What is more important your employees or your bottom line? What do you value higher taking care of your people, or maximizing profits? These are examples of Both/And scenarios. All of them may carry equal weight and value in your corporate culture. The same is true for group health insurance plans. The experts at MIB health Insurance get asked all the time, “What is the cheapest plan for my company to offer? What is the best plan to meet my employee’s health insurance needs?” A good insurance agent doesn’t need to answer these questions, they just need to know the right questions to ask to find the best solutions.
We currently find ourselves in a highly competitive employment environment. Labor expenses, including employee benefits, are one of the largest costs of doing business. Offering high-quality employee benefits, including affordable group health insurance, can make a difference in attracting and retaining loyal employees. MIB Health Insurance partners with the most competitive insurance companies. They have years of experience helping employers set up insurance plans properly, administering the plan, managing payroll deductions, and assessing the income and tax ramifications of health insurance.
With over 35 years, MIB knows the right questions to ask.
Every employer has different goals, has built a different culture, and desires certain outcomes for the company and its employees. Every employee has different health needs, which require different solutions to their unique insurance situation. Mike Dietz, the owner of MIB Health Insurance, has trained his team to ask the right questions to achieve the desired outcome. That can make a huge difference in managing insurance costs and impacting the bottom line.
So what insurance is best? That depends on a variety of factors like annual income, tax implications, annual premiums, maximum out-of-pocket costs, variable costs, copays, deductibles, and coinsurance.
With these four different plans, the annual cost varies by $3,780 ($6,432 – $10,212). Yet when we look at the lowest and most expensive plans, there is only a $720 ($13,212 – $13,932) difference in the Total Annual Cost. Plans A &B offer some upfront benefits not displayed in the chart, but you can see the Total Annual Cost is $2,000 to $3000, the most expensive when looking at an annual premium and out-of-pocket expenses for the year. Consider this chart and these scenarios:
Scenario 1:
A potential employee wants the lowest out-of-pocket cost as they have a lot of health conditions and want to limit their out-of-pocket expenses with Plan B.
Scenario 2:
A potential employee might be willing to pay a higher premium for lower-cost copays for office visits and prescription drugs like Plan C offers (Copays not listed in the chart).
Scenario 3:
Another employer may want the lowest cost plan if they are healthy and never go to the doctor, like plan D.
An employer could offer all these options to employees with Qualified Small Employer Health Reimbursement Arrangement (QSEHRA). The QSEHRA allows the employer to offer money for employees to buy the health insurance plan they want, not what the employer offers. The QSEHRA can also allow employees to qualify for subsidies on the marketplace and take the money from the employer as taxable income.
So, as you can see, there is no one right answer to the question of which health insurance plan is the lowest cost for my company. Instead, there may be a creative best solution to meet the needs of both employers and employees. Sometimes it is a matter of looking at the health insurance puzzle from a different perspective.
Mike says, “Showing an employer that there are options available that may be a little outside the box is one way we help them sleep at night. We must understand the culture, battle pre-conceived notions, and use our experience and knowledge to troubleshoot problems. At the end of the day, my job is to make employees happy and save companies money.”
In one recent client story, a small business had a low deductible with extremely high premiums. The employees believed to have a good health insurance plan, one needed low out-of-pocket expenses. They almost did not care what the premiums cost. MIB showed the employer how to buy a higher deductible, take part of the premium savings and put in a health savings account (pre-taxed account to pay for medical expenses). Looking at the big picture, the employees had 100% of the money to pay the full deductible with the new plan. If the employees do not use all the health savings account money, they keep it and grow like a retirement account. The employer trusted MIB and took a chance with the creative solution offered. They ended up saving over $42k in premiums and received better health care.
This client sums up the sentiments of many group health insurance clients, “MIB is consistently keeping us on top of and ahead of the great game of Health Insurance. They provide innovative approaches to providing high levels of coverage and care while keeping costs contained!”
Another client experienced a 24% increase in insurance premiums. MIB found a plan that had a higher deductible and added a Health Reimbursement Agreement. This ended up saving them about $10k annually. Mike says, “Sometimes I need to be direct and ask tough questions. I know what is out there, and I can see the big picture. Every situation is unique. There is always an answer.”
MIB is most effective with clients willing to look outside the box and change the status quo. Mike believes, “There is always a solution; we just have to brainstorm to find it.” The optimum partnerships are employers manufacturing clients with more than ten employees. The nature of a small insurance brokerage like MIB allows for high-level, customized service that can offer affordable health insurance and help administer the plan easily.
Most clients have goals to lower monthly premiums, lower out-of-pocket expenses, and add some flexibility in choosing providers and pharmaceutical options. If there is a better solution, MIB will find it.
MIB takes the emotion out of the decision-making process. Cutting through the complexities of health insurance helps clients and employees make informed decisions on which plan is best for their specific health insurance situation.
Finding a health insurance partner you can trust is critical to finding peace of mind in your group health insurance. MIB Health Insurance is a family-owned company with a team of caring health insurance professionals in the Fox Cities who want to partner with you. Together you can ask the right questions and find the right health Insurance solutions to make a difference for your employees and your bottom line. Call 920-731-2100 to talk to a MIB health insurance specialist.