Group Health Insurance

Group Health Insurance

Group Health Insurance

The changing healthcare landscaping under the Affordable Healthcare Act has employers looking for solutions to balance the benefits of offering a quality healthcare program that helps attract and keep the very best employees and the need to stem rising costs.

We can provide you with choices that address your concerns as an employer and enable you to continue to offer healthcare solutions to your employees. These include: traditional employer-sponsored group health insurance, which bundles all employees into one group. This keeps premiums much lower than those found on the individual health insurance market. And while you accept much of the cost of the insurance policies, there are options that can mitigate employer expenses. You can opt for health maintenance organization (HMO) plans that can provide savings over open plans. There are also preferred provider organization (PPO) plans that transfer some of the costs of care to policyholders if they choose to go outside the in-network providers.

Offering Options

You can also choose to offer employer-paid group health, consumer-driven plans (CDHPs). When done right, CDHP’s place more of the financial responsibility for healthcare in the policyholder’s hands through higher deductibles. You may modify traditional group health plans by requiring higher co-pays for higher-cost providers. Alternatively, you can make your health plan premium contributions part of a defined contribution benefit plan.

Some insurers join together wellness programs and health insurance coverage to promote employee health and minimize the need for expensive healthcare services. We are able to offer a unique offering and a build your own design plan. Many offer call centers, nurse phone consultations, and online information all designed to make plan administration easier and claims more efficient.

At Capstone Insurance, we have a dedicated group benefits team to help you with all of your group health plan and other benefits needs. We may also be able to assist you in setting up a flexible savings account system to encourage employees to manage their health expenditures wisely on a tax-advantaged basis.

Consumer-Driven Health Care

A 2012 survey found that 90% of employers don’t have plans to reduce their employee benefits. If you are in the majority but are struggling to find ways to continue offering healthcare insurance, you might be interested in a consumer-driven healthcare plan (CDHP). These health plans typically come with a high deductible but are more affordable than traditional group health plans.

The concept behind them is to encourage policyholders to be more active in healthcare decision-making by giving them more of the financial responsibility for treatment options. CDHP plans are usually associated with employee savings accounts that are dedicated solely for medical costs. A health savings account (HSA) is one funding mechanism that can be paid for by the employee using pre-tax income. The HSA can be supplemented by the employer, but it belongs to the employee and can be carried to another job if the employee leaves your company.

Other savings options include a health reimbursement account (HRA), which is established and funded by the employer, and a flexible savings account (FSA), which is similar to an HSA but can be used with a traditional group health insurance plan as well. Funds in an FSA cannot be rolled over either to another employer or to another plan year. If they aren’t used, they are lost to the employee. The group benefits staff at Nottingham Insurance will help you examine the alternatives available to you.