As national debate about the future of healthcare continues, most business owners are finding the issue hits uncomfortably close to home. With healthcare premiums rising consistently, keeping staff insured can be daunting – increased costs for the employer and staff can seem inevitable. But it doesn't have to be this way.
Companies that perform healthcare benefits audits are gaining in popularity. Swerdlin and Company, in Atlanta, performs these audits and has seen a rise recently in the number of companies looking for outside assistance in lowering healthcare premiums without simply transferring expenses to employees.
"Most employers really don't understand what [health benefits] they have and why," said Dell Kubler, lead health and welfare consultant for Swerdlin and Company. "Many employers have no budget, no alignment with corporate strategy and no understanding of their employees' opinions on their benefits."
This problem can be solved with a health benefits audit, which Kubler says typically takes about 60 to 90 days. He explains that the purpose of the audit is to help business owners get a better understanding of their costs. Once they have this, they can figure out a way to lower their expenses without taking benefits away from the employees.
Spectral Response in Duluth called Swerdlin and Company this year to figure out a plan for cutting healthcare costs, and was amazed at the results.
"They came in and got really creative about our healthcare plans," said Laurie Steward, human resources manager at Spectral Response. "We have about 90 employees, and we anticipate that we will save about $57,000 this year in health benefits costs as opposed to last year."
The key to these savings is that the auditors go beyond simply pricing plans at other companies. Instead, they work to break the cycle in which, according to Kubler, 90 percent of companies have three-to-four-year health benefits purchasing cycles.
"We don't push a client to change carriers," said Joanne Swerdlin, executive vice president at Swerdlin and Company. "People think if they are going to change their costs they have to change their carriers, and that's not true."
In the case of Spectral Response, the auditors, Spectral Response and the insurance company all sat down together to customize a strategic program that would lower costs but not reduce benefits.
Swerdlin and Company also took the time to make sure the plan they were customizing would be understood and appreciated by everyone in the company, and not just the decision makers.
"We had meetings with every single employee and the president," explained Swerdlin. "Everyone was involved in the process and bought in."
Considering that health benefits audits typically leave employees with the same or improved benefits helps in achieving this buy-in. Swerdlin has developed a calculator that lets clients see what percent of employees are reaching their deducible so companies have a better idea of what they are dealing with.
Swerdlin explains that it is often only a few employees that hit their deductibles. This allows many companies to raise their employees' deductibles and lower costs. To make sure that employees are not funding the companies reduced costs, the companies can put aside money to supplement the benefits of the few employees who do reach their deductibles.
"Any company that has a written benefits strategy and an established health care budget that they stay within, doesn't need my help," said Kubler. "Everyone else does. We are saving organizations between 20 and 35 percent on healthcare."
