by Mike Zarrillo, Chief Revenue Officer at Ansel | February 17, 2021
Unfortunately, when your employees get sick or injured, it's difficult for them to know what kind of care they'll need or what it will cost. If they have major cost-sharing responsibilities with their health insurance on top of these uncertainties, employees may delay getting care to avoid unaffordable medical bills. This can lead to further, costlier health issues down the road.
Your employees earn good salaries—they couldn't be stressed, could they? Contrary to popular thinking, research has shown that it's not always lower-earning employees who may struggle to afford high out-of-pocket healthcare costs. Recent research found that people who make between $130,000 and $160,000 a year are the second highest group experiencing financial stress, surpassed only by people who earn $25,000 or less.
Employee financial stress impacts all areas of an employee’s life, including their work, which is undoubtedly costing your company. The same report found that people who are financially stressed are more likely to be absent, have strained relationships with coworkers, and leave daily work tasks incomplete. They’re also more likely to be looking for a new job.
The best way to keep your team both healthy and productive is to ensure that your health benefits strategy gives employees the peace-of-mind they need to go get quality care when they need it and focus on doing their best work.
With an ongoing pandemic, rising healthcare costs, and challenging economic headwinds, there's never been a better time to make sure your employee health benefits put your team’s mind at ease. Here are a few tactics to get you started:
1. Supercharge your team's health insurance.
If your team should become sick or injured during the year, a small investment in Ansel's supplemental health insurance plan can go a long way toward helping them cover high out-of-pocket healthcare costs. Ansel stands apart from traditional voluntary plans because we offer a wide range of coverage all in one plan, and we make it easy to file a 100% paperless claim.
With personalized benefits for more than 13,000 conditions — from dehydration and concussions to heart attacks and cancer — your team won't have to worry about whether they'll be covered if an unexpected health issue arises. Ansel brings peace of mind quickly, paying cash via Venmo, Paypal, or directly to the employee's bank account within hours of claim approval.
2. Make health benefits easy to use.
Your team can't rest easy if they have benefits that are hard to use and a hassle to figure out how to access. Too many benefit offerings are stuck in the past, using confusing terminology and outdated processes instead of simple solutions backed by modern technology. Ansel's claims experience, on the other hand, is fast and easy.
Your employees can easily file their claims online or through the Ansel app using readily available information about their diagnosis. There's no need to wait weeks for EOBs or invoices before filing. They can take photos of things like a discharge summary, a prescription, or even an emergency room wristband. Once they hit "submit," our team will review the claim and pay cash within hours of approval.
3. Select employee health benefits that include support.
Your employees are more aware — and more worried — than ever about their health thanks to the coronavirus pandemic. In light of this uncertainty and the complexity of today's health benefits, offering guidance and education about your employee health benefits is key to your team's peace of mind.
To that end, Ansel's supplemental health insurance plan offers members a dedicated Concierge (a real person!) devoted to supporting them throughout their membership. That means if your team ever has a question or problem, we've got an easy solution — and that's a relief to employees who've had bad experiences trying to get answers about their benefits.
4. Don't wait until open enrollment to take action.
Waiting for open enrollment to update your health benefits strategy is risky at a time like this. Your employees may struggle to cover out-of-pocket healthcare costs this year because they didn’t anticipate or understand the costs that might be coming their way when they elected their health insurance plan.
Fortunately, you can introduce Ansel off-cycle in just a few weeks without creating administrative headaches. Our paperless implementation and account setup are quick and easy. We can handle enrollment on our platform where employees can personalize their benefits and enroll in minutes.
Your employees have enough to worry about without stressing over whether they'll be able to afford care when they get sick or injured. With Ansel's simple supplemental health insurance plan, your employees can get the peace of mind they need to thrive at work.
If you’d like to learn more about Ansel, have your broker get in touch with us at sales@joinAnsel.com today.
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