Your employees are catching up on health care. Are you ready for the impact?
Employers must be prepared for a release of pent-up demand for health care services and the costs that will come with it.
As COVID-19 cases wane, there is renewed optimism for the future.
However, that doesn’t mean American health care consumption will instantly revert to a pre-pandemic normal. There will be ripple effects for months, if not years to come. Employers and benefit managers, in addition to ensuring adequate coverage and access for their workforce, must be prepared for a release of pent-up demand for health care services and the costs that will come with it.
Read more: 4 in 10 workers delayed routine health care during pandemic
Recent news coverage illustrates patients with serious, non-COVID health conditions are flooding hospital emergency departments in some areas of the country. Many of these individuals avoided the hospital or doctor’s office for the past year or more, and now they need more intensive care than they might have otherwise required.
In fact, polls show that one in five Americans put off care during the pandemic, including a significant share of older adults with serious health conditions such as cancer, diabetes and heart conditions.
Self-insured employers, who may have enjoyed a cost reprieve during the pandemic, may already see their members’ health care utilization rebounding – including everything from routine preventive care to delayed elective surgeries to treatment for now-worsened chronic health concerns.
The challenge now is ensuring those valued team members get the care they need and deserve without allowing health care costs to balloon out of control.
Employer strategies
To meet the challenge, employers must consider strategies that promote the best possible health outcomes for their workforce while keeping costs in check. Those strategies might include the following.
Care navigation
Sometimes the most difficult and cost-intensive part of the health care process is determining which facility or provider to visit and making the appropriate arrangements. A wrong choice can lead patients down a chain of referrals or send them home with an unnecessarily large bill. Many insurance carriers, third-party administrators and other organizations offer care navigation or “concierge service” to guide individuals to high-quality, affordable care options. These services also tend to manage scheduling and follow-up care coordination to make it easier for individuals to get quality care.
Transparency tools
Although some hospitals are posting required price information on their websites, it’s not universal, and it’s not always helpful. Employers can invest in solutions that allow their members to comparison shop based on the quality and cost of services. Access to this information can help individuals and employers save hundreds or thousands of dollars on care while minimizing the risk of complications.
Support on Rx costs
Prescription drugs are a major cost center for most employers, and a headache for many Americans at the pharmacy counter. There are several approaches employers can take, including front-end work on benefit design to minimize co-pays for certain types of drugs. Other solutions can deliver employees customized savings reports, showing them when they may can save money by switching to an effective, lower-cost alternative, and guiding them through the process.
Clear communication
Employers can adopt the most sophisticated tools to support employee health, but if their people don’t know how to use them, what’s the point? Key to any benefits strategy is clear, consistent communication about available resources. In some cases, companies may find it useful to add incentives to encourage employee engagement. For example, an individual who uses the company’s health care transparency tools to select a high-quality, low-cost provider could be eligible for a cash reward.
The bottom line is this: the pandemic is entering a new, hopefully less intense phase, and health care utilization is rebounding. It’s vital that all Americans get the care they need to improve their health, and it’s critical that employers do what they can to support that care in a financially responsible way.
If your organization hasn’t already adopted one or more of these strategies, it’s time to prepare for the road ahead.
Scott Paddock is the CEO of Healthcare Bluebook, a leader in helping consumers, employers, health care providers and payors make smarter health care choices.
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