Ideas about presenting HSA's

[40-below]

I'm looking for new ideas when presenting group Health Insurance.

Nowadays the small employers are looking for lower prices.

Does anyone have a good HSA pitch that they're using to help those not involved in insurance understand it all....maybe the way your drawing it up on paper.
Just some illustrations where they are saving money by putting the money into an HSA rather than higher premiums?

 

[somarco]

Most small group plans don't generate enough premium savings to justify the HSA vs traditional copay plans.

 

[40-below]

I realize a group of 4 is too small to see anything substantial....but suppose theres 30.....I guess I consider anything under 50 a "small group"

 

[somarco]

Doesn't seem to matter, at least not here in GA. The premium differential is so slight it is almost impossible to make the case for HSA.

 

[VolAgent]

Care to speculate why it moves the premium on individual coverage, but not small group?

 

[stuy119]

Over similar "PPO" plans here in IL, the savings with BCBS are roughly 30-40%. Valid enough here.

Ask Owners if they enjoy the insurance company getting paid to take on risk, or if they would be willing to take on a small portion per employee in order to save 30% AND have a similar plan to what they have now with the same carrier.

 

[somarco]

Care to speculate why it moves the premium on individual coverage, but not small group?

Group actuaries are smarter than individual major med actuaries.

Or . . .

Individual major med actuaries are smarter.

One of them is wrong.

You pick.

 

[VolAgent]

Group actuaries are smarter than individual major med actuaries.

Or . . .

Individual major med actuaries are smarter.

One of them is wrong.

You pick.

I was hoping for something more insightful.

 

[ABC]

I'm looking for new ideas when presenting group Health Insurance.

Nowadays the small employers are looking for lower prices.

Does anyone have a good HSA pitch that they're using to help those not involved in insurance understand it all....maybe the way your drawing it up on paper.
Just some illustrations where they are saving money by putting the money into an HSA rather than higher premiums?

Its not that hard of a sell. By choosing an HSA the insured picks up most of the cost until the deductible is met.

The plan pays for the big cost but the small cost fall onto the insured.


The reason why most HSA are not reducing a larger % of cost is due to the fact that the HSA is a richer plan.

If you are comparing a $1,500 deductible plan with 80% co insurance vs a 3,000 HSA there will not be that much savings.
When HSA were release 4 years ago the sales pitch was that HSA should perform better at renewal because of consumerism. That sales pitch has gone out the door because once an insured meet's their deductible now everything is "free".

Most blocks of HSA small group business has not performed that well from a claims standpoint.

If I was new and selling an HSA I would spreadsheet the plans throw out some selling points and let the owner decide.

 

[somarco]

I was hoping for something more insightful.

Sorry, but it is true.

When I worked the medical stop loss business it became quite clear the actuaries who priced specific stop loss premiums were more informed than their counterparts in the fully insured side. Eventually actuaries working on fully insured group plans of all sizes realized the error of their ways and changed a lot of the pricing.

Small group, under 50 lives, are fully pooled for the most part. Claim data on any particular group is almost meaningless, but claims on the block become significant.

Many small group plans with a high deductible (HSA qualified) also have fully or partially funded HSA's.

Not so much with individual HDHP's.

What happens when an individual makes a claim is, they have little or nothing in their HSA so the gap from $0 to the deductible is a concern. Some times people who did not fund the HSA will either postpone medical care or at least make an attempt to find the lowest price. This includes asking for generics and going to a doc in a box vs the ER for minor emergencies.

Those who have employer group plans are more likely to have funds in the HSA, which effectively makes this a $0 OOP plan. As such, group plans with the same deductible have worse experience than those with comparable deductibles in the individual market.

Better?