THE CLOCK IS TICKING

Consider a far-fetched scenario: What would happen if tomorrow morning, you walked in to your office and no one on your staff showed up for work. No one to greet patients. No one to answer phones, no one to to assist you with exams and procedures.

What if, without notice, you had to hire brand new employees. How long would it take to train them? To get them familiar with your procedures, your patients, your ways of doing things?

Of course, that’s unrealistic. But most medical practice owners would probably agree – without the support of their well-trained, efficient, enthusiastic employees their practice would barely function.

So how can you foster the loyalty of the people who help keep your practice running smoothly day in and day out? One answer could be as simple as offering access to group health insurance.

Employees Want Health Insurance

In the medical community, as in most professions today, one of the leading benefits that employees say they want is health insurance.

Studies show that health insurance ranks at the top of the list of benefits employees want most from their employer. In one study, out of a list of 54 benefits, health insurance ranked number one in desirability*.

It follows then that high quality health insurance – like PPO coverage – is very likely to be a strong incentive to help attract and retain valued employees.

Creating Loyalty With PPO Coverage

By offering employees the greater flexibility and freedom of PPO coverage – not only could your employees benefit, but so could your practice. Consider the potential advantages your practice could enjoy when your staff is offered quality health insurance:

• Improved staff productivity and morale
• Lower turnover rates
• Reduced time searching for and training new hires
• Less absenteeism as employees have greater access to medical care
• Increased patient comfort with long-term staff members

Managing Costs With Waivers

Many practice owners like the idea of offering health insurance benefits, but believe it might not be within their budget to do so. There are, however, opportunities at this time – during Open Enrollment – which could make it possible to offer health insurance to your employees and still manage costs.

There are little-known waivers to current guidelines that may be helpful to qualifying practice owners. Under these guidelines, if a group plan is offered, most carriers require the following:

• 75% of employees must participate in the plan
• Employers must pay 50% of employees’ premiums

With theses waivers, you would not need 75% of employees to participate in the group plan. There would be no minimum number required to participate.

And you would not be required to pay 50% of employees’ premiums. You could contribute as much – or as little – as you want.

So one cost-saving option could be that you enroll in a PPO plan yourself – as a "group of one" – and your employees could elect an HMO plan.

Talk to Us Before the Clock Runs Out

To be eligible for the waivers you must have a tax I.D. number and at least one full-time employee other than yourself. Also, the waivers are only available for a limited time.

Our deadline to assist you with the waivers is December 12th, 2018. That will be the last day we can accept applications.

Experienced Advisors Can Help You

We recommend speaking with a TMA Insurance Trust advisor to go over the details and get a more complete understanding of all your options and of how the waivers could impact your decision to offer group PPO health insurance.

Many physicians who previously did not offer group PPO health insurance found that after exploring this option with our advisors they were able to determine that offering PPO coverage was the right choice for them.

Next Step: Contact Us Today

Don’t forget, the clock is running out on Open Enrollment. This opportunity is only available until December 12th, 2018. So don’t delay, give yourself enough time to apply before the deadline. Contact us or call us at 1-800-880-8181.

For over 60 years, TMA Insurance Trust advisors have been serving Texas physicians, their families and staff. TMA Insurance Trust prides itself on offering unbiased information and strategies to members, along with exclusive group rates on a range of the highest-rated plans in the industry.