Group health insurance serves an important role for millions of employees and their families. Group plans are in place to provide a solid amount of healthcare benefits, ensuring access to essential services. In general, essential benefits will cover things like medical treatments, hospitalizations, and preventative care. With that said, considering the fact that individual health concerns can vary from person to person, employers have the option to expand upon the base plan, by adding supplemental insurance benefits. If you’re an employer or employee who wants to learn more about supplemental health options, you’ve come to the right place. In this article we will discuss what supplemental insurance is in more detail, the various reasons why they benefit employers and employees, and many of the common supplemental benefit options.
What is Supplemental Insurance?
Supplemental insurance options are extra services that “fill the gaps” so to speak, by addressing particular health needs that otherwise wouldn’t be covered under the primary coverage alone. These benefits are generally more specialized, fitting the needs of specific problems and promoting a greater sense of well-being for employees. While supplemental coverage makes employees happy, there are also several benefits for the employer as well when offering them. Supplemental insurance coverage is different from a traditional health plan because they help to cover costs that your normal health plan might not include. When discussing the various supplemental benefits, keep in mind that not all insurance plans offer the same supplemental options.
What Can Supplemental Insurance Do for You?
There are many reasons and benefits as to why an employer may want to offer supplemental insurance products to their employees. On the flip side, there are plenty of reasons why employees would want a job that offers them. At the end of the day, the following reasons show us why offering these services is a win for everyone involved.
Employer Benefits
- They help to attract talented employees. Especially in today’s day in age, the job market is competitive, especially for small businesses. Because of this, employees are able to be more selective than ever when choosing a company to work for. Supplemental benefits will help you stand out from the competition with an array of attractive health options.
- They promote a positive company culture. Companies that offer these benefits have noticed employees being more productive and feeling a greater sense of community. When employees know that you are going the extra mile for them, they’ll likely be happier overall and work harder.
- In general, they won’t cost employers any more money. Supplemental benefits are added on to a policy depending if an employee wants them or not. With that said, they are usually paid for by the employee. This means little to no cost for employers when offering them.
Employee Benefits
- Reduced group rate cost. When someone opts in for supplemental benefits on an individual health plan, the cost is generally much more expensive. When enrolling through an employer though, the group rate is reduced for all employees.
- They fill the gaps. With a normal medical policy, individuals will have to use their personal money to pay for specific health concerns. With supplemental insurance, instead of having to go into your savings, these expenses will be covered, allowing them to save money.
- Easier enrollment and payment. When an employer offers supplemental insurance, it becomes far more convenient for employees to enroll and renew, since there is no need to worry about underwriting approval. Generally, all employees will have to do is select the plan coverages that they want during open enrollment. Additionally, the premiums they pay will be automatically deducted from their paycheck.
What are the Most Common Supplemental Benefits?
Whether an employer wants to offer supplemental benefits or not is entirely up to them. Additionally, not all supplemental plans will offer the same benefits. To give you a better understanding of these benefits, we will discuss some of the most common employer-offered supplemental benefits.
Dental Insurance
Dental coverage is generally the most common supplemental benefit that is offered with group health insurance. While dental insurance is a coverage that most employers provide, it is technically supplemental. This coverage will cover services such as regular checkups, cleanings, extractions, fillings, and oftentimes orthodontic treatment. If you don’t already offer dental coverage, you should consider offering it. Having coverage promotes better oral health and helps to identify dental problems, before they become serious.
Vision Insurance
Behind dental insurance, vision is the second most common supplemental benefit. Vision coverage will usually cover things like eye exams, contact lenses and prescription glasses. Some vision plans offer additional benefits such as a discount on procedures like LASIK. Having regular eye exams will help employees protect themselves against eye disease and maintain good vision.
Mental Health Services
While some group health plans will already offer certain mental health services, for other plans it is a supplemental benefit. With the importance of mental health on the rise, this benefit should be adopted by every employer to promote employee wellness and to stay competitive against other companies’ offerings. Some common benefits include therapy sessions, counseling, and other treatments for various mental health conditions. Common health conditions treated with mental health services include depression, anxiety, PTSD, and more. By offering these services, employees will have better coping skills and be appreciative of you.
Chiropractic Coverage
Chiropractic care gives employees the ability to assess and treat any musculoskeletal issues, most commonly affecting the spine. This supplemental coverage generally covers services such as, adjustments, muscle strengthening and manipulation and other similar therapies. Back and neck pain are some of the most common physical problems faced by people, especially people who sit down in a chair for the bulk of their days. With that said, offering chiropractic coverage will help these individuals to treat the areas where they are experiencing discomfort. This type of alternative treatment will demonstrate to your employees that you are paying attention to all angles of their well-being.
Acupuncture Coverage
Acupuncture is an ancient Chinese practice which involves inserting thin needles into different areas of the body in order to aid pain, and to promote overall well-being. Over the past couple decades, acupuncture has become an increasingly popular treatment in the western world, and by providing this supplemental coverage, employees will gain access to this treatment. Common conditions that acupuncture can help include: chronic pain, stress disorders, headaches, migraines and much more. Offering acupuncture, will provide your employees with an alternative, holistic approach to treat commonly occurring issues.
Disability Insurance
Disability insurance coverage is another commonly offered benefit that protects employees if they become disabled and are not able to work due to the injury or sickness. The main benefit of disability coverage is that it will protect employees financially during their period of disability. Each plan will differ, but in general, the benefit will cover a certain percentage of an employee’s income to help make sure their needs are met, so their standard of living doesn’t go down. Offering this type of coverage will provide employees with peace of mind, knowing that they will be financially stable, if a crisis occurs.
Critical Illness Insurance
This type of coverage will protect employees financially in the case of a serious medical diagnosis including but not limited to cancer, stroke and heart attack. The way critical illness coverage works is by providing a lump sum of money to the person in need, at the time of the diagnosis. They can then use the lump sum to cover ongoing treatment, medical expenses or other related financial expenses. This coverage type will provide your employees with financial support, in a time that no one wants to face alone. By offering it, you will alleviate stress, so they can focus on recovery.
Some Other Supplemental Benefits
In addition to the above mentioned benefits, there are various other supplemental insurance options, all of which can enhance the basic coverage of a group health plan. Some other common benefits include, cancer-specific coverage, life insurance, accident insurance, employee assistance programs (EAPs), home health care coverage and more. All of these benefits offer services that are in place to address specific needs. All supplemental plans can help your employees and their families during a time of need, but remember, everyone’s needs are different, so when choosing which supplemental plans to offer, it may pay off to survey your employees to ensure satisfaction.
To Sum it All Up…
Supplemental health insurance can help individuals meet a variety of their healthcare needs. These benefits serve as a great way to compliment the essential health services that a group plan already offers. By filling in the gaps with supplemental options, employers can show employees that they are dedicated to promoting employee wellbeing and that they wish to foster a healthy work environment. Supplemental coverages can range from dental and vision, to acupuncture and chiropractic services, as well as critical illness insurance and mental health support. When choosing supplemental benefits to offer, it’s vital that employers take into account the unique needs of all of their workers, and try to match those needs by offering appropriate plans. When it’s all said and done, choosing to offer your employees supplemental insurance will strengthen the work community and will promote physical, mental and financial well-being.
If you are an employer who needs help finding the perfect group health plan for your company, look no further! At Group-Health-Quotes.com we have certified insurance experts who work around the clock to help people like you get paired with the group coverage of their dreams. During this easy process, you will be able to compare plan costs and benefits side-by-side to ensure that the plan you pick fits all your employees needs. To get a free quote today, fill out a form or give us a call at 888-571-0291.
