As the healthcare crisis in our country continues to escalate at an even greater pace than originally predicted, the loser still seems to be you, the employer, whether your company is big or small. You are paying health insurance premiums that are ever increasing. Your employees are enjoying the benefits of good, comprehensive coverage, yet they are still getting sick as you wind up paying more and losing valuable production.
What is the missing piece of the puzzle?
Your company has initiated wellness programs including blood pressure and cholesterol screening, weight loss, smoking cessation, exercise programs, gym memberships and even that new yoga class. You expect great results, wanting your employees to be healthy and vigorous, but they still come in with migraines, digestive problems and are depressed. Production is down and morale is low. All of this goes to your bottom line and you wonder, what do I do now? What am I not seeing?
You, the employer, are really caught in a bind. You need to have healthy employees in order to have maximum productivity, quality service and excellent product. But no matter what you do, whether it be a good health plan, in house wellness programs or financial incentives, people are not interested in staying healthy. People will still smoke, drink excessively and eat poorly. The question becomes: Since when did it become the employer’s job to take responsibility for the health and wellbeing of their employees?
Time for people to take responsibility for their own health!
Well, the time has come for employers to take the bull by its horns and begin to transfer the responsibility of maintaining employees’ health back to where it belongs; with the employee. It should not be your job to keep your employees away from fast food, smoking, excessive alcohol consumption, sugar and trans fats. However, what incentive is it for employees to stay healthy, when they know that there is insurance coverage that will take care of them once they get sick?
There needs to be a basic shift in philosophy. Rather than offering your employees insurance that purely covers illness, why not provide them with a form of insurance that addresses wellness in addition to the traditional “sickness” insurance? Wouldn’t it make sense to provide insurance coverage that encourages people to become healthy as apposed to one that rewards them for being sick?
Hope is on the horizon
There is a solution and it comes in the form of Health Savings Accounts (HSAs) and other forms of Consumer Driven Healthcare Plan options. This is just what the doctor has ordered. The beauty of this form of insurance coverage is that it encourages people to become proactive about their own health. Money accumulates, tax free, in a savings account that the employee earmarks for health promoting services and products not normally covered by traditional insurance. Such services not only include the very important dental component of health, but also chiropractic, acupuncture, vision, non traditional therapeutic therapies and many other types of eligible medical expenses that promote healthy lifestyles.
The incentive is there for the employee is to stay healthy, so as to limit access to their accumulating funds. The unused money in this fund rolls over into the next year, unlike the Flexible Spending Account, and acts as a medical IRA. This is a great way to save for health care expenses after retirement.
Everyone is a winner!
There are many advantages for the employer besides contributing to a healthier, more productive workforce. First of all, your insurance premiums are cut in half and all contributions made into the employee’s Health Savings Account are tax free. You save on payroll and unemployment taxes. This alone saves you thousands of dollars a year per employee and will contribute to a healthier bottom line.
The cost of healthcare in our country definitely cuts in to the profitability of companies of all sizes. Health Savings Accounts and other Consumer Driven Health Plans are a way to transfer the responsibility of maintaining good health away from the employer and back to the employee. The ultimate goal is to save you money while creating a healthier work force, one that is on the job and most productive. Makes sense doesn’t it?
Dr. Vincent DiLorenzo, President of T-Horizons, LLC, specializes in Consumer Driven Health Care Solutions, including Health Savings Accounts, for families, individuals and employers to help lower healthcare costs at home and the workplace. Find out how => www.t-horizons.com
