Controlling benefit costs and attracting and retaining a competitive workforce remains the top two HR priorities. But addressing both of those objectives is difficult because one may negatively impact the other. It is important to find a balance between both objectives to steady the teetering seesaw.
Control Benefit Costs
Over the past decade, primary health plan premium costs have steadily risen. Employers have been forced to control costs by either degrading coverage or using cost shifting strategies, such as:
- Moving to a higher deductible
- Increasing cost-sharing
- Changing formularies
While these strategies may seem like the most logical way to control costs, it inhibits HR’s other main objective: securing talent.
Boost Talent Management
The tight talent market has employers scrambling to recruit and retain the necessary talent required for optimal company performance. However, a lacking health benefits package makes that an even larger challenge.
- Benefits is the top consideration before joining or leaving a company
- The majority of employees would prefer a new benefit to a pay raise
- Healthcare is the #1 benefit as rated by employees
With all of these facts taken into consideration, it is clear that degrading healthcare coverage to control benefit costs won’t support the objective of boosting talent management. It will actually negatively impact this priority.
Balance the HR Seesaw
To tackle both of these equally important, yet waring objectives, you must optimize the benefits structure to work specifically with a company’s talent management needs. How is that possible?
Expense reimbursed insurance. This type of supplemental benefit can be added onto the primary plan, but just for select employee classes as chosen by the employee. That means boosting benefits for just those difficult-to-recruit-and-retain positions without having to change the overall company coverage.
With plans that range from $5,000 to $100,000 of coverage, expense reimbursed insurance makes it possible to customize and optimize for each company’s specific needs. It’s finally possible to address both of HR’s top priorities with positive impact.