Healthcare doesn’t have to be a crisis for employers
By Debbie Padello
ALTRES HR
The word “crisis” gets tossed around frequently in discussions of healthcare in Hawai‘i , especially by employers. Many business owners feeling squeezed between the rising costs of providing healthcare benefits and a reduction in available services. Our healthcare system is not where it needs to be but, until the demand for change reaches a tipping point, employers and individuals can take steps to reduce the overall costs of healthcare. Here are practical options nonprofits can explore.
1. Create safer work environments – While this tactic may seem obvious, the impact of implementing a formal safety program can be tremendously positive. Providing safety training, communicating the benefits of safe workplaces and praising employees who practice safety can prevent costly workers’ compensation claims and absenteeism.
2. Implement wellness programs – Many employers nationally are shifting their focus from cutting benefits to managing employee health. Corporate wellness programs reduce healthcare costs by educating and motivating employees and their families to adopt better healthcare habits. Studies show programs – such as smoking cessation, weight-loss, heath-screening and fitness – appear to be most effective when they are part of a corporate culture that promotes the health and safety of the individual.
3. Offer an employee assistance program – EAPs help employees deal with personal problems that could adversely affect their work performance. They can include assessment, short-term counseling and referral services for employees and dependents, financial and legal counseling. While EAPs have long proven to deliver cost savings in large organizations, such programs are now available to smaller companies, too.
4. Create a great place to work – Many executive directors and CEOs are too busy focusing on the day-to-day demands of the organization to give much thought to their employees’ work environments. Motivating employees to tackle their jobs often takes more than just salary and benefits. Consider your workplace. Is it a great place to work? Do our employees think so? What can we do as a team to create a more enjoyable workplace? A first step could be an “employee climate survey” to learn employees’ perceptions and attitudes.
5. Consider outsourcing – When employers focus on the challenges of rising healthcare costs, they often miss the bigger picture. Healthcare plans are one part of the larger employee benefit package organizations need to compete in attracting and retaining quality employees. Benefit plans, in turn, are part of the larger scheme of human resources administration, which includes payroll processing, employee recordkeeping, benefits administration, government compliance, workers’ compensation, safety and risk management.
Organizations increasingly choose to outsource this part of the business. By outsourcing these administrative activities to a single provider, known as a professional employer organization or PEO, companies can realize significant savings in overall labor costs. Because of its purchasing power, a PEO tends to keep healthcare premiums low while relieving clients from the annual hassles of rate negotiations and open enrollment.
Debbie Padello is director of Human Resources and Client Services at ALTRES HR, altresHR.com, which is a HANO member benefit partner.
