- Elimination of all or substantially all benefits to diagnose or treat a particular condition.
- Any increase in the employee percentage of co-insurance charges.
- Increase in a deductible or out-of-pocket maximum by an amount that exceeds medical inflation plus 15 percentage points.
- Increase in an employee co-payment by an amount that exceeds medical inflation plus 15 percentage points (or, if greater, $5 plus medical inflation).
- Decrease in the employer contribution rate toward the cost of coverage by more than 5 percentage points below the employer contribution rate on March 23, 2010.
- Imposition of new annual limits if the plan did not include them on March 23, 2010, or a decrease in existing annual limits below the lifetime limit.
- Changing employees to a less generous plan; corporate mergers/sales to avoid compliance.
Chances are you can’t satisfy every request, but you’ll build goodwill through this communication process, and you will be better able to craft a benefits package that is on target with your workforce’s needs. Do this well in advance of open enrollment.
Consider adding benefits you have not offered before.
This doesn’t have to be a costly proposition. You can bring in supplemental benefits on an employee-pay-all basis, or add pre-tax flexible spending accounts for health care and/or dependent day care. Employees appreciate when employers make these types of benefits available to them, even if the employer isn’t contributing to the cost.
Meeting with your benefits advisor to discuss any changes in your company will help determine if costs can be cut. If your company has experienced a significant change in the number of employees, you may qualify for better pricing on some of your benefits options.
