i need you to reply to my to my 2 classmates and i will post my initial response to help you out. both discussions should be nice and atleast 1-2 paragraphs a piece.
As a strategic HR leader, you must be aware of costs at all levels. One cost that is continuously on the rise is the cost of providing health care to employees. Consider the following scenario and answer completely, using resources to justify your answer. Be creative.
Your company, XYZ Manufacturing, has experienced substantial increases in health care costs over the past few years and is expecting a new increase beginning January 1. As the HR director, you’ve been tasked with offering 4 suggestions to corporate that may reduce the cost increases in both the new year and in future years.
MY initial response: Reducing Healthcare Cost
As a strategic HR leader, you must be aware of costs at all levels. One cost that is continuously on the rise is the cost of providing health care to employees. To formulate a comprehensive and insightful cost-effective approach towards reducing cost levels in our organization, several factors require critical attention. Firstly, the Human resource practitioners must consider key influencers of ill health in the workplace by critically examining the existing workplace loopholes which might in one way or other trigger health fluctuations within team members (Khan et al., 2014). The approach will be achieved by considering the health niches from an employee point of view. Essentially, the examination of key influencers of health uncertainties will enable easy mitigation of healthcare costs, accidents and healthcare hazards which extensively heighten entities expenses exponentially ((Khan et al., 2014; Quinlan et al., 2010). The following identical suggestions require an insightful approach and immediate implementation in the organization;
Offering protective gear to all subordinates
Fundamentally, protective attire plays a critical role in guaranteeing the safety of workers during the task execution process. The protective gears offer confidence to employees as a way of motivating them towards handling tasks that emerge challenging due to composition complexities (Quinlan et al., 2010). Luckily, offering protective attire to the workforce will enable the easy elimination of occupational accidents and health hazards that are controllable (Quinlan et al., 2010). Workably, protective gear offers reliable protection to employees thus reduces the risk of chemical poisoning and unnecessary accidents thus reduce the cost of offering treatment schemes to the affected individuals (Khan et al., 2014). Relatively, the approach will certify employees of their protection thus build confidence over task hence remain productive.
Securing inclusive healthcare insurance cover for the entire entities’ workforce
An inclusive healthcare cover might work better for our organization by offering health insurance to all subordinates under one entity title. The overall health insurance cover will positively influence cost reduction on healthcare as far as employees are concerned (Wu et al., 2018). Subsequently, the inclusive healthcare insurance will minimize the risks of excessive expenses on healthcare for workers which aggregates higher costs compared to the inclusive insurance cover (Wu et al., 2018). Dynamically, the approach will be supplemented by the employees’ willingness to be covered by the entity. The health cover will act as a double scorecard towards winning employees loyalty and satisfaction in the workplace (Wu et al., 2018).
Observing better workplace spacing and ventilation
Better workplace planning and ventilation influences perfection from both employee and employers perspectives. A better workplace arrangement reduces the rate of accidents, collision and overcrowding which jeopardize occupational health (Quinlan et al., 2010). Health fluctuations like transmission of contagious disease, respiratory complications can be easily eradicated by ventilating the working areas (Khan et al., 2014). Ventilation will offer efficient circulation of fresh air into the working area thus a better working environment.
References
Khan, W. A., Mustaq, T., & Tabassum, A. (2014). Occupational health, safety and risk analysis. International Journal of Science, Environment and Technology, 3(4), 1336-1346.
Quinlan, M., Bohle, P., & Lamm, F. (2010). Managing occupational health and safety. Palgrave Macmillan.
Wu, D., Lu, J., Hussain, F., Doumouras, C., & Zhang, G. (2018). A workforce health insurance plan recommender system. In Data Science and Knowledge Engineering for Sensing Decision Support: Proceedings of the 13th International FLINS Conference (Vol. 11, p. 355). Donna Locklear
Week 7 DB
One of the benefits of working for a great company is having health benefits. Supplying health care to employees is one cost that is continuously on the rise for employers. Cardinal Health of Augusta, a gauze manufacturer, has experienced a substantial increase in health care costs over the past few years and is expecting a new increase beginning January 1. As the HR director, I have been brainstorming with my team to figure out ways to help reduce the increased cost to corporate. After talking to the team, we produced actions that the company could implement to help improve health care.
- Give multiple options to employees. Each employee’s medical needs are different, and having choices will help tailor care and cost to the employee’s needs. For example, some employees may choose to work with a Health Maintenance Organization (HMO)- HMO is a health care plan that supplies benefits on a prepaid basis for employees who must use only HMO medical service providers (Noe, Hollenbeck, Gerhart, & Wright, 2021). Other employees may prefer a Preferred provider organization (PPO)- PPO is a group of health care providers who contract with employers, insurance companies, and so forth to supply health care at a reduced fee (Noe, Hollenbeck, Gerhart, & Wright, 2021). Also, options such as telemedicine, HAS accounts, and different/more inclusive formularies can reduce cost reduction.
- Employee Wellness Programs- Cardinal Health has a wellness program that helps employees participate in goal settings and education on health that allows them to get discounts on their health coverage. Education is a vital part of helping informed employees make better choices. The initiatives included with these programs help promote healthier behaviors that reduce future costs for employers and employees. Wellness programs are also a comprehensive approach, allowing the employees from a physical, emotional, mental, social, and fiscal perspective.
- The team reviewed the overall budget for headcounts- full-time versus temporary workers. The group decided that we needed to keep a 10% temporary workforce to offset healthcare costs. For temporary employees, the provider manages health care for those employees.
- Investing in automated services can also help with healthcare costs. Cutting the costs of a person/team of employees to oversee the administrative functions of healthcare management can help decrease healthcare costs.
As healthcare costs continue to rise, these suggestions that could help companies reduce costs. These suggestions could also be beneficial to the employees and give them options.
References
Noe, R., Hollenbeck, J., Gerhart, B., & Wright, P. (2021). Human Resource Management: Gaining a Competitive Advantage (12 edition). New York: McGraw-Hill. Retrieved March 21, 2021 Darlene Hoyte
HRM 6603
Week 7 Discussion
There are several ways to help a company to reduce health care costs but the four I will focus on is telemedicine, high deductible health plan with savings option, employee wellness programs and preferred provider organization.
The telemedicine option allows employees to be evaluated, diagnosed and treated online or over the phone thus saving money by avoiding costly trips to the urgent care clinic or emergency room. Telemedicine is one of the fastest growing ways for companies to save on health care costs according to a 2018 report done by the International Foundation of Employee Benefits Plans association. In 2018, 64% of the 677 companies surveyed offered this option and both employees and the employers saw a cost savings. (Mills, 2019)
The high deductible health plan (HDHP) with savings option, helps employees cover their out-of-pocket expenses as well as enjoy tax deductions. While a typical HDHP requires employees to pay a higher deductible it offers them a lower monthly premium then you add in the option for them to be able to set aside pre-tax dollars to help pay for health care costs. The unused portion of the money remains in the account even after the employees leaves their employer. (Keck, 2019)
The employee wellness programs help to educate employees on how changing behaviors both at work and home can eventually lead to a healthier future. This is option is more of preventative care and helps to decrease health care costs by decreasing the need for services. (Noe, 2021) Services such as access to a dietician and good food options at work can help decrease obesity, diabetes risk, high cholesterol and high blood pressure.
The preferred provider organization (PPO) option are health care providers that have an arrangement with employers and insurance companies to provide health care services for an agreed upon, reduced rate. This then creates a network of preferred or participating providers that if an employee chooses them then they will pay less for services. (Noe, 2021) However, if they choose an out of network participant then they can expect to pay more for their services.
References:
Keck, Jennifer. (2019, November 4). 5 Ways to Lower Your Health Care Costs-Without Cutting Benefits. https://gusto.com/blog/health-insurance/reduce-healthcare-costs (Links to an external site.)
Mills, Stephen. (2019, February 27). 15 Ways Employers Can Reduce Health Care Spending That Aren’t Cost- Sharing. Society for Human Resource Management. https://www.shrm.org/ResourcesAndTools/hr-topics/benefits/Pages/top-ways-employers-hold-down-healthcare-spending.aspxorg) (Links to an external site.)
Noe, R., Hollenbeck, J., Gerhart, B., & Wright, P. (2021). Human Resource Management: Gaining a Competitive Advantage (12 edition). New York: McGraw-Hill.
