Many employers will offer individual health insurance plans for their employers. Employers will pay for a portion of their employees’ health insurance plans and might offer various policies.
In general, more comprehensive coverage means a higher monthly premium and vice versa. However, what type of health insurance plans should employers provide for their employees.
Often, employers must select from pre-constructed plans to provide for their employees. They don’t have much of a say for what’s in the plan. However, whatever plan they decide to purchase and offer to their employee’s matters.
Employers need to consider what they feel matters most to their employees. For instance, employers can choose to offer plans that reduce prescription drugs, mental health services, or pregnancy care. They could include all of these services or only one or two.
Let’s go over some essentials an employer’s health insurance plan should cover.
Emergency services
Emergency services are one of the most important parts of any health insurance policy. An emergency can happen any day and anywhere, beyond the employee’s control. Without these coverages, an employer’s employees might have to pay for expensive emergency care when they need it
Many employers will go even further than offering just basic emergency services and include coverage for things like ambulance fees or helicopter transportation.
Hospitalization
Hospitalization is another essential to consider for employer health insurance plans. Any employee could require a hospital stay for a variety of reasons.
Employers could purchase various types of hospitalization coverage for their employees, from general admission or overnight stays to long-term care or intensive care.
Prescription drugs
Employers can choose to offer prescription drug coverage for their employees. Prescription drugs can often be necessary to keep employees healthy or help them recover from an illness.
Many health insurance plans only cover generic prescriptions, which are less expensive. However, if an employer wants to provide more comprehensive health insurance plans, they might consider brand-name prescriptions.
Rehab services
Rehab services for employees are also an important part of a health insurance policy. Rehab can be very helpful for those who have experienced a medical issue or injury and will need help getting back on track.
Rehabilitation services could include physical therapy or even group counseling sessions. Employers can choose to include inpatient and outpatient rehabilitation services in their health insurance plans.
Mental health care
Taking care of one’s mental health can be equally as important as maintaining their physical health. Research has shown that mental illness can lead to absenteeism, so offering coverage for these types of illnesses might be beneficial for employees.
Mental health care could range from therapy sessions with a professional counselor to medication management. Other possible benefits could include peer support groups.
Substance use disorder care
While many employer health insurance plans will offer some type of mental health care, they might want to consider including coverage for substance use disorder care.
Substance use disorder isn’t uncommon. Drug addiction and alcohol abuse have become somewhat widespread. Offering comprehensive insurance coverage for substance use disorders is helpful for your employees during a critical time in their lives.
Pregnancy care
Pregnancy care is another option employers need to consider including on their health insurance plans. Pregnancy can be a very trying time for most women, and most likely, an employee will need some assistance or guidance.
If an employer has primarily female employees, maternity benefits might be especially helpful. Maternity leave in particular is valuable for mothers to have. These types of income replacement services could also help new parents get back to work faster after having a child.
Laboratory services
Another benefit employers might want to consider adding to their health insurance plans is laboratory services. Laboratory testing is crucial for correctly diagnosing a medical issue, so employers need to make sure that they provide employees with access to lab services.
Whether it’s for testing, monitoring, or general wellness exams, employees may feel more comfortable using these types of services through their employer versus their personal insurance plan.
Why does this matter?
The quality and comprehensiveness of a health insurance plan can have a huge impact on an employee’s life. Employers want to make sure that they are offering their employees the best coverage possible, so having a clear understanding of what is included in a health insurance plan is important.
In order for employers to continue being competitive in today’s workforce, they need to provide comprehensive health insurance plans that will provide the necessary benefits for their employees.
