Building Your Benefit Plan
A comprehensive benefit plan is essential for all employees to enhance their productivity, as well as satisfaction in case of any mishap with their workplaces. The health insurance coverage has become one of the most fundamental parts of the comprehensive benefit plan. Most organizations have adopted the health insurance coverage for their employees, as well as their families. Such insurance plans should be capable of covering other benefits, on top of hospitalization, consultations, and prescription drugs. Other benefits that individuals prefer to receive from the health insurance coverage include emergency coverage, pre-existing conditions, and renewable provisions. Employees should consider a health insurance package that offers a reasonable out-of-pocket limit. Although setting up a low maximum limit might result in an increase in the amount paid as rational premium, instituting an affordable out-of-pocket maximum is essential to create a balance between risk and cost. Such package should guarantee a renewability of coverage, as long as individuals do not commit frauds, or are able to pay their premiums (Kongstvedt, 2013). No individual should be denied health insurance coverage if he/she meets the insurer’s requirements. An appropriate package should also allow individuals to skip premium payments in case of lengthy sickness.
The tax deductibility of premiums should be considered, as it leads to an increase in number of people who demand health insurance. As income increases, individuals move to a higher tax bracket while their employers increase their efforts to obtain health insurance on their behalf (Feldstein, 2012). Additionally, an effective health insurance package should consider a lifetime payout in order to have an assurance of a sufficient amount to cater for the health care coverage. Insurers always limit the lifetime payout to evade paying too much to their customers, but customers should ensure that the lifetime payout is adequate for reimbursement during an individual’s lifetime.
References
Feldstein, P. J. (2012). Health care economics. Clifton Park, NY: Delmar Cengage Learning.
Kongstvedt, P. R. (2013). Essentials of managed health care. Burlington, MA: Jones and Bartlett Learning.