How to Control Exorbitant Health Care Costs

January 17, 2020

One of the biggest expenses employers have to worry about is health care costs. As their company begins to grow, most business owners have a difficult time keeping up with the rising costs of healthcare as they hire more and more employees. Even if you aren’t currently expanding your business, chances are you have been anxiously watching as your company’s health insurance premiums increase with each passing year. Exorbitant health care costs can seriously hurt your bottom line and increase your turnover rate as your employees struggle with rising premiums and out-of-pocket expenses. So how can you cut costs without cutting benefits?

Reassess Your Needs

The first step to controlling excessive health care costs is reassessing your needs as a company. Throughout the years businesses shift, the number of people you employ and the benefits they require change, so how have your company’s health care needs different from when you started the business? This can help you find out if you are currently over or under-insured based on your needs. Are you using a cheaper plan that doesn’t fully meet your employee’s needs to save money? Or are you paying for an expensive plan that covers unnecessary treatments?

Find Out Which Employees Qualify For Plans With Lower Premiums

Sometimes lower premium bronze plans can provide cost savings for both high and low-need employees. Low-need employees can save money on a lower premium plan through the decrease in their monthly cost of coverage. High-need employees, on the other hand, can also save money by switching to a lower premium plan with certain employer contribution levels that make them better off. If you find that your high-need employees would fit their out-of-pocket maximums on either a bronze or gold plan, then the bronze plan could help you cut down on health care costs.

Hire a Professional Employer Organization

Professional Employer Organizations, also known as PEOs, can help employers gain access to superior health care plans that were traditionally only affordable for gigantic corporations. PEOs are able to attain these top-notch health care coverage and rates by grouping your employees with the rest of the PEO’s co-employees to form one large group. Through working with a PEO, you can cut costs on health care while also decreasing turnover by providing your employees with the best health care on the market.

Keep Track of Your Employees Changing Health Care Needs

Remember how you reassessed which type of health care plan made the most sense for your employees and company right now? This is not the last time you will have to reevaluate your company’s needs. Keep in mind that the number of people you employ could change at any given moment. Your employees could quit, find a better job offer, or maybe even win the lottery. They might recover from a condition that has been plaguing them for years or develop a new illness. The point is that your company’s health care needs are not stagnant. This is why you should be periodically reexamining your health care plan to ensure that your employees have the optimal plan and benefits based on their specific needs.

OEM America

Are you feeling overwhelmed when it comes to managing administrative and human resource-related tasks for your small business? OEM America can help. For decades, we have been helping companies across Connecticut and throughout the country transform their businesses into the pinnacle of efficiency.

Through the use of our time-proven model for managing employees, you can cut costs and decrease your turnover rate in no time. Stop worrying about Human Resources, employee administration, and benefits management. Leave all of that to us! With OEM as your human resource management team, you can focus more on the high-payoff activities that help you grow and profit.

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