As published in Toledo Business Journal - April 1, 2020

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A Helping Hand to Navigate the Health Care Landscape

 

by Al Rubosky

When faced with an unplanned illness, emergency, planned procedure, or test, health insurance plan members face access and care decisions at multiple entry points. A member's journey might start with a primary care doctor, emergency room, or urgent care. This choice affects both employee and employer. Both want the best price, highest quality and value from the health care benefit.

Choices Impact Employees and Employers

Many employers rely on an employee engagement and communication strategy, including one-on-one benefits counseling, to educate employees as they select and enroll in their benefits. During the personalized sessions, licensed, trained counselors work with employees to choose the right benefits. The counselors also answer questions and provide hands-on guidance accessing and downloading tools and resources. Armed with knowledge and resources, employees and their families make better choices when accessing and utilizing health care benefits.

The personalized interaction:

• Saves money for both employees and employers by enabling employees to make better benefits decisions throughout their health care journeys.
• Increases employee understanding and appreciation of the benefits offered by employers.
• Positively positions benefits programs for a better workforce.

Logging into Health Care

A mobile app proved especially useful when an employee's child experienced flu-like symptoms during the holiday season. The usual rest and fluids regimen proved ineffective, and the family physician was booked for weeks.

Remembering that telemedicine can be used for routine health issues, the employee launched the telemedicine app and was quickly video chatting with a board-certified physician. The doctor carefully assessed the child's condition and prescribed appropriate antibiotics. The child recovered within days, and both the employee and employer saved money.

Prescriptions and Price Tags

As a result of benefits education, most employees know generic drugs can be as effective and less costly than brand name drugs. They also know the same prescription drug, brand name or generic, can cost more or less at different pharmacies. The savviest shoppers use technology to compare prices and always ask their health care providers to include a generic on prescription orders. After using the drug cost comparison app loaded on his smartphone during his benefits counseling session, one employee saved $186 a month ($2,232 annually) by finding a generic equivalent to his common brand name medication.

For more ways to control benefits costs and engage employees in making the right benefits decisions, contact the Oswald Employee Benefits team.

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Note: This communication is for informational purposes only. Although every reasonable effort is made to present current and accurate information, Oswald makes no guarantees of any kind and cannot be held liable for any outdated or incorrect information.

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