Are Your Healthcare Benefits Baffling Your Employees?

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Are Your Healthcare Benefits Baffling Your
Employees?
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• While healthcare for most individuals isnt
  usually straightforward, health benefits for
  employees are notoriously complex, often leaving
  the recipient unable to understand the level of
  care theyre entitled to, what the coverage
  includes and where to find the appropriate
  provider, let alone able to navigate the
  insurance claims process.

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• In studies conducted in recent years, an
  overwhelming majority of employees polled stated
  that they faced numerous challenges when
  receiving healthcare, and that the challenges
  were made even more of an issue due to complex
  benefits. Such confusion doesnt just mean that
  employees in need of healthcare arent able to
  access the services they need, meaning their
  conditions could worsen which is bad enough in
  its own right but that they may even go on to
  develop other mental or physical conditions as a
  result of the stress that their healthcare
  benefits are causing them.

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• The problem may be worse for those employees with
  chronic conditions
• For individuals suffering from chronic conditions
  that require ongoing treatment and support, the
  issues mentioned above are often compounded, with
  many employees unable to make sense of diagnoses
  or test results.
• A couple of other challenges complex healthcare
  benefits may pose for employees are detailed
  below, and note that both of them have the
  potential to have a negative impact on their
  employers, too, albeit through no fault of the
  employees own

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• A decline in mental and physical wellbeing
• An employee facing challenges with healthcare,
  faces the possibility of a decline in either
  their mental or physical wellbeing, or in some
  cases, both. Add this to the illness, injury or
  condition that theyre originally seeking
  healthcare for, and theres little wonder so many
  employees take sick leave, leaving both them and
  their employers, in a difficult position.
• Work time spent dealing with healthcare
  challenges
• Many employees report having to spend work time
  on the phone dealing with healthcare providers or
  insurers, and when you add this up over many
  months and many employees, there is bound to be a
  decrease in productivity.

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• Its clear that theres a very real need for
  greater healthcare literacy and education
  relating to the system as a whole, and that
  employers must take a certain degree of
  responsibility for this.
• So, what can employers do to help reduce the
  confusion?
• While many employers do take the time to try and
  tailor their health benefits to meet the needs of
  their employees, their efforts may be wasted if
  the benefits those employees are entitled to
  simply arent being taken advantage of due to a
  lack of understanding or general confusion
  surrounding the system.

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• One effective way of reducing the confusion
  surrounding employee healthcare benefits, is to
  have HR meet with individuals to discuss their
  packages in detail giving them the opportunity
  to ask any questions they might have. Benefits
  guides written in plain English and without
  baffling jargon, can also be helpful, along with
  digestible videos, posters and group
  presentations.
• Working with an outsourced healthcare benefits
  provider is another way to ensure that your
  employees get access to the very best care for
  their needs, and once youve found the right
  package, you may even be able to use that very
  same provider to help educate your employees as
  to exactly what their healthcare benefits are,
  and how they can access them.

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• Apollo Payroll is dedicated to delivering expert
  advice, responsive service, and highly accurate
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  success and growth of the business that we serve.
  Our services include comprehensive payroll
  services in Homestead and other cities in
  Miami-Dade County, employee background check and
  group health insurance in Miami Coral Gables