Managing Employee Healthcare Costs Isn’t Easy. That’s Why We Wrote This Useful Guide

  • postauthorRaj
  • postdateMarch 6, 2023
  • postreadtime4 min read
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The Union Ministry of Statistics and Program Implementation found that on average, hospitalization was 6 times more expensive at a private hospital than a government hospital. Despite that, people tend to prefer private hospitals for their facilities and better quality of care. That has implications for you as an employer, which is why you should be thinking about managing employee healthcare costs.  

As an employer, you are legally obligated to provide employee healthcare benefits. Most employers choose to do so via group health insurance plans, or more comprehensive employee wellness programs. Whichever method you choose, it is likely you are spending a lot of money already.  

If you aren’t providing healthcare benefits, you are also likely to be spending money, just not directly. Teams without healthcare are prone to lower productivity, greater absenteeism, and high turnover. That’s why you need to be thinking of providing employee healthcare plans and managing employee healthcare costs.  

Is it possible to do both? Yes! Here’s how.  

Drivers of Employee Healthcare Costs  

There are 3 main factors that are driving employee healthcare costs today. As an employer, these are the three areas you need to carefully monitor, so that you can make the right decision on managing employee healthcare costs. Healthcare costs will depend on these factors, so be sure to deal with them at the earliest.  

COVID-19: The pandemic has exposed our need for better preventive care measures. It is wise to invest in PPE kits and social distancing measures, or your employees could be burdened with expensive hospital bills. COVID also has severe long-term effects, so you need to protect your team from this deadly virus at all costs. 

Rise of Lifestyle Diseases: Millennial lifestyles have contributed to a sharp rise in lifestyle diseases. Longer working hours, less exercise, and poor eating habits are leading to a rise in diabetes, cholesterol, hypertension, and a mental health crisis. Such diseases are often lifelong battles, with expensive medication and testing.  

Lack of Preventive Care: Preventive care measures allow employees to avoid many lifetyle diseases. However, until recently, they haven’t been a popular option.  Inc42 estimated that the preventive care market would reach $170 Bn by 2025, driven by apps. It’s a good sign that preventive care is getting the attention it needs, which in turn will help in managing employee healthcare costs.  

Managing Employee Healthcare Costs 

 The first step to reducing employee healthcare costs is to offer comprehensive healthcare benefits for employees. This should be a combination of preventive care and employee medical insurance benefits. That way, you are giving your employee’s all-round protection for their healthcare.  

But just offering employee healthcare benefits won’t do. If you want to manage employee healthcare costs, there are a few more steps you can take. Here are a few of them you can use. 

Managing Employee Healthcare Costs

Understand Employee Risk 

To assess your employee healthcare costs, you need to first know the risk your employees are at. That means understanding their occupational health hazards, as well as their risks for diseases like cancer, asthma and diabetes. When you do this, you will realise that each employee is unique, and so are their healthcare needs. 

Some employees could be more at risk for certain diseases if they have a family history. Others due to the nature of their job. Whether you have five employees or 50, you’ll realise that the secret to managing employee healthcare costs is to get a plan that is adaptable to them.  

Look for Flexibility and Customizability 

If you know you need a plan that’s adaptable to your employees, you will know you need employee healthcare plans that are customizable and flexible.  The best way to reduce employee healthcare costs is to find a plan that’s built by you, for you.  

You should also look for flexibility in paying the bills. Why pay a lumpsum at the start of the year, when you don’t know how your business will grow? Look for plans that offer a monthly subscription, allowing you to pay for the employees you have, not had or will have.  

Adopting Smarter Healthcare Strategies 

We use our phones for everything, so why not healthcare? The right employee healthcare plans should be digital-first and accessible from a smartphone. It should also give your employees access to modern healthcare benefits. That means telehealth, online medicine stores and lab test booking.  

That way, no matter where they are, your employees can access all of their healthcare benefits easily. If healthcare is not simple, it is not usable. Why would you want a healthcare plan that your employees don’t use?  

With all that in mind, you might be wondering “how can I find a comprehensive plan that reduces employee healthcare costs?” Especially as a startup or SME, it may seem like your options are limited. However, there’s only one partner you need – Onsurity. 

Onsurity’s business health plans are designed to be flexible, adaptable, economical and comprehensive. We offer digital-first employee healthcare benefits like doctor teleconsultations, discounted health check-ups and medicine delivery, fitness tracking and group health insurance through our insurance partner.  

Onsurity is the right way to give your employees the healthcare they deserve, while reducing your employee healthcare costs.  

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