When designing a benefit plan for your employees consider some of these concepts to keep your premiums lower...
- Offer a Flexible Spending Account that provides tax savings to the employees and employer - Employees can choose to have pre-tax money directed into an account from each paycheck to pay for co-pays, deductibles, and other qualified medical expenses (such as over-the-counter medicines, eyeglasses, dental charges, etc). Additionally, if employees contribute toward premium costs for themselves or their dependents, these contributions will be taken out on a pre-tax basis. As the employer, you save social security, worker's comp and unemployment compensation on the amount deferred.
- Offer two plans to your employees, a high and a low option (for example a Keystone HMO with a Personal Choice PPO). Base the employer's contribution on the cost of the low option (HMO). Employees are then given the opportunity to buy up to the high option (PPO).
- Add a co-pay for inpatient hospital admissions and outpatient surgery - the premium savings generated can be put into a Health Reimbursement Arrangement (HRA). An HRA would allow for reimbursement to employees as they actually utilize hospitalization services.
Please contact us for more information.