits program.
Enrollment Communications Through One-on-One Sessions With a Benefits Professional
Advances in enrollment technology have made enrollments simpler and easier to administer; however, nothing can replace the value of having a trained benefits professional meet with employees individually to review and enroll their benefits. Two-way communications between a benefit professional and an employee is critical for effective benefits communications.
Using the latest enrollment technology, a benefits professional can help employees consider their personal benefits situation and see the impact of their benefits selections on their paycheck. Communication services can include:
· Helping employees verify and update basic employee data.
· Highlighting each employee’s existing benefits, pointing out what the employee contributes and what the employer contributes.
· Reviewing the employee’s benefits selections and how each affects the paycheck so the employee can see exactly what the deductions will be and, if pretaxing, what the savings can be.
· Showing the employee his or her entire benefits package, including paid time off, uniform costs or any specific benefits you want to highlight. Again, the employee can see his or her own contributions to the benefits package, as well as what you contribute.
· Providing a detailed listing of the employee’s selections and contributions as one last verification of plan information and premiums.
So what’s the advantage of effective benefits communication? You’ll save costs, time and energy — plus, you’ll gain greater employee satisfaction through personal, quality benefits communication.
About the Author
J. Keith Johnson is an Agency Development Manager for Colonial Life. Keith is responsible for marketing Colonial Life’s products, programs and services in the Kansas/Missouri area.
Colonial Life & Accident Insurance Company is a market leader in providing insurance benefits for employees and their families through their workplace, along with individual benefits education, advanced yet simple-to-use enrollment technology and quality personal service. Colonial Life offers disability, life and supplemental accident and health insurance policies in 49 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico. Similar policies, if approved, are underwritten in New York by a Colonial Life affiliate, The Paul Revere Life Insurance Company. Colonial Life is based in Columbia, S.C., and is a subsidiary of Unum Group.
For more information about Colonial Life’s products and services or opportunities with the company, call Keith at 913-205-6396 or visit www.coloniallife.com.
[1] 2005 Watson Wyatt Worldwide WorkUSA® study on effective employee-driven financial results
Showing posts with label voluntary benefits. Show all posts
Showing posts with label voluntary benefits. Show all posts
Monday, January 19, 2009
Tuesday, January 6, 2009
Benefits Solutions
Benefits Solutions to Health Insurance Dilemma
by J. Keith Johnson
Benefits Representative- Olathe, KS
Colonial Life
Rapidly rising health care costs and the plight of the uninsured have reached the status of nearly daily mention in most news media. As health care costs continue to increase, many businesses are moving toward high-deductible major medical plans in an effort to better manage benefits program costs. Yet this approach can put employees at greater financial risk, forcing them to pay the expanding difference between what their health insurance covers and what their medical care costs. In addition, premiums for employer-sponsored health insurance have been rising four times faster on average than workers’ earnings since 2000.1
While that’s bad enough news for workers with health insurance, it’s a potential disaster for those who don’t have health coverage to help buffer these costs. A recent Census Bureau report estimated 47 million Americans have no health coverage.2 Still more worrisome is the fact that most uninsureds belong to a family with at least one working member. 3
The good news is employers have access to two solutions to meet this health coverage dilemma:
§ A voluntary supplemental health insurance plan can help fill gaps in coverage under a high-deductible major medical plan, such as increased deductibles and out-of-pocket maximums.
§ A group limited benefit hospital confinement indemnity insurance plan for employees who don’t have access to major medical insurance through their workplace or their spouse’s workplace.
Voluntary Supplemental Health Insurance
With voluntary supplemental health insurance, businesses can offer their employees a solution to help fill coverage gaps and protect employees against increasing out-of-pocket expenses. These products typically pay lump-sum benefits for medical expenses resulting from inpatient hospitalization and rehabilitation unit or outpatient services, diagnostic testing, doctor’s office visits and wellness checkups. For example, an employee who has to go into the hospital may have to pay a $1,500 deductible before health insurance kicks in — money the employee has to pay up front. With voluntary supplemental health insurance, the employee would receive a lump-sum benefit payment for the inpatient confinement and could use it to help pay for the deductible.
Group Limited Benefit Hospital Confinement Indemnity Insurance
This type of insurance is a group product that provides benefits to help insureds pay many routine, noncatastrophic health care expenses. It’s not major medical coverage, and it isn’t a replacement for major medical coverage. Offered through the workplace at group rates, this plan can meet the need for affordable, limited and clearly defined health benefits for full-time and part-time workers who don’t have access to major medical insurance and need some coverage for basic, routine medical expenses. Coverage is available for:
Doctor’s office visits
Outpatient diagnostic and lab tests
Inpatient hospital stays
Surgery
Prescription drugs
With either plan, benefits communication plays a critical role in successful implementation. Consistent, clear communication through group and one-on-one meetings with employees helps ensure they understand what their plan covers and what it doesn’t. This leads to much greater satisfaction with the benefits plan. A quality voluntary benefits provider can deliver this service at no direct charge to the employer.
Rising health care costs and the resulting plight of the working uninsured are not likely to go away anytime soon. But innovative products like voluntary supplemental health insurance and group limited benefit hospital confinement indemnity insurance provide workable solutions for the health care cost issue.
About the Author
J. Keith Johnson is an agent for Colonial Life. A veteran of more than six years in the insurance and benefits industry, Mr. Johnson is responsible for marketing Colonial Life’s products, programs and services in the Kansas/Missouri area.
Colonial Life & Accident Insurance Company is a market leader in providing insurance benefits for employees and their families through their workplace, along with individual benefits education, advanced yet simple-to-use enrollment technology and quality personal service. Colonial Life offers disability, life and supplemental accident and health insurance policies in 49 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico. Similar policies, if approved, are underwritten in New York by a Colonial Life affiliate, The Paul Revere Life Insurance Company. Colonial Life is based in Columbia, S.C., and is a subsidiary of Unum Group.
For more information about Colonial Life’s products and services or opportunities with the company, call J. Keith Johnson 913-205-6396 or visit www.coloniallife.com.
# # #
1 The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation, 2006 Employee Health Benefit Survey, September 26, 2006.
2 U.S. Census Bureau report, Aug. 28, 2007.
3 California Health Care Foundation, 2005.
4 “Growth Potential of Small Business Markets,” LIMRA, 2006.
5 “Statistics of U.S. Business,” U.S. Census Bureau, 2004.
by J. Keith Johnson
Benefits Representative- Olathe, KS
Colonial Life
Rapidly rising health care costs and the plight of the uninsured have reached the status of nearly daily mention in most news media. As health care costs continue to increase, many businesses are moving toward high-deductible major medical plans in an effort to better manage benefits program costs. Yet this approach can put employees at greater financial risk, forcing them to pay the expanding difference between what their health insurance covers and what their medical care costs. In addition, premiums for employer-sponsored health insurance have been rising four times faster on average than workers’ earnings since 2000.1
While that’s bad enough news for workers with health insurance, it’s a potential disaster for those who don’t have health coverage to help buffer these costs. A recent Census Bureau report estimated 47 million Americans have no health coverage.2 Still more worrisome is the fact that most uninsureds belong to a family with at least one working member. 3
The good news is employers have access to two solutions to meet this health coverage dilemma:
§ A voluntary supplemental health insurance plan can help fill gaps in coverage under a high-deductible major medical plan, such as increased deductibles and out-of-pocket maximums.
§ A group limited benefit hospital confinement indemnity insurance plan for employees who don’t have access to major medical insurance through their workplace or their spouse’s workplace.
Voluntary Supplemental Health Insurance
With voluntary supplemental health insurance, businesses can offer their employees a solution to help fill coverage gaps and protect employees against increasing out-of-pocket expenses. These products typically pay lump-sum benefits for medical expenses resulting from inpatient hospitalization and rehabilitation unit or outpatient services, diagnostic testing, doctor’s office visits and wellness checkups. For example, an employee who has to go into the hospital may have to pay a $1,500 deductible before health insurance kicks in — money the employee has to pay up front. With voluntary supplemental health insurance, the employee would receive a lump-sum benefit payment for the inpatient confinement and could use it to help pay for the deductible.
Group Limited Benefit Hospital Confinement Indemnity Insurance
This type of insurance is a group product that provides benefits to help insureds pay many routine, noncatastrophic health care expenses. It’s not major medical coverage, and it isn’t a replacement for major medical coverage. Offered through the workplace at group rates, this plan can meet the need for affordable, limited and clearly defined health benefits for full-time and part-time workers who don’t have access to major medical insurance and need some coverage for basic, routine medical expenses. Coverage is available for:
Doctor’s office visits
Outpatient diagnostic and lab tests
Inpatient hospital stays
Surgery
Prescription drugs
With either plan, benefits communication plays a critical role in successful implementation. Consistent, clear communication through group and one-on-one meetings with employees helps ensure they understand what their plan covers and what it doesn’t. This leads to much greater satisfaction with the benefits plan. A quality voluntary benefits provider can deliver this service at no direct charge to the employer.
Rising health care costs and the resulting plight of the working uninsured are not likely to go away anytime soon. But innovative products like voluntary supplemental health insurance and group limited benefit hospital confinement indemnity insurance provide workable solutions for the health care cost issue.
About the Author
J. Keith Johnson is an agent for Colonial Life. A veteran of more than six years in the insurance and benefits industry, Mr. Johnson is responsible for marketing Colonial Life’s products, programs and services in the Kansas/Missouri area.
Colonial Life & Accident Insurance Company is a market leader in providing insurance benefits for employees and their families through their workplace, along with individual benefits education, advanced yet simple-to-use enrollment technology and quality personal service. Colonial Life offers disability, life and supplemental accident and health insurance policies in 49 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico. Similar policies, if approved, are underwritten in New York by a Colonial Life affiliate, The Paul Revere Life Insurance Company. Colonial Life is based in Columbia, S.C., and is a subsidiary of Unum Group.
For more information about Colonial Life’s products and services or opportunities with the company, call J. Keith Johnson 913-205-6396 or visit www.coloniallife.com.
# # #
1 The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation, 2006 Employee Health Benefit Survey, September 26, 2006.
2 U.S. Census Bureau report, Aug. 28, 2007.
3 California Health Care Foundation, 2005.
4 “Growth Potential of Small Business Markets,” LIMRA, 2006.
5 “Statistics of U.S. Business,” U.S. Census Bureau, 2004.
Saturday, December 6, 2008
Communication will solve the health care crisis.
As my wife is fond of saying to me, "communication is key".
One of the main reasons we find ourselves in the state we're in is because people do not understand insurance products, especially health insurance products. If we had automobile insurance built in a similar fashion to health insurance, no one could afford to own a car, much less drive one.
Imagine getting a starter or muffler installed for a $20 copay. Need a transmission or engine overhaul? As long as you were in your automotive repair network, you get 80/20 coinsurance until your deductible is met. Have existing accident damage? As long as you can get in an employer group where the carrier has to accept you, you get your car fixed. No matter that you weren't part of the original underwriting, Everyone helps pay your expenses. After all, isn't that what America is all about?
Now I know this sounds ridiculous, but no more ridiculous than for people to expect healthcare delivered this way for little or no cost.
The American public needs an education. I'm afraid it will come at the expense of the healthcare/insurance industry collapsing. No one knows what procedures cost, where they can get cost effective care, care provider success/mortality rates, what insurance carriers pay claims best, and how money works within the system.
HDHP/HSA's are a great first step because a policyholders self interest requires that they ask these questions. At this time they cannot get all the answers, but more and more light is being shed on the situation.
As agents that have our clients best interests at heart, we must continue to fight the good fight. If we continue to promote, communicate, and educate, we know that understanding will provide a sensible answer.
One of the main reasons we find ourselves in the state we're in is because people do not understand insurance products, especially health insurance products. If we had automobile insurance built in a similar fashion to health insurance, no one could afford to own a car, much less drive one.
Imagine getting a starter or muffler installed for a $20 copay. Need a transmission or engine overhaul? As long as you were in your automotive repair network, you get 80/20 coinsurance until your deductible is met. Have existing accident damage? As long as you can get in an employer group where the carrier has to accept you, you get your car fixed. No matter that you weren't part of the original underwriting, Everyone helps pay your expenses. After all, isn't that what America is all about?
Now I know this sounds ridiculous, but no more ridiculous than for people to expect healthcare delivered this way for little or no cost.
The American public needs an education. I'm afraid it will come at the expense of the healthcare/insurance industry collapsing. No one knows what procedures cost, where they can get cost effective care, care provider success/mortality rates, what insurance carriers pay claims best, and how money works within the system.
HDHP/HSA's are a great first step because a policyholders self interest requires that they ask these questions. At this time they cannot get all the answers, but more and more light is being shed on the situation.
As agents that have our clients best interests at heart, we must continue to fight the good fight. If we continue to promote, communicate, and educate, we know that understanding will provide a sensible answer.
Thursday, October 30, 2008
Can you afford a $50 Co-pay?
Can You Afford A $50 Co-pay?
By J. Keith Johnson
With health insurance rates increasing at double digit rates, more and more employers are searching for a way to stem the tide. Employers are forced to ask employees to shoulder more of the cost as premiums increase. If you have health coverage, whether group or individual, ever increasing premiums, deductibles, co-pays, and co-insurance are a fact of life.
To complicate matters, most employees do not understand their health insurance. Ask them about their coverage, they’ll tell you about their co-pay. Few know their individual or family deductible and virtually none of them know their co-insurance amount or maximum out of pocket. If you increase the deductible and co-insurance, hardly anyone will notice. If you increase the co-pay, everyone screams. Therefore, employers take the path of least resistance.
I have a couple of questions. First, do you think most employees could afford a $50 co-pay for doctor’s office visits? Probably. Emergency room co-pays are $50-$100 right now and many use the emergency room rather than a doctor’s office visit for routine illnesses, so it’s possible.
Second question, would most Americans be happy if they could get the insurance company to pay that whole $50? You bet!
So if you would like the insurance company to pay your $50 co-pay, welcome to the HSA plan.
HSA qualified plans use premium savings from the health coverage to help fund medical expenses. Rather than send a large premium for a co-pay plan to an insurance company, you send less premium by purchasing a lower cost, one deductible plan and placing the premium savings up to the amount of the deductible, in a tax-free fund for use as needed.
So how does that equal a $50 co-pay? Easy. An in-network doctor’s office visit is approximately $50. Under a standard co-pay plan, you pay $20 and the insurance company pays $30. Under the one deductible HSA plan, you pay the medical expenses up to the deductible. Voila, $50 co-pay! And, the employee did not have to pay tax on the $50.
But, you may ask, how do I get the insurance company to pay that $50? Once again, it’s easy. Here is an example of a small group with some health issues that recently switched to an HSA qualified plan:
Small group (7 employees)
Last year’s co-pay plan monthly premium: $3,738.00
(This does not include this year’s increase)
This year’s HSA plan monthly premium: $2,604.00
Monthly savings: $1,134.00 (30% savings)
Monthly savings per employee: $ 162.00
Monthly per Employee Contributions:
Contribution to HSA: $ 50.00
Employer paid Dental premium: $ 88.00
(New benefit)
Employer paid voluntary benefit premium: $ 9.00
(new benefit)
Savings to employer’s bottom line: $ 15.00
(per employee)
Total annual employer savings: $1,260.00
As you can see, the employer used part of the monthly savings (insurance company’s money) to help fund the employee’s HSA. This is the money used to pay the doctor’s office visit. Nothing came out of the employee’s pocket. The money literally came out of the insurance company’s pocket.
In addition, the employer was able to improve benefits by adding dental and a medical bridge plan to help pay medical costs in the event of a hospitalization. All this and he reduced his costs. Find that in a co-pay plan!
Oh, and the best part? Whatever the employee doesn’t use each year, he gets to keep!
Congratulations. You just started a de facto retirement plan with no IRS reporting requirements.
I’ve heard all the arguments against HSA’s. They are all baloney. The only reason an HSA qualified plan will not work is if you don’t save enough premium. Period.
J. Keith Johnson is an independent insurance broker, specializing in HSA qualified plans. For more information you may reach him at:
Free State Business, LLC
15954 Mur-Len, #305
Olathe, KS 66062
(913) 787-0152
Email: jkjohnson@freestatebusiness.com
By J. Keith Johnson
With health insurance rates increasing at double digit rates, more and more employers are searching for a way to stem the tide. Employers are forced to ask employees to shoulder more of the cost as premiums increase. If you have health coverage, whether group or individual, ever increasing premiums, deductibles, co-pays, and co-insurance are a fact of life.
To complicate matters, most employees do not understand their health insurance. Ask them about their coverage, they’ll tell you about their co-pay. Few know their individual or family deductible and virtually none of them know their co-insurance amount or maximum out of pocket. If you increase the deductible and co-insurance, hardly anyone will notice. If you increase the co-pay, everyone screams. Therefore, employers take the path of least resistance.
I have a couple of questions. First, do you think most employees could afford a $50 co-pay for doctor’s office visits? Probably. Emergency room co-pays are $50-$100 right now and many use the emergency room rather than a doctor’s office visit for routine illnesses, so it’s possible.
Second question, would most Americans be happy if they could get the insurance company to pay that whole $50? You bet!
So if you would like the insurance company to pay your $50 co-pay, welcome to the HSA plan.
HSA qualified plans use premium savings from the health coverage to help fund medical expenses. Rather than send a large premium for a co-pay plan to an insurance company, you send less premium by purchasing a lower cost, one deductible plan and placing the premium savings up to the amount of the deductible, in a tax-free fund for use as needed.
So how does that equal a $50 co-pay? Easy. An in-network doctor’s office visit is approximately $50. Under a standard co-pay plan, you pay $20 and the insurance company pays $30. Under the one deductible HSA plan, you pay the medical expenses up to the deductible. Voila, $50 co-pay! And, the employee did not have to pay tax on the $50.
But, you may ask, how do I get the insurance company to pay that $50? Once again, it’s easy. Here is an example of a small group with some health issues that recently switched to an HSA qualified plan:
Small group (7 employees)
Last year’s co-pay plan monthly premium: $3,738.00
(This does not include this year’s increase)
This year’s HSA plan monthly premium: $2,604.00
Monthly savings: $1,134.00 (30% savings)
Monthly savings per employee: $ 162.00
Monthly per Employee Contributions:
Contribution to HSA: $ 50.00
Employer paid Dental premium: $ 88.00
(New benefit)
Employer paid voluntary benefit premium: $ 9.00
(new benefit)
Savings to employer’s bottom line: $ 15.00
(per employee)
Total annual employer savings: $1,260.00
As you can see, the employer used part of the monthly savings (insurance company’s money) to help fund the employee’s HSA. This is the money used to pay the doctor’s office visit. Nothing came out of the employee’s pocket. The money literally came out of the insurance company’s pocket.
In addition, the employer was able to improve benefits by adding dental and a medical bridge plan to help pay medical costs in the event of a hospitalization. All this and he reduced his costs. Find that in a co-pay plan!
Oh, and the best part? Whatever the employee doesn’t use each year, he gets to keep!
Congratulations. You just started a de facto retirement plan with no IRS reporting requirements.
I’ve heard all the arguments against HSA’s. They are all baloney. The only reason an HSA qualified plan will not work is if you don’t save enough premium. Period.
J. Keith Johnson is an independent insurance broker, specializing in HSA qualified plans. For more information you may reach him at:
Free State Business, LLC
15954 Mur-Len, #305
Olathe, KS 66062
(913) 787-0152
Email: jkjohnson@freestatebusiness.com
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