At a time of heightened awareness of the inequality plaguing the country, there’s no denying that it’s spilled into the design of employer-provided health plans. I detailed seemingly countless examples of that earlier this week, in part one of an examination of inequity in healthcare. As benefit advisers, we face both a business and moral imperative to do better for our clients and the employee populations we serve. Today, my focus is on spotlighting the myriad of solutions to this growing problem.
Fully insured plans with low out-of-pocket (OOP) costs might seem like the remedy for solving healthcare inequities that often affect the lowest income employees. However, they are rarely affordable and thus not offered, or the member is asked to pay too much for coverage, which is self-defeating. Moreover, the social determinants of health (SDOH) that lead to poor outcomes and high costs are exacerbated by bad health plan design.
