At some point this fall, a lot of Montana business owners are going to open an email, scroll down to a number, and say something I probably shouldn’t print here.
Your group health insurance renewal is coming, and for some businesses, it isn’t going to be pretty.
Our Employee Benefits team is already seeing traditional fully insured plans with increases of 20% or more, while PacificSource is exiting Montana, healthcare utilization remains high, costs are climbing, and the health insurance landscape we’ve grown comfortable with is changing quickly.
When that renewal arrives with a significant increase, you’re probably going to be tempted to do one of two things: pay it, because what else are you supposed to do, or immediately say, “Find me something cheaper.”
I understand both reactions because I’m a business owner, too, and a 20% increase isn’t just an insurance problem; that’s real money that could have gone toward raises, hiring, equipment, expansion, marketing, or approximately 14,000 Costco hot dogs.
But here’s what I’ve learned from our Employee Benefits team: this is not the year to make your health insurance decision by looking at one number.
Employers have more options than many business owners realize, including traditional fully insured plans, level-funded options, trusts, and newer alternatives entering the Montana market, and some of those options could potentially save your business significant money.
Great, but before you yell, “SIGN ME UP!”, you need to ask a few more questions: What network does the plan use, are your employees’ doctors in it, what prescriptions are covered, what happens when someone has a major claim, what financial risk are you taking as the employer, and what happens next year?
Suddenly, the cheapest option isn’t quite as simple as it looked on page one of the proposal.
That’s why Jim, Katrina and Mac tell business owners they can’t tell them which plan is best until they understand their business, including what matters most to them, what their budget looks like, how important benefits are to retaining employees, what they’re unwilling to give up, and how much risk they’re comfortable taking.
Those aren’t really insurance questions.
They’re business questions.
There is no magical plan that is simultaneously the cheapest, has the biggest network, covers everything, carries no risk, and sends you a handwritten thank-you note every Christmas, because if there were, this would be a much shorter Slidegood.
Instead, there are tradeoffs, and the right tradeoffs for a 12-person construction company may be completely different from the right ones for a 35-person professional office.
That’s where a good employee benefits advisor earns their keep, because they shouldn’t simply drop three proposals on your desk and ask which one you want; they should understand your business well enough to clearly explain what you save, what you keep, what you give up, what risk you’re taking, and what you need to know before making a decision.
Then you decide.
Because every business owner is trying to balance two important responsibilities: taking care of your employees while maintaining a healthy business so those employees still have somewhere to work.
Both matter.
That’s why I’m asking business owners not to wait this year, because you shouldn’t wait for a renewal to force the conversation, assume your current plan will continue exactly as it has, assume a 20% increase means you simply have to absorb a 20% increase, or move to something cheaper without understanding exactly what you’re buying.
So…
If your business provides group health insurance, now is the time to review it, not after you’ve received a painful renewal and certainly not two weeks before you have to make a decision.
Our Employee Benefits team will sit down with you, review what you currently have, understand what matters to your business, and walk you through the options available.
No insurance knowledge required.
You run your business.
We’ll help you figure out this part.
Schedule your Employee Benefits Review with Glidewell today.