Avoid these costly mistakes when it comes to your healthcare plan
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OPEN ENROLLMENT: Employers are facing a steep increase in healthcare costs this year, impacting how they shape their benefits budget and the health of their workforce. But what if some of that budget isn't going to employees at all because of open enrollment errors?
Benefits brokerage Nava Benefits audited over 600 insurance carrier bills charged to their employer clients, finding that 90% had enrollment errors. While some were damaging financially — the employer was paying for workers who weren't actually enrolled in healthcare benefits, for example — others negatively impacted the company's reputation: Workers who had chosen to be on their employer's plan weren't enrolled, and now can't access care. Either way, these mistakes come at a cost of billions of dollars.?
Here's how to audit your plans and ensure you're not forfeiting funds: 90% of employers have open enrollment errors — and it's costing them billions
ERGS: Today, 90% of Fortune 500 companies have ERGs, according to a recent survey from management consulting company McKinsey. Active involvement in these groups can support more inclusive benefits decisions, as well as improved recruitment and retention efforts, says Cynthia McEwen, SHRM-SCP , the VP of people and head of DEI at family building solution Progyny, Inc.
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" 亚马逊 recently restructured their fertility and family building benefits through us, and that was because one of their employee resource groups brought the need up to the company's decision makers," McEwen says. "Just being able to bring these issues to leadership ensures that companies are really offering the most inclusive benefits and policies for everyone they serve."
Read more about how ERGs can support more inclusive care: How ERGs can influence your benefit strategy
ADVISING STRATEGIES: "Healthcare consulting is complicated. Solving for an answer to fix it is not straightforward. Even more difficult is getting multiple decision makers, sometimes with conflicting perceptions on value, to come together," writes Donovan Ryckis , CEO at Ethos Benefits . "So instead of asking, "How can I advise a great benefits package?" Let's reverse this thought process and think of the opposite: "How did I lose my client this year?" or "How can I make it easy for my competition to start conversations with my clients?"?
Ryckis walks through several ways to improve relationships with clients and instill confidence in benefits decisions: 7 scenarios for applying inversion thinking to healthcare challenges
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1 å¹´Accurate enrollment is a must have (and should be a given) for a good experience for all involved and sets the tone for the relationship going forward. Employers are careful about the vendors they select to offer products to their employees and they expect a quality experience for both them and their employees. Carriers need to make sure they are partnering closely to make sure employers and other partners are clear on requirements and there is adequate time for proper set up and testing so look for partners with expertise and focus in the area of enrollment. Getting it right up front means you can avoid costly errors and reputation damage from bad experiences.