This is the first in our upcoming series about selling to healthcare professionals. Healthcare professionals may believe group benefits are not necessary for their employees, as they have access to certain services free or at-cost. Standard packaged plans may be of little perceived value as a result.
There is a great opportunity for benefits plan advisors to offer customized plans to this largely untapped market.
Many dentists are small business owners. They operate their own dental clinic with a staff of one or two dentists and a few administrative employees. Often the dentist and their employees don’t need dental benefits coverage, as dental offices may have an internal arrangement for staff. When employees or their family members need dental services, they are taken care of without a claim to be processed.
The dentist and their staff, then, may not need dental coverage. However, they would still benefit from comprehensive health and prescription drug coverage. Dental staff may also need benefits coverage for specialist dental procedures, such as orthodontics.
Conventional small group benefits plans are usually off-the-shelf solutions, they do not provide any flexibility. Dentists may avoid these standard plans because they cannot design a plan that provides health coverage but excludes dental coverage. As a result, dentists may deprioritize providing benefits to their employees, rationalizing that they may be covered by their spouses’ plans, or that they receive free dental coverage and this reduces their employees’ overall need for coverage.
Dentists may not know about the options for customized benefits plans, designed to provide coverage for only the things they need.
Hybrid plans are the ideal benefits solution for dentists. Hybrid plans combine the benefits of a conventional benefits plan with that of a healthcare spending account (HCSA), resulting in a balance that perfectly suits the practice’s needs.
In a hybrid plan, the core of the benefits plan can provide extended healthcare coverage and a prescription drug card on a defined benefit basis. The HCSA (or defined contribution portion of the plan) provides the flexibility to cover any other expenses that arise (e.g. physiotherapy, vision care, orthodontics, etc.).
The dentist can decide the specific options they want to include in the defined benefit portion of the plan, and the specific dollar amount to include in the defined contribution portion. These choices help the business owner to maintain complete control of their costs and their coverage.
The SelectFlex benefits plan is a hybrid plan built for small groups of 3 or more. It is straightforward, flexible, and easy to customize. Through SelectFlex, dentists can easily customize a simple benefits solution that includes exactly what they want. Click here for more information about SelectFlex.
When selling to a dentist’s office, presenting a flexible hybrid plan that can meet their specific needs is a powerful approach.
>> The Benefits Trust can help advisors customize a benefits plan to fit the unique needs of dentists and other healthcare providers. Contact us today to build a better benefits plan.
Coming Up in Our Selling to Healthcare Professionals Series
- Selling Benefits Plans to Doctors
- Selling Benefits Plans to Pharmacists and Paramedical Practitioners
- Introducing the Veterinarian SelectFlex Benefits Plan
- Selling Benefits Plans to Family Health Teams
