All too often, we hear Brokers telling us the question framed for this article is a given. Many of our clients forget the true benefits of recognizing how and why their Customers should be providing benefits to their employees. We have 3 words: Recruitment, Retention, and Productivity.
Employer sponsored health plans are an essential tool for both recruitment and retention when it comes to staffing a company. Diverse benefits packages that include health plan coverage are imperative as it relates to employee retention because it validates employees in showing that their employer or potential opportunity is taking a vested interest in not only the overall health of their employees, but also their company and its future. Additionally, affordable and usable medical plans mean reduced healthcare costs for the workplace ultimately resulting in retention of employees.
Proven time and time again as a valuable tool in increasing productivity and boosting loyalty to your clients business, affordable medical plans offered in addition to a competitive salary or hourly wage is an employer's most valuable tool for recruitment and retention of employees. With Fundamental Care, you can offer preventative, primary and urgent/emergency care in addition to behavioral health coverage for a price that is 30-40% less than today's traditional High Deductible Health Plan. Healthier employees mean fewer days off due to illness and happier employees for your clients.
How Healthcare Benefits Impact Employees
Definitive and affordable health plan benefits will attract and retain employees to any organization. As we had noted in a previous article we wrote titled: Affordability Based Health Plans and Employee Retention, “80% of workers would keep a job with benefits rather than take one that offered more pay and no benefits.” The study conducted by the AICPA highlighted how Americans today favor workplace benefits 4 to 1 over an extra salary. With that being noted, having a good understanding of the health plan needs of your clients employees and offering an affordable and usable health benefit are equally important factors when looking to provide your client a tool for employee retention and recruitment.
It is also common knowledge the role that employer health plan decisions play in the overall health and success of their workforce. The Kaiser Family Foundation is quoted as saying, “employment is the foundation of the private health insurance system in the United States.” They go on to say in their report that nearly 90% of people under 65 who are privately insured get their benefits through their workplace as it is usually included with traditional compensation packages.
Therefore, for your clients, it is likely to be considered a fundamental to success in business to offer healthcare benefits to its employees. Below we expand in detail how offering affordable and usable medical plan benefits can improve recruitment, employee retention, and overall performance.
Healthcare Benefits on Hiring
According to CMS, the costs associated with healthcare continue to increase each year. National health spending is projected to grow at an average annual rate of 5.4 percent for 2019-28 and to reach $6.2 trillion by 2028. While Covid-19 is appearing to make these numbers seem lower than estimates, because of the pandemic, many potential and existing employees are putting healthcare costs as one of the major decisions to consider when maintaining or seeking employment. Salary continues to hold the top spot as motivator for job seekers, but employee benefits, such as health plan coverage, follow closely behind. In line with “The Great Resignation”, The Joblist’s U.S. Job Market Report shows that for job seekers who are not satisfied with their health plans, cost was the top complaint, with 61% saying that their health plans are too expensive.
The study also indicates that workplace benefits are more important to job seekers today than before the pandemic. Two out of three job seekers say that workplace benefits are more important to them now than before COVID, while only 6% say they are less important. Healthcare is the top benefit that job seekers care about (67%) while having a flexible work schedule is a close second (64%). Over half (54%) would even consider taking a lower-paying job that offered better benefits.
Now more than ever, it’s imperative for brokers to provide a repertoire of solutions for clients. Building a more cost-effective and robust health plan option for your clients will afford them the opportunity to use these options as a recruitment tool, which is proving to be an asset in todays job market.
Healthcare Benefits on Retention
Employee turnover has become a recurrent and unrelenting reality for many of your clients. Factor in the Great Resignation and pandemic and we now have enormous shifts in workplaces across the country that are facing historic levels of exiting employees. The Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS) report states, in September 2021, 4.43 million United States employees quit their jobs, a continuation of an ongoing trend that some are calling a “quitting economy.”
In this changing environment, there’s an opportunity for brokers and consultants to play a role in improving their clients retention rates by designing providing health plan options that are equitable for both the employer and employees while maintaining a level of coverage that is usable.
Healthcare Benefits on Performance
Reviewing the information above, you have a tool set available that shows your clients how affordable health insurance options and retention go hand in hand, but what about employee performance? It is common knowledge that affordable health insurance options increase employee satisfaction, resulting in them being happier and more engaged. As employees feel more valued, shown through such offerings as affordable medical plan benefits, the less likely they are to look for employment elsewhere.
Additionally, an employee’s health is crucial to work performance. If an employer provides access to a medical plan, and more specifically an affordable plan built with employees in mind, they can take better care of themselves and their families. The healthier a company’s employees are, the less likely they are to utilize sick days and miss work.The direct correlation between companies that invest in a medical benefit and wellness programs reflect in their employees’ productivity.
Bottom Line
Backed by study after study, both potential and existing employees are placing a high value on health insurance alternatives and/or plans. Affordability based medical plans are shown to add value in attracting and retaining employees as they are cost-effective and have the ability to be customized to fit the needs of your clients business and their employees. It is vital that as a broker or consultant you communicate to your clients the need for their understanding in what they are required to offer and what their employees value and expect.
By providing all employees, including part-time, hourly and niche class workers a quality medical plan, your clients can reduce health care costs associated with their business, provide benefits they will actually use and increase their business’s productivity. Whether you have part-time workers, contractors, or full-time employees, Coterie Advisory Group through its product offerings available with Fundamental Care, offers affordable health coverage options to both attract and retain any type of employee!
We offer Affordability Based Medical Insurance Plans
Fundamental Care offers two Affordability-Based Medical insurance options which can assist:
An employer-sponsored, level-funded, Limited-Day Health Plan for small to mid-size employers and carve-out classes of large employers. Plans cost 30-40% less than HDHPs with no deductibles. A near-comprehensive plan that both employers and employees can afford.
THREE LEVELS OF PLAN
An affordable Bronze MVP plan – with no deductible
An affordable mid-range MEC plan with limited days of hospitalization– with no deductible
A Value priced outpatient expense MEC plan- with no deductible
A Limited-Benefit Indemnity Plan for large employers with part-time, hourly, and seasonal employees; and for associations and affinity groups. An affordable option for the uninsured that provides coverage for basic medical expenses.
Available with or without Minimum Essential Coverage (MEC) and Minimum Value Plans (MVP)
Both can be customized and structured with affordable premiums and no deductibles. The plans are high in potential coverage, guaranteed issue, and include upfront, day-one benefits. Healthcare you can actually use.
Coterie Advisory Group, Inc. is a National insurance program manager and consultative advisor who delivers Affordability-Based Medical Plan Strategies to help benefit brokers, employers, and associations in the benefits industry.