Activate Healthcare Equity - Benefit$ with John Clay

What does your pool like today??

It's 2022, the economic storm is coming, and it's kind of like the helicopters coming off these oak trees - they fall into your pool.?

Many people are in the pool of risk that doesn't have any filter.?

For small to midsize employers - the healthcare benefits package is just an operational expense or OPEX.?

You know, our big box brokers love 'em! High cost, big overhead... And they come to you with renewal, with no control over the outcomes.?

Another year? Another 10%-15% increase. You set it and forget it...?

Few entrepreneurs look at their medical plan as a human capital investment. And they start asking DIFFERENT QUESTIONS about their spending.?Sadly, the majority of CFOs and COOs and many CEOs defer to HR, who allow their broker to simply meet the "industry standards" with huge chunks of owner equity.?

This behavior could have been justified at times when health insurance premium was not that big of a deal. However, in 2022, health insurance spent is #2 expense on your balance sheet. It needs "a little" more attention than simply a non-PNL responsibility person in your business.?

Those who like to hit the "easy" button for healthcare plans will have to pay a lot in 2022-2023.?"Easy" becomes extremely expensive. Status Quo advisers work hard to deliver the cheapest solution expecting that businesses will fall for the promise that they're getting the lowest price possible.?

Let's stop this madness ))?

Spreadsheets don't prevent you from huge opportunity costs and overpaying for your benefits plan. It's that simple. The Status Quo dysfunctional plans usually do more harm than good to the company's financial situation and certainly to those employees and their household financial situation.?

Think of this: out-of-pocket limits of $5,000... If your employee has a major healthcare event, and their salary is $50,000 - that's 10% of their growth.?

According to CNBC (Mar 8 / 2022), as inflation heats up, 64% of Americans live paycheck to paycheck, with limited-to-no savings. The PPO discounts the brokers are selling you aren't going to overcome the risk transfers to those employees for those huge out-of-pocket sums. If you save money on healthcare, you transfer that risk to employees.?

How does this affect your company? There is a number of ways...?

Post-pandemic the labor pool is shrunk. People are coming of government-subsidized free healthcare. As an employer, you're trying to sell them on the idea of giving all that up and coming back to work. Trading financial security of the stay-at-home rocking chair life for the risk of a job that, say, in the construction - may be dangerous, having long hours, or requiring that person to actually show up for work. ON TIME.?

If you're looking for that rockstar, the most experienced professionals have a family to take care of - and pay attention to numbers. With human capital and their expenses for the premium, most companies that do not treat their healthcare plan as an investment, overpay for the talent acquisition.?

Find out how this can work for YOUR business >>

The definition of "INVESTMENT" according to Investopedia is: "any mechanism used for generating future income." Here's how to examine your healthcare plan as an equity investment your organization makes on an annual basis:?

1. LOOK AT YOUR DEMOGRAPHICS. If most of your employes - current or potential - have a family, then a great benefits package for you is a way of keeping operating costs low because employees at a lower salary when excellent health insurance benefits are provided. This is because it generally costs more for someone to obtain an individual or family health insurance policy than to get employer-sponsored coverage, making the difference of a lower salary possible.?
2. A study conducted by America's Health Insurance Plan (AHIP) revealed that 46 percent?of respondents said health insurance was either the deciding factor or a positive influence when choosing their current job. Salary continues to be a top motivator for job seekers, but benefits, such as healthcare coverage, follow closely behind. A?Glassdoor survey?looked at the top factors job seekers look for while looking through job ads. The results showed that HEAVY Consideration was given to salary - came in at 67 percent, BETTER benefits at 63 percent, and the location at 59 percent. How can your company take advantage of that? Can you make the adjustment, promote it and deliver what the labor market demands or continue to give your benefits package a secondary role in the talent acquisition process??
3. RESEARCH. Know the industry numbers and discover how they can impact your organization before the renewal. The market "pulse" usually starts giving signals long before the actual news is out.?Here are some updates you might find useful:

Healthcare Investments & Exists Report >>?https://www.svb.com/globalassets/library/managedassets/pdfs/healthcare-report-2021-midyear.pdf

?Healthcare Industry Reputation Trends 2022 https://go.reputation.com/hubfs/Downloadable%20Assets/Healthcare%20Assets/Healthcare%20Reports/2022%20Healthcare%20Reputation%20Report.pdf

Want to see where the risk is really going?? Last show we referred to BUCAH’s? - the big healthcare companies.? Blue Cross, United, Cigna, Aetna & Humana.? Here is a slide that demonstrates their commitment to your bottom line:

Notice the Light blue line there - OVERALL inflation - for 2019 it was flat, welcome to 2022 at a 6-8.5% inflation rate, gas has jumped to $4.29 per gallon this week in Somerset, Kentucky - Just in time for tourism & Boating season - How does that affect your workforce?? BOOM!

And at last, how much does it cost you to have non-performing equity trapped in a BAD benefits plan???

High Opportunity costs

Low Morale

Employees who are Functionally uninsured

Constant turnover/training

Poor Reputation

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If you have a 150-person medical plan, What could you do with $750,000 in EBITDA delivered to your bottom line?

Solutions exist to help manage the healthcare supply chain to take control of your OPEX and transition that into CAPEx to deliver value with transparency including the predictable, measurable, and repeatable performance of that Equity spend.

YOU CAN restore financial security to your employees and release that trapped capital wasted inside your medical plan!