Kyle Carruthers

Webinar Review: “Drive Your Health Care Costs Down with an Integrated Benefits Management System” A recent webinar by KPA covered changes in health care by the Affordable Care Act that may affect the way small businesses do health coverage. The webinar was hosted by Kathryn Carlson, vice president of HR management products for KPA. One change the ACA brought is increased incentive for employee wellness plans. Permitted wellness incentives increased from 20 percent to 30 percent. 50 percent if the program involves reduction or prevention of tobacco usage. “Healthy individuals cost less,” Carlson said. “A healthier workforce is going to be on time and not take as many sick days, so you will have a boost in productivity. Also, people tuned into wellness tend to have higher accountability for their health care costs.” Carlson encouraged dealers to look into the plans as ways to lower rates for employees. The ACA requires that companies of 200 or more automatically enroll new employees in the company health plan. Companies also will not be allowed to offer better health plans to certain types of employees. If group health coverage exceeds certain thresholds, the employer will be subject to a 40 percent excise tax on the cost of benefits exceeding the applicable cost limits. The anticipated cost limits for 2018 are $10,200 for individual coverage and $27,500 for family coverage. Carlson suggested that automated HR software can decrease the complication of automatic enrollment and other compliance regulations. A recent change in the way smaller companies can approach health care is the availability of private health care exchanges. Such exchanges have been an economical option for large companies, but smaller ones often lacked the organizational resources to maintain the system. Online tools have made it possible for small companies to give employees the freedom of choice. According to Carlson: ● One in four employees are likely to select a lower priced health insurance plan on a private health insurance exchange. ● Employees are opting for plans with lower premiums and thus saving money on short term health costs by accepting tradeoffs. Tradeoffs include: ● ● ● ● 78% higher deductible 75% Wellness program participation 25% Fewer services covered 23% Greater cost sharing ● Employees who look for initial savings on health insurance will need to be prepared for higher costs that could potentially arise from unexpected health incidents. Whatever health care system you company uses, Carlson emphasized the importance of communication during change with the following recommendations: Plan - ​before you get started, define objectives, identify key stakeholders, and create a strategy and plan of action. Tell the truth - ​employees see through and resent attempts at hiding benefit changes that have the potential to be perceived negatively. Be consistent - ​determine key messages at the beginning and communicate them consistently. Educate - ​supervisors and managers have influence over employees and can be advocates or barriers depending on how you treat them. Multiply - ​reinforce key messages multiple times and across a variety of media in a coordinated way to avoid overwhelming the intended audience. Carlson recommended considering alternatives to current health plans with the changing environment in order to prepare for ACA provisions. She also recommended looking at the growing utility of automated tools to streamline the HR process. To be informed about upcoming webinars for dealers by KPA, visit http://www.dealerwebinars.com/