|
Being underinsured can occur when a person’s health insurance doesn’t adequately cover their healthcare needs. This can happen due to high deductibles or other out-of-pocket costs. What often happens at renewal is underinsured employees select “better” or more expensive coverage plans.
From the employer’s point of view, this is extremely difficult to predict, and when many employees do this, it can have a significant impact on your employer benefits costs.
On the other end of the spectrum, when people have premium health coverage, they tend to be less concerned about the cost of medical services. As a result, they might seek unnecessary or excessive care since they don’t bear the full financial burden. This “over-consumption” of healthcare can potentially cause the insurance carrier to dramatically increase rates at renewal.
In between are “best” health coverage options for someone and their family, and that depends on individual circumstances, such as budget, preferred doctors, and healthcare needs, as well as plan details, deductibles, copayments, and coinsurance.
Selecting coverage in this sweet spot between being underinsured and overinsured is complicated and often overwhelming for even the most informed employees.
|
