5 STEPS TO MAKING EMPLOYEE HEALTH BENEFITS EASY FOR YOUR ORGANIZATION

It’s a lot of work to own and/or run a business. You’re pulled in a lot of different directions, so finding ways to make your life easier is essential. This is especially true when it comes to employee health benefits. Sponsoring an employee benefits plan is a big investment and sometimes it can be a lot of work; the good news is that there are a number of ways to make it easier.

1. Choose the Right Provider

The first and most important way to make employee health benefits easy for your organization is to choose the right provider. The provider is the company that you work with to deliver the employee benefits plan.

The right provider is one that is focused on service. They provide a wide variety of best-in-class employee benefits products and coverages; they develop new products to address the needs of their customers. The right provider has developed their own administrative and support frameworks to deliver an exceptional benefits experience.

It’s essential to choose a provider who shares your philosophy. For example, GroupHEALTH is focused on delivering long-term, sustainable benefits. This means focusing on the best value. Do your homework both online and via a conversation to ensure you and your provider are on the same page.

2. Review the Plan Regularly

A good employee benefits plan is not static. It does not stay the same year after year. If it does, then you’re creating work for yourself. Make it easy for your organization by regularly reviewing the plan so that you can make changes and improvements along the way. If you don’t, the plan will become very out-dated and eventually you will have to start from scratch.

You likely want to use the plan as a tool to keep workers happy and healthy; it’s also an important part of your recruitment and retention campaign. If the plan isn’t regularly reviewed and updated, it can’t efficiently meet those goals.

Along with regular communication, your provider should review your plan each year to make sure the plan is the best it can be for your organization. Remember, the needs of your employees change, so your plan should too.

3. Go Paperless

More and more businesses have transitioned to paperless service, and employee benefits should be no different. It’s better for the environment and it makes things easier for your organization. Going paperless means you have a single platform to review all benefits-related documents. This includes digital billing statements. It means that remote work is possible because benefits information can be accessed online.

Another important way to go paperless is to provide employees with the opportunity to enroll in the benefits plan online. Online enrollment with GroupHEALTH means employees are guided through the enrollment process with powerful software that helps explain all aspects of the process to the employee. It means fewer errors in transferring handwritten information from paper enrollment forms to an administration platform. In short – it’s more accurate and more efficient.

4. Insist on Good Technology

One of the keys to making employee benefits easy for your organization is technology. When choosing a plan and a provider, it’s essential to choose one that has good technology to make the everyday administration of your plan easy.

Look for a platform that is user-friendly. Find one that allows you to automate key day-to-day tasks and break down usage and other stats in ways that make sense for your company. Some administration platforms also include triggers and alarms to help your administrator identify important deadlines for employees.

Finally, ensure your employees also have access to good technology. An online app and an employee platform for benefits means employees will have an easier time learning about the benefits they have available, making claims and being reimbursed. If employees are engaged in their benefits they’re more likely to feel supported and valued, which helps improve morale and create a positive working environment.

5. Ensure You Have Support

Just like any service industry, the kind of support you receive can make or break your experience. Employee benefits are no different. If you and your employees want to have the best benefits experience possible, you have to receive excellent support. The administrator at your company should have a contact person that they can reach out to for help. No one likes getting stuck in an endless phone loop trying to get past an automated “helper.” Instead, make sure you have real people there to support you and your employees.

Ensure training is available so that the plan administrator at your company knows how to leverage the administration platform for your needs. Make sure you have access to training both when you launch the benefit plan, and when you want to train someone new to take on the role of plan administrator at your company.

When things happen in the world, you need to know that you have support and that your employees have support. Consider the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic: did your benefits provider help you navigate the new territory of virtual interactions for paramedical services or mental health support for anxiety and stress? Were they one step ahead of you when it came to questions about how COVID-19 would impact benefits? If not, they should have been.

Good Advice is Key

Employee health benefits don’t have to be hard. In fact, there are a number of ways to make them easy for your organization. Review your options with one of our licensed advisors on the phone or in person or contact us for a comparison quote.

Whether you’re looking for extended health and dental coverage, disability coverage, or life and critical illness coverage, GroupHEALTH has affordable benefits packages that work as hard as you do.