What Employees Want from a Health Insurance Plan

December 3, 2021

Employees are more likely to accept or stay at a job because of the health insurance plans. These plans can either bring them peace of mind, or just be a costly expense. Ensuring employees have what they need and want in a health insurance plan is a great way to increase employee satisfaction and longevity.

Reasonable Premiums

An insurance premium is the amount that needs to be paid to the insurance company to receive health insurance coverage. Other costs are associated with healthcare, so having a reasonable premium is an important feature of a health insurance plan. Employers can cover health insurance premiums, or part of them, which will ensure employees pay a reasonable amount in premium.  Without employer coverage of premiums, a low premium will generally mean more costs should the employee need to receive care.

High Deductible Plan Options

High deductible plans have lower premiums, but higher deductibles. The deductible is the amount you pay for health services before insurance will start to cover expenses. A high deductible plan option can be a great option for employees who are generally healthy, don’t have any chronic health conditions, and don’t have to do many doctors or other healthcare visits in a year. This would lower the cost of premium for employees while also giving them healthcare coverage. This also works well if the employee is single or has a small family. A high deductible plan can be paired with an HSA in which the employee can contribute earnings pretax to put money toward deductibles or pay for healthcare. Employers can also contribute to an HSA.

Vision and Dental

Health insurance plans can help employers hire and keep employees. Employees want health insurance plans that have benefits they need. Vision and dental are key benefits that can help with employee satisfaction in a health insurance plan. Vision and dental care are part of essential needs. When these needs are met, employees are happier and healthier. Vision and dental care can also help improve health by catching problems early on like tooth decay or checking for vision changes. Having vision and dental as part of the health insurance plan can help employees feel more satisfied with their employer, because they care about their needs.

Access to Specialists

Healthcare isn’t just limited to a primary care physician. Therefore, health insurance shouldn’t be limited either. Most healthcare plans should provide specialized care such as dermatology services. This is especially important for employees with family, or if there is a chronic health condition. This would give them more access to the providers they really needed. Health insurances can offer a network of providers that employees can go see. A PPO, preferred provider organization, plan can give more access to specialists. This plan allows you to go to any provider, even if it is not in a network. An HMO, health maintenance organization, plan will also give you a network, but will require referral from a primary care physician to see some specialists. A PPO plan may cost more, but it gives the flexibility of being able to seek care from any provider.

Prescriptions

Including prescription coverage is part of a comprehensive insurance plan. Many people take prescriptions, and the prescription plan on employees’ insurance can make a difference. There are different ways that prescriptions are covered on insurance. Copays are set amounts you pay for the prescription based on the tier of cost of the drug. Coinsurance means you pay part of the cost, while the insurance pays the rest, based on a percentage split. Prescription deductibles are just like insurance deductibles, where you need to meet the cost before the coverage begins. Integrated deductible includes prescriptions in the overall deductible. Out-of-pocket maximum includes prescriptions which caps the amount you pay out of pocket. Having a copay or coinsurance would be a beneficial aspect of company insurance.

Preventive Services

Healthcare plans should include preventive services. Preventive services include a yearly health screening as well as shots. Preventive services help screen for diseases or illnesses and can help employees catch health problems early. This includes screenings for certain conditions like blood pressure, cholesterol, diabetes, etc. These screenings can depend on age, medical and family history. Preventive care as part of health insurance can be fully covered, or there may be some cost like deductibles or copayments. This is a great way to ensure that employees are staying healthy and is something they want in a health insurance plan.

Family Health Insurance

The affordable care act requires that large employers have coverage for their employees and their dependents. This can exclude spouses and it doesn’t require that they pay any of a premium for dependents. However, many businesses do offer better plans than this. They will offer plans with spouses covered as well as dependents, while also covering a portion of the premium for the family. This is something that employees want in their health insurance plan. It may not matter as much for your single employees, but for employees with families, big or small, offering coverage for spouses and families makes a big difference.

Telehealth

Telehealth used to be a nice add on, but experience has shown that telehealth can be a useful tool, and a permanent part of health benefits. For some health services, telehealth can provide an effective and efficient way to access healthcare. Telehealth can be especially helpful for areas like behavioral health, where employees are less likely to face stigma. It can also help cut down on costs with access to 24/7 triage which can help assess the right level of care. It can be a great tool for primary care. This will help employees have greater access to the care they need.

Because employees are more likely to stay at a job because of health benefits, it is important for them to have options. They should be able to choose a plan with options that they want. It should be able to work for their circumstances while also being as affordable as possible.  

Read this next: How to Enhance Communication in Your Workplace

Categories

More Posts:

Explaining the What, Why, and How of Strategic Alliance

A strategic alliance is a business arrangement in which two or more companies come together to form a partnership to pursue a common goal. By teaming up, these companies can leverage each other's strengths and resources to achieve their objectives more quickly and...

How to Gain the Skills You Need to Be a Successful Entrepreneur

Being a successful entrepreneur takes many skills. You need knowledge in business, leadership, and critical thinking, among others. Having the necessary skills is what separates a successful from an unsuccessful entrepreneur. To gain the skills you need you can get...

How To Conduct An Instagram Competitor Analysis

As an entrepreneur, it’s best to keep in mind the following: in a world where brands and businesses compete for attention, you must have the right strategies to stay on top of your game. Analyzing competitors is one of the few proven ways of replicating the success of...

Are leaders born or made?

While some people might already have the qualities and skills that make them great leaders they can still improve their leadership abilities. Even if someone doesn't seem to be a leader, that doesn't mean they won't learn leadership skills from a leadership training...

What Makes an Effective Leader in the Workplace

There are many aspects of a business and workplace that impact the success and efficiency of the business. Everything from office layout, to morale, even to the type of tasks assigned to different employees, can make or break the efficiency and success of a business....

All you need to know about Staff Augmentation: Business Solutions

With the Information Technology sector looking for better avenues to improve their work productivity and scalability, an innovative alternative to hiring. While the method is still in progress and is slowly gaining more visibility, staff augmentation is one of the up...

Why Email Archiving Is an Important Part of HR Processes

Regardless of the size of the company, an enterprise email archiving solution is required to give the transparency and visibility required. Many HR managers, on the other hand, still don't have complete visibility into employee correspondence. This can cause...

5 Essential Social Media Marketing Services Your Agency Should Offer to Attract More Clients

If you don’t provide the social media marketing services your audience need, they’re bound to find other agencies. While you can’t offer every type of social media marketing service known to man, the key is to focus on the services that your target market most likely...

Organizing a Big Office Move

Anyone who has ever moved will tell you that it isn’t easy. After all, there are about a thousand little things you need to take into account when moving from one home to the next. However, moving an office, and especially a big office, offers an entirely different...

Workplace Issues That Can Cost Your Business Money

Your business requires more than just a good product or service to make money—the workplace itself is a hub for your company that needs to run smoothly in order for anything to get done, and get done well! This means that when there are issues in the workplace, they...

All Categories

Business Operations

Entrepreneur Interviews

Marketing, Networking, & Social Media

Self Care & Personal Development

Working Moms

Business Software and Technology

Entrepreneurship & Small Business

Organizing Tips

Sales

Career Building

Family Businesses

Inspiration

Starting Your Own Business

Work-Life Balance

Communication

Hiring Help

Management & Leadership

Time Management & Priorities

Women in Leadership

Recent Posts

Elements That Should Be Part of Your Company Retreat

Elements That Should Be Part of Your Company Retreat

A company retreat is an excellent opportunity for team-building, learning new skills, and fostering relationships between colleagues. Whether your team is large or small, a well-planned retreat can be an invaluable investment in your company's success. We will explore...

How to Make Employee Health a Priority

How to Make Employee Health a Priority

Prioritizing employee health is crucial for creating a healthy and productive work environment. By investing in the health and wellbeing of your employees, you can improve morale, reduce absenteeism, and build a positive company culture. Here are some tips on how to...

Why You Should Run Your Business on the Latest Technology

Why You Should Run Your Business on the Latest Technology

In today's fast-paced business environment, keeping up with technological advancements is essential for success. Implementing the latest technology can offer numerous benefits, such as improved productivity, enhanced data security, and reduced costs.  Improve...

What are local links and how to earn them

What are local links and how to earn them

What local links are and how they might assist local businesses develop an efficient SEO strategy are covered in this article. Local links allow visitors to learn more about a region and its businesses by connecting websites from the same area that are relevant to one another. They must be pertinent to the neighbourhood and offer valuable resources or information. Content marketing, reviews, sponsored content, social media, and directories are all ways to generate local links.

Ways for Increasing Property Management Lead Generation

Ways for Increasing Property Management Lead Generation

Property management is not a simple job, there are multiple tasks that a property manager should complete for various property investors. Marketing is one of the difficult parts, but it’s crucial. You can only attract tenants to your property and gain income after you have generated leads. Therefore, you should try your best to come up with smart and effective strategies to get your company known.