In the current confusion of “do or don’t” health care
coverage, many dentists wonder what colleagues may be doing about health care
benefits for their staff members. Let me
share some trends with you, trends noted by experts in the field of practice
management; most notably, The McGill
Advisory which I highly recommend as an excellent practice management
newsletter.
·
The percentage of dentists providing staff
health insurance has declined from almost 75% in 2007 to 54% in 2016.
·
Many dentists who have dropped staff health
insurance as a benefit have encouraged staff
to get healthcare through state exchanges where government subsidies help pay premiums. However, with the current bail-out of health
care insurance providers willing to insure clients under the Obamacare state exchanges,
predictions are that dentists who have dropped staff coverage may choose to
resume the benefit in order to attract and retain top-notch team members.
·
Most dentists who still provide this benefit now
make it available to full-time team members only. Further, almost 75% of
dentists offering the health care benefit do not cover a team member when a
spouse’s policy provides coverage.
·
In those practices that still offer coverage,
38% of dentists pay 100% of premiums while 21% pay 50% to 60% of premium costs
with the remainder offering some reimbursement that varies widely from 20% to
90% of premium costs.
·
52% of dentists who provide health insurance for
staff choose PPO coverage while 15% provide fee-for-service policies. HMOs have declined to less than 8%.
·
Cost saving measures include: (1) a waiting
period, typically 90 days, for new team members before health insurance is
implemented, (2) significant increases
in annual deductibles, and (3) switching carriers if a less expensive plan is
available.
·
27% of dental practices now have plans with an
annual deductible of $2500 while 44% have a deductible greater than $2500.
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