A new healthcare plan - recruit, retain and reward

With health benefit cost expected to jump 5.4% this year due to inflation-driven price increases, employers are focusing on cost management. At the same time, enhancing benefits to help attract and retain workers remains a priority for many. How are brokers responding to this challenge?

According to Mercer’s People Risk 2024 National Survey of 4,500 HR/Risk professionals, nearly two thirds — 64% — of the business leaders surveyed say they are planning to make enhancements to their health and well-being offerings to support attraction and retention and better meet employee needs in 2024, and over a quarter — 28% — made enhancements within the past two years.

The survey also indicated that shifting more cost to employees through higher deductibles, co-pays, or out-of-pocket limits was off the table. Brokers are helping their clients meet this challenge by offering out-of-the-box benefit plans that employees want and need, and health care they can afford, while also managing the company’s cost growth.

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Health Benefit Solution for Small S Corp.

Greenspace Associates, Inc. is a locally owned and operated full-service landscaping company serving the Quad City area of Iowa and Illinois since 1989. As a small employer with less than 50 employees, the company’s health insurance options are very limited. And to make matters worse, we didn’t have enough employees participating in coverage to offer a dual choice. Greenspace owners decided to purchase a high deductible Health Reimbursement Arrangement (HRA) to keep cost affordable for all employees.

“Unfortunately, our family couldn’t participate in the HRA as majority shareholders of the business, which is a Sub Chapter S Corporation which precludes the 2% or more shareholder from participating in the company sponsored HRA,” explains Emma Trizzino, company president.

Her broker suggested ExectSelect, a supplemental health and wellness plan that covers deductibles, out-of-pocket-expenses and can be offered to key employees.

“ExecSelect is the perfect solution. I recommend it to all closely-held, family-owned businesses that struggle to find adequate health care coverage.”