Personalized health benefits are the future
Simply put, personalization is a differentiator to attract and retain talent.
As the talent market remains incredibly tight amid high rates of turnover, employers everywhere are evaluating the best ways to attract and retain talent. For many, personalizing the employee experience, including benefits, has become a top priority.
In fact, Willis Towers Watson reported 69% of employers plan to “differentiate and customize their benefit programs over the next two years,” up from 23% today.
A recent Harvard Business Review Analytic Services Pulse Survey reported similar findings when evaluating the prevalence of personalization in health plans, specifically. Eighty-six percent of employer respondents say it is extremely, very, or moderately important that their organization offers health benefits that are personalized and inclusive. And 40% say their organizations are investing in increasing personalization and inclusivity in the health benefits they offer.
Related: Developing DEI: What can your claims data tell you?
It makes sense. Personalized experiences have become the norm in most areas of our lives. Your GPS knows where you drive every Wednesday night and suggests the best route before you even have a chance to ask. And your grocery shopping app serves up coupons personalized to your purchasing habits. Why not a personalized health plan experience?
The fact that employers are prioritizing personalization in their benefits is smart because people are attracted to and more loyal to personalized experiences. Simply put, personalization is a differentiator to attract and retain talent.
Still, a relatively new concept, personalization in health benefits is not widely understood. So, where should employers start and what are the possibilities?
Personalized coverage
Health care needs are unpredictable because life is unpredictable. A personalized health benefit should offer choice and flexibility to help meet ever-evolving individual needs and circumstances.
People should be able to search for their health need and see the spectrum of treatment options available to them, along with information and incentives to choose the highest-value care. Designing coverage in this way makes it possible for employees to identify the best options for their individual health needs before they get care or fill a prescription.
This approach also gives employers an opportunity to contextualize prices on an individual level. That could mean, for example, people who first use lower-cost interventions would see lower prices, if or when their care escalates. That is the beauty of a personalized coverage model—high-value care decisions that can make employee populations healthier in the long run can be rewarded.
Individual opportunities for cost savings can get even richer on a personalized health plan. Employers can make the election and activation of coverage optional for certain low-value, non-emergent and plannable treatments. We’re talking about treatments that clinical literature suggests may not improve long-term quality of life significantly more than less-invasive treatments.
Flexible coverage activations, such as this, deliver enhanced cost savings for employers and employees because they aren’t paying upfront for low-value treatments that may not be needed in a given plan year. Yet, the procedures are still fully covered if employees do need or want them.
Personalized cost-sharing
The concept of personalization can be applied to cost-sharing structures, as well. Which is an important point for employers prioritizing inclusive benefits. Most employers provide an equal level of coverage for all employees. But that approach isn’t personalized. In fact, it can contribute to coverage inequity and perpetuate health care disparities.
For example, consider two employees who have a $3,000 deductible on their employer-sponsored health plan, receive the same subsidy from their employer, and are eligible for the same level of coverage. To many, this sounds fair, but if one of them earns $30,000 a year and the other earns $300,000, their ability to access coverage is very different—and that is inequitable.
So, personalized cost-sharing is a way to offer a more inclusive health plan. A flexible cost-sharing framework allows for greater support for conditions that have a disparate burden on marginalized communities. Subsidies can be adjusted based on income level, known disparities, social determinants of health (SDOH), etc. That enables employers to lower the cost of treatments or medications known to be particularly effective in treating certain conditions that disproportionately affect populations.
Personalized experience
Delivering a personalized health benefits experience means giving people the information they need to make informed care decisions that are best for their unique needs. And that includes giving people clear, upfront prices that are exactly the cost they’ll pay for their specific treatment and provider.
Cost certainty not only gives employees financial peace of mind, but it can also lead to better health care decisions. Clear and upfront prices provided by Bind Benefits, for example, led to 33% lower ER utilization compared to other health plans.
And, we can’t forget about opportunities to personalize care navigation and support experiences. People want to feel seen and heard.
It’s important that employees are given access to a broad network of high-quality, low-cost providers who speak their language, understand their culture, sexual orientation, gender identity, etc.—and they need help finding these providers. Care navigation and call center teams can be amazing clinical advocates who help people find appropriate care reflective of unique racial, cultural, ethnic, and LGBTQ+ needs.
Personalizing care in this way supports SDOH, combats care avoidance and empowers employees to navigate their care confidently and competently.
Embrace change now
Personalizing your health benefit will require the right data and infrastructure. And it will likely take a gradual approach of experimentation and refinement. Companies that embrace change now to do right by their employees will come out ahead. To set out on the right path, look for partners with data sets and platforms designed for personalization. Current and prospective employees will appreciate and reward you for the effort.
Alison Richards is the CEO of Bind, a personalized health plan that delivers the freedom to choose—and the information to choose wisely. A transformational leader who believes in the power of team, Alison and her Bind team are changing health insurance and giving employers a sustainable, attractive and inclusive health benefit that better meets employees’ personal needs—one where people can see their full treatment options and compare prices before making their health care decisions.
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