This is the last in our blog series about effectively selling benefits plans to healthcare professionals. Healthcare professionals have specific needs for their healthcare plans – needs that conventional off-the-shelf plans typically cannot meet.
There is a great opportunity for benefits plan advisors to offer customized plans to this largely untapped market.
Family health teams are unique among potential benefits plan clients, in that they receive a designated amount of funding from the government to cover all aspects of compensation including employee benefits. Typically, total compensation in the family health team will be linked to the weekly hours worked by the various professionals.
Because they have a specific allocation of funds for employee benefits, family health teams are not well served by a plan with fluctuating premiums or unexpected cost increases. Their budget is not designed with the flexibility to accommodate changes in benefits plan costs.
Like any medical practitioner, members of family health teams are often proactive about their health. But conventional off-the-shelf plans frequently limit eligible expenses and provide little flexibility. Family health teams also need a benefits plan that is designed to match the structure of their government funding – but they may not know their options beyond conventional benefits plans.
Healthcare Spending Accounts (HSAs or HCSAs) are the ideal benefits solution for family health teams with fixed funding for employee benefits.
HCSAs are designed to prevent unexpected cost increases or fluctuations. With each employee given a specific, pre-determined amount of money at the beginning of each benefit year, the family health team can set precise limits and budgets.
Another advantage of HCSAs for family health teams is the ability to allocate different amounts of money for different employees. Recalling that family health teams’ funding is linked to the hours worked by their members, an HCSA provides a customizable solution enabling them to set up their benefits plan with different levels for the groups within their group.
For example: Practitioners who work under 28 hours/week may be allocated $2,750/year, while practitioners who work 35 or more hours/week may be allocated $4,000/year.
Based on our experience at The Benefits Trust, HCSAs have proven to be extremely successful for meeting the needs of family health teams in Ontario. An HCSA is a malleable, yet no-surprises solution that perfectly addresses the challenges of a workplace that must balance varying employee compensation with a fixed budget.
When selling to family health teams, a well-designed HCSA solution is a powerful approach for meeting their needs.
Remember – advisors who understand the internal structure of their clients will be able to recommend the appropriate solutions.
>> The Benefits Trust can help advisors customize a benefits plan to fit the unique needs of family health teams and other healthcare providers. Contact us today to build a better benefits plan.
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Previously in Our Selling to Healthcare Professionals Series
