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 A solution to employee
turnover
By Josh Ring
EL DORADO INSURANCE
The National Coalition on Health Care reports that average out-of-pocket health care cost for working Americans has risen over 115 percent since 2000. Premiums for employer sponsored health insurance in the United States have been rising 4 times faster on average than worker’s earnings since 2000, according to one 2006 study. And it’s not a new problem. In fact, the cost of health insurance has far and away outpaced the rate of inflation and worker’s earnings over the past two decades, based on a 2005 Kaiser Family Foundation study.
It doesn’t take a rocket scientist, then, to come up with a theory on why 47 million people don’t have health coverage - even though the vast majority of these uninsureds belong to a family with at least one working member, based on U.S. Bureau of Labor data.
So, why is this happening? Employers acknowledge that being able to offer affordable health care would help them attract and retain higher quality employees and be more competitive, but:
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Many smaller employers just can’t afford it. Research reveals that barely half of US small business with fewer than 100 employees offer a group life or health benefit to employees.
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In businesses that do offer health insurance, many employers are now subsidizing the employees cost only (if at all), and contributing none to family or dependent coverage.
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Many large businesses have significant numbers of regular workers who aren’t eligible for the company’s health insurance coverage.
But, there is hope. Considering the current crisis when it comes to employee benefits from both the employer’s and employee’s perspective, more and more business owners and workers are turning to alternative insurance programs to fill the bill, and it’s working.
LIMITED BENEFIT MEDICAL PLANS have been around for a few years but remain a relatively unknown and often misunderstood solution for employers who can’t afford to offer health coverage or who have employees who don’t qualify for the company’s plan.
A limited benefit medical plan is a fully insured insurance product to help pay for medical expenses. These plans typically offer the five basic components of any medical plan:
The elite plans will also include hospital admission, intensive care, critical illness, emergency room benefits, and accident coverage.
The better plans, in both benefit and value are those that are indemnity based. An indemnity based plan pays a predetermined flat dollar amount for each benefit. These plans typically have negotiated reduced pricing with health care providers through a preferred provider network. The elite plans provide first dollar coverage with no co-pays or deductibles that must be met, and tend to be much easier to understand, enroll, and administer.
Some key features when considering a limited benefit medical plan for your company are:
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Participation requirements
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Contribution requirements
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Guaranteed Issue
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Pre-existing condition exclusions
The best of the best available on the market today have no participation or minimum contribution requirements, making them available for any company regardless of size. They also will not require underwriting or exclude workers based on current or past health history, meaning that every worker can be covered at the same price regardless of age, tobacco usage, or current or past medical history.
Limited benefit medical plans are not major medical coverage, but do provide benefits for over 90 percent of working American’s health care claims, and the flexibility in putting a limited benefit medical benefits program in place make them a very viable alternative and probable solution for any business owner who is struggling with the rising cost and various pitfalls of traditional employee health care plans. No one can argue the value of an affordable and functional program when it comes to recruiting and retaining better employees. The cost of equipping and training employees is a bottom line entry that can’t be ignored, especially when you in turn have to replace that same employee over and over again. The addition of a limited benefit medical plan program could very well be an element of value that could stabilize your bottom line, and help reduce the problem of staff turnover. We have found that an employee is much more likely to stay with an employer that at least offers them access to affordable benefits.
El Dorado Insurance Agency has researched several limited benefit medical plans currently available on the market underwritten by various insurance carriers, and have identified a program that fits the security services profession in both quality and cost. The program encompasses all of the above mentioned features and is underwritten by an A++ insurance company. The SecureCare programs administered by Homeland Health-Care and underwritten by AIG stand out above the crowd. These programs are both benefit rich and priced to fit any budget. Because of El Dorado’s relationship with Homeland Healthcare, we can be very flexible and custom fit the SecureCare programs to offer a variety of options and alternatives that will work for any company, regardless of geographical location or number of employees.
To get more information on the SecureCare programs, please see our ad
[in the June 2008 edition of Managing Security Today] or contact:
El Dorado Insurance Agency, Inc.
Josh Ring, Vice President
P.O. Box 66571
Houston, TX 77266
(P) 800-221-3386 (F) 800-700-0126
www.eldoradoinsurance.com
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