Health benefits are something of “being caught between a rock and a hard place” for most franchisors and franchisees. In the current market, offering a great package is almost necessary if you want to attract the best employees. On the other hand, health benefits are getting more expensive. What’s a company to do?
It is a challenge when you need to meet a budget to ensure your employees have the necessary health benefits. Follow these guidelines to ensure your employees are getting the benefits they need.
To quote the Rolling Stones, “You can’t always get what you want,” but for health benefits, you can get what you need. The first step to making sure your employees’ needs are being met is to actually sit down and define what “necessary” benefits are.
In 2016, it became a requirement for businesses with more than 50 full-time employees to offer health insurance. Small businesses with fewer than 50 full-time employees were set to follow suit. Currently, you are legally required to provide at least some health insurance to your employees. Companies like Lewer Benefits Group can assist in helping you determining what is necessary.
There are plenty of different health benefit plan types on the market. Not all of them meet the requirements set out in the ACA legislation; however, some plan types don’t qualify as “minimum essential coverage.” Most health benefit plans, however, do meet this threshold.
But just following the letter of the law doesn’t actually tell you what your employees need. Yes, they need a health insurance plan, but what needs to be in that plan?
Different plans contain different benefits, which is a good thing. This allows employers some flexibility in choosing the health benefits that best fit their employees’ needs. After all, a business that employs many people aged about 55 is going to need a very different health plan than a firm that employs only people under 25.
That brings you back to the original question: How do you ensure your employees are getting the necessary coverage? One good way is to ask them. Employees might tell you what their ideal benefits package would include, but they’ll also tell you about the types of coverage they need the most—and the coverage they’ll use.
At the bare minimum, health benefits refer to medical insurance, which covers medical expenses. This could include hospital stays, doctor visits, medical equipment like crutches, and prescription drugs. Plans usually don’t offer coverage for something such as cosmetic surgery, which is an elective surgery.
Medical insurance also doesn’t include dental coverage or vision coverage, although those types of insurance plans can be considered health benefits. Other options could include a wellness program or preventative care benefits. While there are definite incentives for employers to offer these kinds of programs, they’re typically not “necessary coverage.”
Generally speaking, most employees are happy with basic medical insurance that provides for prescriptions, visits to the doctor, and hospital stays. Few employees will ever use anything beyond these benefits, although some undoubtedly will have more serious medical concerns that require special procedures, tests, or therapies.
You might also give some serious thought to providing dental coverage, as it’s proven that dental health is important to overall health. Keeping your teeth healthy can help reduce the chance you’ll develop heart disease or other medical problems.
There are some very good reasons to offer health benefits, and not just because the law says so. In fact, benefits are an excellent tool to help you attract and retain talented employees, as well as boosting their engagement and productivity. More talented, more productive employees are good news for your bottom line.
