The U.S. healthcare market is uncertain. It’s no secret that rising healthcare costs are taking a financial toll on both employees and employers in the United States. In 2019, the healthcare costs are expected to average close to $15,000 per person, with employers expected to pay for 70 percent of it. As these prices keep climbing, companies are looking for supplemental health insurance alternatives to help reduce costs and also offer their employees additional coverage that their traditional healthcare plan won’t in the event of an unexpected accident or illness.
Offering Supplemental Health Insurance to Your Employees
With healthcare-related expenses being a leading cause of bankruptcy in the U.S., supplemental health insurance offerings can be the lifeline an individual and/or their families will need to rely on.
What is supplemental health insurance?
Supplemental health insurance is extra or additional insurance that consumers can purchase to help pay for out-of-pocket medical expenses such as deductibles, copayments and coinsurance that their traditional plan doesn’t cover. Other plans may provide a cash benefit dispersed out over a period, or given to you in one-lump-sum. The cash can be used to cover lost wages, pay for transportation, food, medication and other expenses you have due to injury or illness.
How does a supplemental health insurance plan work?
Supplemental insurance plan coverage can be purchased through an employer at a cheaper rate than if a consumer bought a plan directly through a carrier. Depending on what plan and the various options within each plan, the amount paid out to the insured enrollee can vary by policy.
Types of supplemental health insurance
With supplemental health insurance options, consumers feel more at ease when there is an abundance of choices to pick and choose from. The following voluntary healthcare options are a few of the most in-demand today:
Critical illness insurance—This plan complements major medical coverage by dispersing the lump-sum benefit for an employee diagnosed with a covered critical illness.
Cancer insurance—This supplemental benefit manages the risks associated with the cancer disease and its associated mutations. It is used to downplay the costs of cancer treatment and provide policyholders with a degree of financial security.
Hospital indemnity insurance—This plan provides a lump-sum benefit to help with the out-of-pocket costs related to a hospital stay.
Accident insurance—This plan helps offset the unexpected medical expenses that result from an accidental injury.
The benefits for employees
- Supplemental coverage is cheaper when purchased through an employer
- More healthcare options allow for greater customization by individual
- Those covered with supplemental coverage feel more confident in their health and financial future
- Supplemental plans disperse lump-sum cash to enrollees, variable on the selection process
- Benefit enrollments can be automatically deducted from payroll
The benefits for employers
- Supplemental coverage can be offered to employees at little, to no direct cost to employers
- Coverage directly affects employee happiness which affects the ability to attain and retain top employees
- Increases in workforce productivity
- Enrollments can be deducted directly from an employee’s paycheck
- Additional benefits enrolled in create lower healthcare costs over time
The Arcoro Supplemental Healthcare Benefits Management Solution
Increasing organizational communication and transparency, navigating the challenges of ACA compliance, and seamlessly handling the transfer of employee voluntary selections to appropriate carriers during Open Enrollment (OE) are all elements of benefits administration technology that employers are looking to add most.
The Arcoro Benefits Management module automates critical workflows to improve processes for both HR administrators and the employee population they manage. Its built-in integration with over 300 partners creates an established connection to internal and external applications including to insurance carriers, payroll providers, brokers, ERP systems HCM platforms and more. This allows employers to secure, manage and transfer high-compliance data with ease.
Aside from a robust, cloud-based Benefits Management module, Arcoro features the following modules within the full platform:
- Core HR
- ACA Compiance
- Time and Attendance
- Payroll Processing
- Applicant Tracking System
- Onboarding
- Performance Management
- Learning Management
- Succession Planning
Contact Arcoro today if you are interested in learning more about Benefits Management, the full platform or if you would like to schedule a demo.
Related Reading:
YOUR NO NONSENSE GUIDE TO HSA CONTRIBUTION LIMITS AND MORE FOR EMPLOYERS
3 REASONS WHY COMBINING VOLUNTARY BENEFITS WITH AN HDHP IS A WIN FOR BROKERS
EXPLAINING HIGH DEDUCTIBLE HEALTHCARE PLANS TO EMPLOYEES
THE CRITICAL ILLNESS INSURANCE MARKET CONTINUES TO TREND UPWARD IN THE US
5 REASONS BENEFITS BROKERS SHOULD OFFER CRITICAL ILLNESS INSURANCE TO THEIR CLIENTS
TWO CONGRESSIONAL BILLS TO POTENTIALLY UPDATE HSA, HRA, AND FSA PLANS
PET HEALTH INSURANCE IS ON THE RISE IN THE U.S. AND CANADA
ARE YOU THINKING ABOUT HEALTHCARE COSTS WHILE PLANNING FOR RETIREMENT?
