Many questions surround the future of former President Barack Obama’s health care law, the Affordable Care Act. The most immediate is, “Will the insurance I bought during Open Enrollment work in 2017?” (Yes.) Others are more far-reaching, such as, “What happened to the health-insurance shopping utopia we were promised?” (Well, about that …)
These issues obviously affect individuals, but they affect employers, too. Businesses that once might have planned to send employees to an individual marketplace for coverage now could be questioning whether they should continue (or even begin) offering health insurance as a benefit. If you’re looking for answers, you’ll find them only after you ask the right questions. Here are a few to pose, based on your company’s current status.
Thinking about providing health insurance.
Many people take employer-provided health insurance for granted. But that doesn’t mean it’s a guaranteed benefit that every company should offer. If you’re on the fence about offering health insurance to your employees, you’ll need to sort out some market-research details first.
How competitive is the market for talent in your space? Even in an age where employees hope for a work environment with office snacks, dog-friendly spaces and on-site masseuses, health insurance remains a go-to benefit. Even more telling, high-quality employees expect it. If talent is at a premium in your market and you’re competing for the best of the best, offering health insurance might be a no-brainer.
A robust health insurance offering as part of an employer-value proposition is key for many companies aiming to secure top talent. Candidates might judge a solid policy — especially one that is low- or no-cost to them — as a more attractive prospect than being sent to a health insurance exchange where they’ll have to navigate options on their own.
What are peer companies doing? This is related to the first question. If you know you’re in a competitive market, the next step is figuring out the norms among your peers.
As a starting point, make sure your health insurance offering is comparable to that put in place by similar-sized companies in your industry. Why? Because prospective employees will compare benefits packages along with salaries and perks. No one job-hunts in a vacuum. Smart candidates will research company fundamentals and look for indicators of office culture. They’ll also want to know which health insurance plans you offer and how those policies stack up against what they stand to gain from other companies vying for their employment.
How do you benchmark health insurance benefits against peer companies? First, simply check your competitors’ websites or LinkedIn profiles. Job listings and career pages almost always include a description of the core benefits package. It’s a handy way to see how you fare on the basics.
Second, ask your health insurance broker to provide some market intel. This route can get you info that’s a little more “inside baseball,” with a greater degree of specifics. This is particularly helpful if you need something…