We started a series of articles last week on our Silkin Management Group blog sites about some ideas for small businesses on controlling health care costs. As we all know, health insurance premiums are going up and up every year. Therefore any ideas on reducing these costs can mean a difference in the bottom line of any business, whether a Silkin Management Group client or not.
The ideas in these Silkin blogs came from an article in Forbes magazine which you can link to here: http://www.forbes.com/sites/roblynch/2012/01/05/ten-ways-small-businesses-can-lower-healthcare-costs-and-hire-more-people-in-2012/
In our Silkin Management Group blogs we are summarizing the points brought out in this article. You can link to Part 1 at this Silkin Management Group blog site: http://bit.ly/yDfj1e
Here are two more ideas on how to control your health care costs:
• Institute a health conscious program: Also called “wellness programs” this can vary from simple to complex. As the above mentioned article points out, it can be simple things like on-line calorie counters to more involved activities such as in-office seminars and workshops that educate your employees on healthy life style and eating habits. The article quotes a four year study by Highmark, a health insurance company, which showed a wellness program can slow health care costs by 15%. That is not insignificant given that premiums are often increasing by 8% to 10% per year.
• Smokers beware: If it is not illegal in your state, refuse to hire smokers. The amount of lost productivity and higher health care expenses for smokers is enormous. If you can’t legally not hire smokers, it may be possible to charge them more for their health care premiums. Again, check with your attorney before implementing either of these ideas. As pointed out above, a good employee health education program might lead to the elimination of smoking by many of those employees who do smoke.
In following articles on our Silkin Management Group blog sites we will offer up several more ways to control health care costs.
Jack Hennessy
Silkin Management Group Consultant
For more information about Silkin Management Group, visit our website at www.silkinmanagementgroup.com