1. How should Polson communicate its new health benefits plan to employees?
Communication of the new plan is extremely important if they want the employees to approve and commit to a managed care network. Employees need to have an understanding of the financial incentives that are present for staying in the network instead of using the traditional insurance side. In addition details of the new plan has to be explained to the employees in a clear way. Polson uses an approach of holding many regional meeting between sector benefits personnel, taskforce and the Whitefish representatives. They utilized a communication package that included videotapes, scripts, data and etc. These were shown to the employees at all the Polson locations. They utilized …show more content…
Polson's experience in this regard is that 44,000 employees out of its 50,000 employees located in cities where networks have been established have enrolled in the Whitefish program. According to utilization studies conducted during the first three years of the program, more than 75% of all eligible employees stayed in the managed care network between 95% and 100% of the time. As a result, the savings achieved by Polson included: a) annual premium increases were indeed held to less than 10%, b) the average cost per employee was reduced from $3,200 under the old indemnity plan to $2,700 under the managed care plan, saving the company a total of $200 million in reduced premiums, and c) the total health care premium paid by the company and its employees was $360 million, an increase of only $5 million from 1995 (significantly below the estimate of $613 million that Ron McGee provided to …show more content…
What additional follow-up should the benefits administration people at Polson take now that the program has been in effect for several years?
A good idea is for employers to keep an eye and check in with their employers after they have gained some experience with their programs and just see their likes and dislikes about the new and approved managed health care system. The survey that they take, Polson can ask if they have an understanding of the new system, whether the new plan has been well communicated to them, if they feel important to the company and lastly did Polson do a great job.
4. To what extent do you believe managed health-care plans such as those at Polson are the wave of the future for health benefits plans in major American
Communication of the new plan is extremely important if they want the employees to approve and commit to a managed care network. Employees need to have an understanding of the financial incentives that are present for staying in the network instead of using the traditional insurance side. In addition details of the new plan has to be explained to the employees in a clear way. Polson uses an approach of holding many regional meeting between sector benefits personnel, taskforce and the Whitefish representatives. They utilized a communication package that included videotapes, scripts, data and etc. These were shown to the employees at all the Polson locations. They utilized …show more content…
Polson's experience in this regard is that 44,000 employees out of its 50,000 employees located in cities where networks have been established have enrolled in the Whitefish program. According to utilization studies conducted during the first three years of the program, more than 75% of all eligible employees stayed in the managed care network between 95% and 100% of the time. As a result, the savings achieved by Polson included: a) annual premium increases were indeed held to less than 10%, b) the average cost per employee was reduced from $3,200 under the old indemnity plan to $2,700 under the managed care plan, saving the company a total of $200 million in reduced premiums, and c) the total health care premium paid by the company and its employees was $360 million, an increase of only $5 million from 1995 (significantly below the estimate of $613 million that Ron McGee provided to …show more content…
What additional follow-up should the benefits administration people at Polson take now that the program has been in effect for several years?
A good idea is for employers to keep an eye and check in with their employers after they have gained some experience with their programs and just see their likes and dislikes about the new and approved managed health care system. The survey that they take, Polson can ask if they have an understanding of the new system, whether the new plan has been well communicated to them, if they feel important to the company and lastly did Polson do a great job.
4. To what extent do you believe managed health-care plans such as those at Polson are the wave of the future for health benefits plans in major American