Your first plan can feel like a long list of unfamiliar choices. Make these five decisions first to give the search a useful direction.
1. What should the plan help your employees with?
GroupHEALTH recommends considering employee needs and workforce characteristics when choosing a first plan. Benefits preferences can vary, so begin with your own team.
Collect input on the categories employees value without asking for private medical details. Then choose the priorities you want to bring into the design discussion. A short list gives you a more useful starting point than trying to include everything. [1]
Which employee needs should guide our first comparison?
2. What can the business commit to over time?
GroupHEALTH’s first-plan guidance asks employers to consider sustainability as well as the initial budget. The ongoing commitment deserves attention before you select the package.
Think about how much flexibility your budget has if circumstances change. Record the range you want options to fit and the questions you have about future costs. You are setting a boundary for the search, not predicting every renewal. [1]
What budget can guide both launch and ongoing planning?
3. How will contributions be divided?
GroupHEALTH explains employer-paid, shared-cost and coverage-by-coverage arrangements. The decision affects what the business contributes and what employees contribute.
Ask for those amounts to be shown separately when reviewing an option. This prevents the overall price from hiding an important choice about who pays. It also helps you prepare a clear explanation of the proposed arrangement for employees. [2]
Which contribution approaches should we compare?
4. Which coverage choices fit those priorities?
GroupHEALTH’s small-business guidance emphasizes configuring benefits around the needs of the business and employees. A package is worth assessing against the priorities you have established.
Ask which elements can be configured and how the choices affect the proposal. This turns the coverage discussion into a sequence of decisions with a purpose. You can explain why you are considering an option, instead of selecting it because it appears in a list. [3]
Which choices address the needs we identified?
5. What will make enrollment manageable?
GroupHEALTH recommends looking at online enrollment and support when evaluating a provider. The people who join and administer the plan need a process they can understand.
Before settling on an option, ask what information your business must provide and how employees will be guided. Include the person who will administer the plan. Practical preparation belongs in the decision, rather than being left until after purchase. [4]
What does our team need to do to get started?
You have a starting point for your first plan.
Once you have identified the priorities, contribution approach and support your business needs, the next step is to explore options. Tell us about your business to receive information about employee benefits for your team.
Get your employee benefit options.
Tell us a little about your business to receive information about benefits options for your team.