Employee Health Plans Evolve with a Focus on Personalization and Flexibility
Employee health benefits are no longer just a "nice-to-have"; they’re a critical factor in attracting, retaining, and supporting top talent in your workforce. Employee expectations are growing quickly, and a simple annual executive physical doesn’t cut it anymore.
One-size-fits-all health plans are becoming personalized and flexible plans that give even more benefits to employees. But how are personalized and flexible plans better?
In this blog, we’ll tell you all about employee health benefits and explore the 2 main trends in the sphere, diving deeper into how they are shaping the future of workplace healthcare.
What are employee health benefits?
First things first, let’s understand what modern-day employee health benefits entail. They are employer-provided packages that support both the physical and mental wellness of employees.
Under the ACA (Affordable Care Act), employers are required to provide health insurance to their workers if their business has more than 50 full-time workers (or Full-Time Equivalents). Some employers go beyond regular health insurance and offer bigger and better benefits.
Usually, employee health benefits can include:
Medical insurance that covers doctor visits, hospital visits, and preventive care
Dental and vision insurance which serves as an add-on for oral and eye health
Sick leave and disability coverage that provides financial protection to employees during recovery periods
Mental health support, including access to therapy, counseling, or stress management programs
Wellness programs that cover fitness memberships and even lifestyle coaching.
All the above are standard across most major companies, but the way they’re delivered keeps on evolving to meet employee needs better and better.
The 2 main trends in employee health benefits
With 78% of employees claiming that they would stay with a company due to the benefits offered, providing superior benefits is a great employee retention strategy. If employers want to attract and retain top talent, they should investigate the 2 main trends in the field.
Higher personalization and flexibility in the benefits employers offer are key to happier and more satisfied employees. How are these trends changing the future of employee health benefits and why do they matter? Let’s talk about each one and understand.
Personalization
Highly tailored employee health benefits are not new. The world of healthcare already knows that the one-size-fits-all model is no longer working, which is why both patients and employers give more weight to personalized health plans.
Your employees have diverse health needs depending on their age, lifestyle, family status, personal health goals, etc. With a personalized health benefits package, you, as an employer, can help address these unique needs by offering tailored plans to specific groups or all workers.
So, how are personalized plans different? Here are some key features of personalization in health benefits plans:
Tailored service options, which allow your employees to choose the benefits plan that meets their needs like health counseling or even chronic disease management.
Health Savings Accounts (HSAs) where your workers can allocate funds for specific healthcare costs.
Health analytics can be used to offer workers relevant services with data-backed insights.
Options between PPO, POS, HDHP, and other benefits plan types.
Concierge medicine whereby the individual’s health is treated as a whole instead of only tackling symptoms.
As an employer, there’s a lot you stand to gain from offering personalized plans. Your workers will be more satisfied because they will feel valued by the company. Additionally, you’ll save costs by skipping unnecessary or underutilized benefits. Lastly, if your employees are happy and healthy, they will also be more productive.
Flexibility
Flexibility goes hand in hand with customizable health benefits plans. They empower your workers to adapt their healthcare options whenever their needs change over time. Ultimately, they will feel safe, knowing their health will be in good hands without many limitations.
Here are some key features of flexible plans that your employees will value:
Telehealth services with remote consultations, eliminating the need for in-person appointments.
Modular plans where your workers mix and match the benefits they need, such as vision, dental, wellness programs, etc.
Annual adjustments that allow your employees to revise their plans during open enrollment.
When you offer flexible plans to your employees, you can cover a hybrid workforce, encourage more usage of health benefits, increase your ROI, and support your workers through major milestones like having
children or discovering new health issues.
The future of employee health benefits
While personalization and flexibility are taking over modern-day employee health benefits, the future of the field has way more to offer. Innovation will continue to drive bigger and better benefits with a couple of new trends.
Integration of technology
Technology is already leaving a big footprint on the way healthcare is delivered. Aside from telehealth and wearable devices, we can expect to see more AI-driven recommendations and virtual health platforms that allow for 24/7 access to healthcare.
Mental health under the spotlight
It's no secret that covering physical health has always been a priority for employers. Today’s workers, however, have different expectations, which is why extended mental health support and wellness initiatives will become standard practice to help employees achieve mindfulness and a healthy work-life balance.
Proactivity over-reactivity
Lastly, employee health benefits will move further in the shift from annual physicals to tailored concierge healthcare. This entails preventive healthcare measures like regular screenings and wellness coaching.
As we look into the future, one thing becomes clear – employee health benefits will continue to help employers attract top talent by offering lower healthcare costs and support for physical, mental, and emotional health.
Conclusion
Personalization and flexibility and reshaping employee health benefits. For employers, offering tailored options to their workers helps them maintain a healthier, more engaged, and loyal team.
Aside from retaining great workers, employers can also add a touch of personalization and flexibility to their benefits plans to attract top talent in the first place.
Overall, employee health benefits will keep on evolving to be more convenient and affordable for employers as well as more extended and high-quality for employees.
