Now more than ever, having flexible and comprehensive healthcare plans in place is a reliable way to compensate your employees for all that they do.
Healthcare has been tied to the workplace for decades. However, this intrinsic connection doesn’t always lead to the smooth flow of benefits from carriers to the people who need them. Now more than ever, having flexible and comprehensive healthcare plans in place is a reliable way to compensate your employees for all that they do.
To Auto-Enroll or Not?
Auto-enrollment-enabled healthcare plans and their voluntary-choice plans do show some distinctions. When companies offer auto-enrollment programs, that means that they are more likely to handle higher premium costs. These premiums are typically associated with employee-only coverage and family coverage. Yes, it’s true: extending health insurance to the spouses and dependents of employees (along with pet insurance!) makes a noticeable difference in worker morale and the inclination to stay instead of pursuing other opportunities.
Auto-Enrollment Boosts Participation
One metric that should please company leadership is that auto-enrolled plans boost employee participation. The employees who decide not to opt-in to employer-sponsored plans are more likely to remain uninsured, full stop. Auto-enrollment can serve as a stopgap if someone loses access to coverage because of a different qualifying life event.
What If Automatic Enrollment Rolls Out?
It’s important to note that automatic enrollment healthcare plans are not standard across the country. When we speak about the “roll-out” thought experiment, it yields some optimistic predictions: almost nine million more people will have coverage, even if it isn’t ideal for them for the coming plan year. Something is better than nothing.
How Does It Impact Small Businesses?
Of course, larger organizations are far more capable of shouldering the astronomical costs of extending company-sponsored healthcare plans to each of its employees. Small businesses probably don’t have that luxury or that capability. Even so, consider the size of your team: for firms that have 50 or fewer employees, coverage uptake rates bump up by 4.3 percentage points. That doesn’t sound too impressive, at least not at face value. But in reality, such a surge can pay off. Here’s some food for thought: even if you offer a single blanket plan via automatic enrollment, you’ll notice that participation increases as well. The difference is a remarkable 6.5 percentage points!
The Issue of Employer-Paid Premium Costs
It’s clear to see that auto-enrollment healthcare plans are worthwhile investments. Even if there are lingering concerns about how employer-paid premium costs, that shouldn’t deter you from choosing it. Why’s that? The increase manifests as 5.4 percentage points higher than a comparative result determined from a firm that doesn’t enact auto-enrollments.
Get Your Voluntary, Supplemental, and Health Insurance Policies with the MWE Partnership!
Are you a business looking to provide your employees with essential voluntary benefits? If so, look no further than The MWE Partnership. When you choose The MWE Partnership, you get experienced service and comprehensive voluntary benefit options that will meet all your employees’ needs. With over 17 years of experience, The MWE Partnership is your go-to provider for all your supplemental benefit needs. If you are interested in finding out how The MWE Partnership can help your business, contact us today! We encourage you to like our Facebook page and follow us on Twitter and LinkedIn for the latest voluntary benefit news!