Health benefits are vital for a strong company culture. They help attract top talent and keep teams productive. In a competitive job market, offering strong health benefits is essential to attract and keep top talent. However, costs are rising rapidly, with projections reaching over $15,000 per employee by 2024. Even with high spending, employees often struggle to find quality care and face high out-of-pocket costs. Since employers pay about 80% of plan costs, it is concerning that many workers cannot access the services they need. History suggests that without change, costs will keep rising while the employee experience gets worse. This is why many employers are considering supplementing their existing health benefits with Subscription Care.
How Subscription Care Improves Healthcare Accessibility
Subscription Care is a modern solution that changes how we pay for and receive healthcare. It removes middlemen and connects employers directly to doctors. Subscription Care offers an efficient, affordable, patient-centered approach by facilitating direct contracts with independent healthcare teams. Rather than paying for each medical visit, in this model, employers pay a fixed fee to grant their employees access to high-quality care.
For healthcare proponents who have long advocated for changes in healthcare contracting and payments, new government regulations that accelerate the shift toward direct contracting are a welcome development. Subscription Care’s key benefits include:
- Direct contracts between employers and independent medical teams.
- Less paperwork and administrative work for providers.
- Compliance with new government rules that favor direct contracting.
Learn how to incorporate Subscription Care in your health benefit plan
Now, let’s look at the specific challenges employers can overcome with Subscription Care.
The Limitations of Traditional Employee Health Benefits
Standard health plans typically rely on insurance to cover doctors, hospitals, and specialists. While this has been the norm for years, it has several major downsides:
- Hidden Costs: It is often unclear what services actually cost or what is covered.
- Barriers to Care: Financial uncertainty and long wait times often lead patients to skip needed appointments.
- Complexity: Managing claims, deductibles, and co-pays is confusing for both companies and staff.
How Hidden Costs Create Barriers to Care
Traditional insurance models create confusion about the actual costs of healthcare services. Employees are often unsure about how much their health benefits cover. Less clarity means more unexpected out-of-pocket expenses. Because of this, patients often skip needed medical appointments.
Subscription Care puts consumers in the driver’s seat. It offers accessibility and transparency, while empowering employees to make informed healthcare decisions with no financial surprises.
In addition, employers who provide Subscription Care programs can expect:
- fewer sick days
- increased employee productivity
- greater satisfaction with the quality of care
Complex Processes
Managing traditional health plans is difficult for everyone involved. This complexity creates administrative waste that increases costs for all parties. Specifically, these inefficiencies lead to:
- Higher costs: Directly impacting premiums, deductibles, and co-pays.
- Administrative burden: Creating extra work for insurance companies, providers, and employers.
- Legislative challenges: New government requirements (like the CAA) make it harder and more expensive to fund traditional plans.
How Subscription Care Simplifies Healthcare
Subscription Care’s straightforward approach simplifies the employee experience by providing a direct relationship between employees and healthcare providers. Research has shown that a higher ratio of primary care providers leads to better health outcomes. In our recent survey, 81% of people highly value strong relationships with their primary care physicians.
Employers can combine traditional health plan sponsorship with Subscription Care. This lets their employees access primary care and other essential services without dealing with the hassle of insurance claims, co-pays, or deductibles.
Employers who adopt Subscription Care programs empower their employees to address health issues before they get worse. According to a Milliman study, employers can achieve significant savings of 20% through Subscription Care plans compared to not having one in place.
To delve deeper into the transformative impact of Subscription Care, we invite you to explore the 2023 Subscription Care Benchmark Report.
How Subscription Care Addresses Consumer Expectations
Consumer expectations play a pivotal role in driving change and innovation in healthcare. As championed by the triple aim, consumers expect access to high-quality care experiences at affordable prices. In response to these expectations, Subscription Care excels by:
Improving Timely Access to Care
Traditional insurance plans often result in long wait times. Because ‘fee-for-service’ models encourage providers to maximize the number of visits, patients often face unnecessary appointments and confusion.
Subscription Care improves this by:
- Streamlining administration: Removing the red tape that clogs medical schedules.
- Eliminating redundancy: Reducing the need for unnecessary, repetitive visits.
- Enabling quality time: Integrating virtual care allows doctors to spend more face-to-face time with each patient improving the quality of care. Additional face time also positively impacts patient satisfaction.
Many medical practices are open to a hybrid approach combining traditional fee-for-service models with Subscription Care options. Ultimately, this practice encourages a reasonable monthly fee and makes Subscription Care an economically viable choice for employers seeking this innovative healthcare option.
Improving Health Outcomes
We know preventive health with early intervention significantly impacts health outcomes and financial well-being. Proactive healthcare with mental health and wellness benefit options can positively impact employee productivity.
Subscription Care complements traditional health plans, offering a comprehensive range of services to address broader employee health needs. The additional support layer prioritizes preventive health and empowers employees to seek care promptly, leading to better health outcomes, higher productivity, and a more positive work environment.
Making Primary Care Affordable
Regular primary care appointments are essential for maintaining good health. Due to lengthy wait times and coincidental out-of-pocket expenses, traditional healthcare payment models often discourage individuals from scheduling regular primary care visits. In contrast, Subscription Care offers a transparent, cost-effective, and accessible solution, encouraging individuals to interact with their primary care doctors as needed.
47% of employees would go to the doctor two to four times a year if they had a monthly membership that included unlimited office visits and no co-pay. Reducing emergency room visits and other high-cost interventions overcomes any initial cost of implementing Subscription Care.
Learn more in our 2023 Subscription Care Benchmark Report
Subscription Care directly addresses consumer expectations and bridges the gap between patients and affordable, high-quality care. The benefits are compelling, so what prevents employers from embracing this model?
How Subscription Care Addresses Employer Expectations
Subscription Care is an innovative solution that aligns with employers’ evolving needs and obligations. The Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2021 (CAA) has increased the legal responsibilities of employers. They are now required to provide more oversight regarding the quality and cost-effectiveness of the healthcare services they offer their teams. Employers will face higher health plan costs in light of this legislative shift.
Employers who absorb the higher costs expect more health management options, a broader provider network, and superior customer service for their employees. Subscription Care is poised to assist employers in striking the balance between cost, employee satisfaction, and optionality, enabling them to remain competitive in attracting and retaining top talent. Subscription Care delivers value to employers through:
Customization and Personalization Options
A major benefit of Subscription Care is its high level of flexibility. Employers have embraced this flexibility, appreciating the ability to fine-tune care plans down to the level of individual providers. This level of customization empowers employees to choose healthcare options that match their unique needs and preferences. Subscription Care platforms like Accresa facilitate efficient payment processes, simplify financial transactions, and reduce the complexities of billing and collections.
By integrating traditional health benefits with Subscription Care, employers can offer employees a health benefits solution that is broad, customizable, and accessible, ensuring the well-being of their workforce.
Support for Vision, Dental, and Wellness Benefits
In pursuit of more comprehensive and competitive health benefit plans, employers are exploring offerings beyond traditional healthcare. Many have inquired about extending Subscription Care benefits to encompass vision and dental services, providing employees with holistic care options that cater to their diverse health needs.
Moreover, numerous employers are delving into wellness benefits, such as gym memberships and lifestyle stipends for wellness programs, as an integral part of their health benefits and subscription care packages. These holistic offerings underscore employers’ commitment to the well-being of their workforce and demonstrate the forward-looking nature of Subscription Care.
Read more on Subscription Care for Dental and Vision from our 2023 Subscription Care Benchmark Report
Simplified Payments for Employers
The complexity of healthcare payments is a constant source of frustration for employers and their health plan partners. The subscription care model solves this problem, bypassing insurance to lower costs and achieve better outcomes. Subscription Care, powered by Accresa, streamlines payment processes, ensuring providers receive consolidated monthly payments from a single source.
Accresa’s automated capabilities cover marketing, enrollment, eligibility, financial, and network management of Subscription Care programs to connect networks of providers to large patient populations effortlessly. This streamlined approach reduces administrative burdens and enhances efficiency, making Subscription Care an appealing and practical choice for employers.
Subscription Care presents a promising solution that aligns with employers’ evolving needs and obligations, providing a balanced, personalized, and efficient healthcare approach that resonates with employers and employees alike.
Contact us today to explore how to incorporate Subscription Care into your employee health benefits package.
