Controlling Corporate Healthcare Costs

Originally posted on Total Industrial Plant Solutions

After working on his own as an independent healthcare insurance broker for several years, Ryan recently took a job with a bigger brokerage. When he broke the news to his wife that the company he joined did not offer a traditional PPO or HMO insurance plan, she wasn’t thrilled. After all, Americans have been conditioned to these models for years.

A few weeks later, Ryan’s wife woke up and found one of their three children not feeling well, and she immediately grew frustrated as she knew what that meant: she would have to cancel her plans for the day and arrange alternative plans to carpool her other two children to school so she could take her sick child to the doctor. She immediately went to the mobile app on her phone to schedule an appointment at her child’s doctor’s office, only to learn that a telehealth consult with a physician could be scheduled remotely within the hour. So she gave it a try.

Ten minutes later, from the couch in her living room, a physician conducted a telehealth appointment remotely via Ryan’s wife’s mobile phone. After asking a few questions of the mother and child, the doctor advised that he had written a prescription for the child and it would be available for pick up within 30 minutes at her regular pharmacy.

It turns out mom didn’t have to cancel her carpool schedule at all, nor re-arrange her schedule for the day. That was it.

The irony of this story? The American healthcare delivery model is fragmented and broken, yet our innate desire to resist any sort of change keeps us clinging to ineffective plans such as a PPO’s or HMO’s. Stories like this exemplify how inane that resistance to change truly is.

New Alternatives

New alternative approaches to providing employees and employee family member’s healthcare are sweeping the country. But you are not likely to ever hear about them unless you ask your broker. Why? Your broker is like a realtor, the more money you pay, the more they make.

So, it’s time to ask! When you do ask, you will learn that the more employees that engage in smart healthcare decisions, the more your company and the employee both stand to save. So creating a work environment that encourages smart, engaged healthcare decisions is key. Many of these corporate offerings are turn-key and simply require your organization to contract with an organization and move forward! Here is a list of several offerings that could provide improved care and access to your employees, while drastically reducing your company’s overall healthcare costs.

1. Telehealth options

As discussed above, when used as an alternative to a primary care visit, both telehealth and 24-hour call lines can reduce wasteful spending and eliminate unnecessary delays in care.

2. Disease Specific Programs

The old saying that 10 percent of your employees account for more than 90 percent of your overall spending is never truer than in healthcare. Expenses on chronic diseases like diabetes can be reduced drastically if your company invests in and offers a prevention program for employees at risk for diabetes.

3. DNA Testing

Companies offering voluntary DNA testing or genome sequencing for employees are finding that the potential to save thousands on unnecessary medications and preventable chronic diseases has a swift return on investment. DNA test identify which medications are ineffective on an individual and also identify those who are pre-disposed to acquire several forms of cancer.

4. Integrative, Functional or Naturopathic medicine consults

The reemergence of natural methods to live healthier and prevent increased likelihood of chronic disease by better understanding each individual’s body composition has proven to be a quick return on investment as well.

5. Local Medical Tourism

Employees who choose a Center of Excellence, or in-network provider may save a few thousand dollars, but your company can save anywhere from $40,000 to $80,000 on major procedures. Making sure employees understand that the quality of care at both facilities is comparable often is enough to convince them to choose the in-network provider. And if not, why not offer to pay their personal co-pay if it saves the company $20,000 or more?

Simple Tactics, Quick Results

Companies all over the country are proving that simple tactics like this can produce quick results. Not only will the employee and employer save significant dollars in year one, but you are also likely to see enhanced access to care, improved quality and an increase in overall employee morale as a result.

Keep in mind that you don’t even need to tackle all of these tactics in the first year. Many companies have had great success starting with two or three of these tactics and adding others later.

Of late, companies like Walmart, Disney, Apple, Amazon, JP Morgan and Berkshire Hathaway have all declared war on healthcare costs. Isn’t it time that your organization declare your tipping point on wasteful and excessive healthcare spending?

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