What kind of health coverage do you expect from your employer?

[lendaddy]

Looking for some input here.

I am a very small place with less than 15 guys on my health plan and 3 others that opted out (I pay them more if they have other coverage). The rest are either part time or haven't been here long enough yet (90 days). Anyway, here is what we currently pay.

100% of employee coverage for health. There is no employee copay for the insurance.

No dental or optical (they can pay for)

Family coverage is at their expense

$10 prescription co pay

$15 visit copay

All emergency visits (fever to sprained ankle to decapitation ) totally free.

I think there is like a $1000 maximum out of pocket for them a year.

So in a company this small, where does it rank as a plan? The reason Iask is that I use to pay maybe $2k a month in premiums and now I am paying nearly $5k a month Now work that out and thats an increase of $36,000 a year I've given in "raises".

The problem is my guys don't really know I've picked this up and hence don't likely appreciate it. I may give them all big raises and let them pay their own? I don't know, what do you guys think? I'm just looking to kick this ball around a little if you know what I mean.

[mikester]

Sounds pretty good for a small shop to me. The only real down I see is the lack of family coverage.

Personally I expect 100% coverage with zero out of pocket but I'm union and constantly disappointed.

Just kidding...

It SOUNDs good from your perspective but we don't know if it is an HMO or a PPO or what exactly it covers and such.

For example; my employer pays my and my families benefits premiums minus the usual copays of course. This is good for me and my son but not my wife who has different doctors that aren't covered under my plan. Lame; but really nit picking I suppose. She really doesn't want to change so she stayed with her employer's medical which costs us something like $160 a month.

Hmmmm...gonna have to talk to her about that one...

[Superman]

It's great that you provide this, or at least make it available at as reasonable a cost as possible. Individual policies are virtually nonexistent, I am told. The costs are rising exponentially, and it is quite reasonable that you watch those costs and dialogue with staff.

As to your question, the thing I want from health insurance is not cheap doctors' visits or cheap prescriptions. The thing I want is protection from catastrophic expenses. The kind that wipe families out. So, high copays and high deductibles are acceptable to me. I want my policy to be there for me if I suddenly incur tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars in emergency expenses.

[Jamie79SC]

As an employee, I would expect exactly the insurance agreed to when I negotiate the position. Health insurance is just another form of compensation. That said, obviously Super is right - an 'employer's dollar' goes a lot further than an individual's when buying insurance.

I don't know if there's such a thing in Michigan, but here in Washington State, we have an association called Washington Employers. As WE members our company is able to take advantage of a number of HR resources including relatively inexpensive group health coverage.

Your plan sounds OK – how much does it cost for employees to add dependants?

[Joeaksa]

We had the same thing at our company. The cost to our boss went up 400% in 5 years. It finally got too much and he offered us various options but everyone of them was a cost increase to us in our monthly paychecks.

I would sit them down and explain the costs you have had to absorb and give them some options to continue health care in the future.

JoeA

[Shaun @ Tru6]

Len, for a small company, I think you are offering more than most, good on you.

I agree with Joe. I've got one foot in the "share the company's financials" management philosophy so that everyone knows what's going on, understands the realities of running a company and that they feel like they are part of a team, or indeed family.

I think people can make good decisions as long as they are properly educated and can have a dialogue.

Of course the trick is to not sound like, "Hey, look at all this great stuff I'm doing for you... you better appreciate it." if/when you meet on the subject.

[lendaddy]

Good info guys, thanks.

It's not about paying less, I don't want to "charge" my guys anything. Personally, I think our coverage is overkill on the low copay and low Rx. Our catastrophic is really good, one of our guys spent a month at the Mayo Clinic for preety much free. I think me and Sup agree on this

FWIW it is a PPOM which means nothing to me. I have never had one of my guys complain (other than billing F'ups). I'm not at all up on the lingo, so an education is welcome. Where does a PPOM rank in the alphabet soup that is health care?

Oh and cost for a spouse is anywhere from $230 to $450 a month depending on age. A full family plan usually adds about $450 (total which includes spouse)a month and it's the same if you have 1 or 12 children.

[lendaddy]

Originally posted by Shaun 84 Targa


Of course the trick is to not sound like, "Hey, look at all this great stuff I'm doing for you... you better appreciate it." if/when you meet on the subject.

Thanks Shaun, and yep that's exactly it. I don't want to come accross like that to my guys. I've NEVER even brought up the increases to them. I'm sure they know, but I doubt they KNOW.

My agent (friend) and other businessmen I know tell me I'm nuts for not making them share the cost increases. I just don't know.

[jyl]

I think it's important to have them understand the cost of their health coverage, and what increases and decreases that cost. They should realize how much compensation they are getting in the form of health coverage, and how important it is to stay healthy and minimize unnecessary care. If things get to the point where you are forced to increase co-pays or require employee contribution, they'll understand it better.

I get pissed off at unnecessary care. We changed dentists because they seemed to be doing unneccessary procedures and scheduling multiple visits instead of getting it done in one, and we warned our dental carrier about it. Even though my company pays for the dental coverage, there's no reason to allow a rip off.

[turbo6bar]

Is it possible to get the guys on a Health Savings Plan? These are high deductible insurance plans. I priced out rates around $150-200/month for a single male.

[Jims5543]

I kept my employees involved when I shopped and signed up for an insurance plan. We have 10 employees here.

I also had them shop their own rates outside of a group plan. We tried the insurance thing for about 2 years. I found that my rates after the first 6 months steadily climbed every 1/4 to the point that it was getting rediculas.

I ended up giving all my employees a raise to the tune of $320 more a month and let them get their own policy. It was cheaper for me as a business owner to to that.

I have looked into employee leasing a couple of times now. As much as I hate the concept it keeps looking like the way to go, especially when you factor in the rising costs of health and work comp. insurance.

The plan you are offering to your employees sound like a great plan. For a small company its pretty awesome.

[john_colasante]

Originally posted by lendaddy


Family coverage is at their expense

This seems incongruous with everything else you are doing.

We let the employee select the plan (or allow opt out), the coverage they want, and every little detail. Then we pay 2/3 of the actual cost and deduct the rest from the paycheck. It is a pretty common approach thse days.

[john_colasante]

Originally posted by Jamie79SC
That said, obviously Super is right - an 'employer's dollar' goes a lot further than an individual's when buying insurance.

Maybe it used to be that way, but not anymore. A group plan may or may not be any cheaper than if an individual shops around and gets a good rate himself.

[lendaddy]

John, I simply cannot afford the extra $450 a month per employee to cover their families. That would put my bill over $10k a month and me in the poor house. It's a matter of math.

[john_colasante]

Originally posted by lendaddy
John, I simply cannot afford the extra $450 a month per employee to cover their families. That would put my bill over $10k a month and me in the poor house. It's a matter of math.

I understand. It's just incongruous. It's not done that way usually. That's all I'm saying.

[lendaddy]

I actually have the bill in front of me now. A few notes:

Family coverage is $621 a month more

Now, the ****yiest part of this is that I have been covering a couple guys on this for over a year. It's my fault for not keeping up on it and I will NOT make any attempt to backcharge them. What sucks is I have to call them in here and explain that I have to deduct another $175 a month from their checks moving forward.
This ought to go well.

[Mule]

I haven't heard of anybody covering families for free for a long time. In '91 my ex worked for the fed govt. and it would have cost $189 per month to add me on. First, the coverage is considerably above average. Second, you might want to do some shopping. Competiton seems to be finally making some inroads among these usary health insurance companies. Third, I think most people are not surprised at having to share the cost of health insurance these days.

[id10t]

Your basic plan sound about what like I get as a state employee (florida, work for a comm. college). No out of pocket for me, $300 yearly deductable, $2300 max out of pocket. Adding my wife cost an extra $200 per month, adding one child brought it up to an extra $350/mo, second child was "free".

[Moses]

The whole industry is a freaking train wreck.

If one of my employees needs health insurance for her family, I provide it. An employee who gets insurance through the spouse will likely get a higher salary. I individualize each employees benefit package, but no one who works for me is "allowed" to go without health insurance. In general, I pay for the employees and their family's medical and dental at no cost to them.

The reason I do that is simple, turnover is deadly. If my office is not running well, the cash flow stops fast. I don't want my valued employees shopping for a better deal. I have only 6 employees, all have been with me more than 8 years. Last year one of my valued employees told me she would need to quit. The cost of daycare was just to much and she was going to find a job where she could work from home. She still works for me, but guess who's paying for daycare! Bottom line, when I find good employees, I want to keep them.

[lendaddy]

Cant argue with that Moses, but something tells me your employees are more specialized/critical. And not to sound snotty, but the profit margins in our two areas of work are probably a lil different too

I rarely have guys quit though.