While independent tiredealers have little control over the rising costs of health insurance for theiremployees, they may be able to offset all or part of the increases by adjustingtheir overall benefits packages – without diminishing the benefits they offeror significantly increasing plan administration costs.
Here are five ways to do it:
1) Enable employees to paycertain benefits with pretax dollars. Deducting employee-paid benefits frompretax income saves both employer and employee money. You don’t have to paymatching Social Security and Medicare or federal unemployment taxes on thevalue 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 pretaxdollars. By using this strategy, you can add benefits through payroll deductionwithout incurring additional costs. Voluntary benefits may include vision anddental coverage and short- and long-term disability insurance.
3) Switch to a health careplan with a smaller network. Switching to a plan that offers a smaller networkof hospitals and doctors but still allows employees to go outside the networkat a reduced reimbursement rate can cut as much as 10% of your health insurancecosts.
4) Introduceconsumer-directed health plans. These plans combine a high-deductible healthplan with an employer-funded account that employees use to pay out-of-pocketmedical expenses.
5) Establish a wellnessprogram. Under an employee wellness program, a business offers its employeeson-site access to health services, such as blood pressure monitoring,cholesterol screening, smoking cessation programs and nutrition counseling.
Benefits result fromimproved employee morale, fewer sick days, reduced use of healthcare benefitsand increased productivity.
Local doctors and hospitals,fitness centers or health food stores will often provide free or low-costassistance in exchange for the opportunity to raise awareness of their productsand services.
– Source: Tire ReviewBusiness Toolbox
