Spread in front of me this morning is a proposal from one carrier for a 33 life case. There are no less than 99 plan design options on 17 pages.
Option 1 is for a $1,000 deductible with a single monthly premium of $560; total for the entire group $24,000. Option 99 is for a $6,500 deductible; the single premium is $371, the monthly total $15,930.
In between are variations of deductibles, co-pays, co-insurance, out of pocket maximums - and even provider networks - resulting in incremental price points.
Is it all too much?
Not when you understand utilization patterns and do a little math.
Two plans, for example, have the same deductible and out of pocket maximum but if you elect 50% coinsurance instead of 80%, there’s a 9% premium savings.
Think about that. Just one or two people in the group are likely to hit their OOP maximum, albeit a little faster with 50% coinsurance, while every employee will save on average $1,500. Oh, and the employer will save $16,000 (in this case, they pay 70% of the premium).
For every client there are unique circumstances, which explains why plan design options are so important.
