In life and business, “good enough” is rarely enough. You want your benefits to deliver better health care outcomes at a lower price and you want outstanding performance at work. Part of that performance is caring for your employees via the company health care plan. As the second or third biggest expense for your company, the health care outcomes for your employees should be excellent, not “good enough.” But this is rarely the case. For most companies, the health plan they provide is expensive, and the care employees receive is lackluster. If we want meaningful results for our business and employees, we have to push beyond the status quo. 

The Problems Inside the Status Quo

Maintaining business “as usual” can lead to financial disaster. For most health care plans, rates increase 8%-12% each year. This is unsustainable over the long-term. If a plan increases in price by 10% every year, it doubles every eight years. Even if you endure only a 6% increase, this is only “less bad”—it’s still not a positive improvement. The money has to come from somewhere, and if your profits don’t grow as quickly as your health care expenses, you may need to pull those resources from another part of your company. When you’re responsible for your company’s P&L sheet, sticking with the status quo is risky business. 

Even positive change comes with fear to fuel maintaining the status quo.  Each year at renewal season, you may have a choice to make: Enroll in a new, unfamiliar plan, or stick with the devil you already know. Signing the renewal paperwork is an easy way to hide your ignorance by admitting you have no control.  

Don’t delay a hard decision for another 12 months because the problem doesn’t go away. Change (rate increases or plan modifications) is inevitable and if you don’t control change, change will control you. If all your other P&L line items can have a variance analysis, shouldn’t your medical plan offer the same opportunity to be managed?

Renewing “as is” often means higher prices for a new version of benefits, not exactly the same services you received for the last 12 months. Even when the insurance company touts a new plan offering to save company and employee money, members often experience hidden costs somewhere else. Holding to a ‘No Change’ in price looks good, but someone inevitably loses money on the deal, and it’s never the insurance company.

Benefits Discussion

A Dangerous Misconception

All of this complexity surrounding health care has led to a dangerous misconception: You can’t do anything about it. Prices will continue to rise every year, the value of the services will remain the same, and you’re helpless to make a difference for your employees. Despite your best efforts, it feels like “good enough” is the best you can do. 

Wrong.

You have a choice. 

It’s time to take the horse by the reins!  By managing the healthcare supply chain and committing to a real strategy, you can optimize your health plan to better serve your employees while simultaneously lowering costs. We’ve worked with CFOs across Kentucky to add value and eliminate waste in their medical plans. We’ve helped multiple clients save $200,000 a year (in one case it was $400,000—26% of their total health care spend) by eliminating wasteful spending. You can do the same. 

A Complimentary Assessment

Health care is complicated and many struggle to figure out how they can improve their plan. To help, we’re offering a complimentary assessment of your health care plan. Fill out our survey, then send us the results. We’ll analyze your responses to develop a customized plan specifically for your company to deliver better healthcare outcomes with less risk at a lower price.

You can take the assessment with the form below. Once you’ve completed it, we’ll reach out to discuss your results.

Complimentary Assessment

  • Assessment - Strategic Control

  • Assessment - Employee Empowerment

  • Assessment - Cost Containment

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