While independent tire
dealers have little control over the rising costs of health insurance for their
employees, they may be able to offset all or part of the increases by adjusting
their overall benefits packages – without diminishing the benefits they offer
or significantly increasing plan administration costs.
Here are five ways to do it:
1) Enable employees to pay
certain benefits with pretax dollars. Deducting employee-paid benefits from
pretax income saves both employer and employee money. You don’t have to pay
matching Social Security and Medicare or federal unemployment taxes on the
value of the benefit, and your employees reduce their taxable income.
2) Offer voluntary benefits.
Voluntary benefits are plans the employee pays for in full, often with pretax
dollars. By using this strategy, you can add benefits through payroll deduction
without incurring additional costs. Voluntary benefits may include vision and
dental coverage and short- and long-term disability insurance.
3) Switch to a health care
plan with a smaller network. Switching to a plan that offers a smaller network
of hospitals and doctors but still allows employees to go outside the network
at a reduced reimbursement rate can cut as much as 10% of your health insurance
costs.
4) Introduce
consumer-directed health plans. These plans combine a high-deductible health
plan with an employer-funded account that employees use to pay out-of-pocket
medical expenses.
5) Establish a wellness
program. Under an employee wellness program, a business offers its employees
on-site access to health services, such as blood pressure monitoring,
cholesterol screening, smoking cessation programs and nutrition counseling.
Benefits result from
improved employee morale, fewer sick days, reduced use of healthcare benefits
and increased productivity.
Local doctors and hospitals,
fitness centers or health food stores will often provide free or low-cost
assistance in exchange for the opportunity to raise awareness of their products
and services.
- Source: Tire Review
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