Compass Professional Health Services
13601 Preston Rd, Suite 816E
Dallas, Texas 75240
(214) 296-2013
info@compassphs.com
Most employers have the opportunity to lower healthcare costs AND improve employee satisfaction. But they need to focus on the three keys to success and avoid the eight most common mistakes with plan designs.
White Paper: A New Paradigm for Employee Benefits
Have you tried everything to control rising healthcare expenses, but with no long-term success? Costs are rising at almost 10% every year, but smart companies are actually seeing decreased costs and increased employee benefit satisfaction. Here are three keys for your success:
Excerpt 2: “To many companies, the design process simply means various tweaks in coverage that curtail premium growth or shift more cost to employees. For other employers, this design game is more complex. Various strategies such as wellness programs are employed to make existing benefits more cost effective. Unfortunately, many of these programs have failed to generate real cost savings (see the 2007 SHPS Health Practices Study for more information). Instead, benefit design needs to focus on solutions that drive down costs today while educating employees on how to achieve lower costs tomorrow.”
Excerpt 3: “As part of choosing a plan de-sign, employers need an effective way to compare the costs of health insurance policies. Historically, benefit consulting firms and insurance brokers have used generic network discounting to guide employers. Unfortunately, that methodology is mostly irrelevant to actual expenditures for a plan.”
White Paper: 8 Mistakes to Avoid When Selecting a Health Plan
Make sure you avoid these common pitfalls for health plan designs. If you don’t, your employees will be motivated to spend more money on healthcare than necessary, driving up your costs. Dr. Bricker is a practicing physician in Dallas, and sees the impact these mistakes have on his patients’ costs every day. Learn from a medical doctor how almost every company gets these wrong:
Excerpt 2: “The power of co-insurance is that it is the perfect way to incentivize employees to make value-based care decisions without a huge out-of-pocket expense. For example, a CT scan that costs $1,000 under a 20% coinsurance plan would cost the employee $200 and the employer or insurance company $800. If the employee was able to find the same CT scan for $500, the cost to the employee would now be $100 and the employer or insurance company would save $400.”
Excerpt 3: “Copays can often cost an employee more money. As an example, say an employee goes to see the dermatologist. Let’s compare the cost of that visit for the employee with a $35 copay compared to the cost for the employee with 20% coinsurance. The average cost for a first time visit to a dermatologist is $150 and the average cost for a repeat visit is $85. Under the copay plan, each visit costs $35. Under the co-insurance plan, a first time visit would cost the employee $30 and a repeat visit would cost $17. Both are less than the $35 copay. Unfortunately for the employee, copays usually don’t apply to the out-of-pocket maximum on a plan, so there is no limit to the amount of money an employee can spend on copay related services.”
Our latest white papers, A New Paradigm for Employee Benefits and Eight Mistakes to Avoid When Selecting a Health Plan, dive deep into the best practices and common errors of plan design for businesses of all sizes. Understand from a physician and a former hospital executive how to use healthcare consumerism to keep healthcare costs down and benefits satisfaction high. Read excerpts of both white papers below, and enter your email address to receive a free copy of each.
More Information
White Paper: A New Paradigm for Employee Benefits
Have you tried everything to control rising healthcare expenses, but with no long-term success? Costs are rising at almost 10% every year, but smart companies are actually seeing decreased costs and increased employee benefit satisfaction. Here are three keys for your success:
- Proper Plan Design
- Appropriate Cost Sharing
- Personalized Healthcare Support for Employees
Excerpt 2: “To many companies, the design process simply means various tweaks in coverage that curtail premium growth or shift more cost to employees. For other employers, this design game is more complex. Various strategies such as wellness programs are employed to make existing benefits more cost effective. Unfortunately, many of these programs have failed to generate real cost savings (see the 2007 SHPS Health Practices Study for more information). Instead, benefit design needs to focus on solutions that drive down costs today while educating employees on how to achieve lower costs tomorrow.”
Excerpt 3: “As part of choosing a plan de-sign, employers need an effective way to compare the costs of health insurance policies. Historically, benefit consulting firms and insurance brokers have used generic network discounting to guide employers. Unfortunately, that methodology is mostly irrelevant to actual expenditures for a plan.”
White Paper: 8 Mistakes to Avoid When Selecting a Health Plan
Make sure you avoid these common pitfalls for health plan designs. If you don’t, your employees will be motivated to spend more money on healthcare than necessary, driving up your costs. Dr. Bricker is a practicing physician in Dallas, and sees the impact these mistakes have on his patients’ costs every day. Learn from a medical doctor how almost every company gets these wrong:
- Low Deductibles
- Underutilization of Coinsurance
- Copays
- Failure to Take Advantage of the Healthcare Marketplace
- No Price Information
- Not Showing Employees Lower Cost Medication Options
- Leaving Employees to Coordinate Care by Themselves
- No Relevant Quality Information
Excerpt 2: “The power of co-insurance is that it is the perfect way to incentivize employees to make value-based care decisions without a huge out-of-pocket expense. For example, a CT scan that costs $1,000 under a 20% coinsurance plan would cost the employee $200 and the employer or insurance company $800. If the employee was able to find the same CT scan for $500, the cost to the employee would now be $100 and the employer or insurance company would save $400.”
Excerpt 3: “Copays can often cost an employee more money. As an example, say an employee goes to see the dermatologist. Let’s compare the cost of that visit for the employee with a $35 copay compared to the cost for the employee with 20% coinsurance. The average cost for a first time visit to a dermatologist is $150 and the average cost for a repeat visit is $85. Under the copay plan, each visit costs $35. Under the co-insurance plan, a first time visit would cost the employee $30 and a repeat visit would cost $17. Both are less than the $35 copay. Unfortunately for the employee, copays usually don’t apply to the out-of-pocket maximum on a plan, so there is no limit to the amount of money an employee can spend on copay related services.”