A Healthy Option for Small Businesses in 2011

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Thursday, December 30, 2010

Dan Forbes, GoLocalProv Financial Expert

Health care reform dominated much of our discussions in 2010. The emphasis on employer provided insurance now centers on employee education about proactively improving health. Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Rhode Island (BSBSRI) plans to replace a large portion of their current small business plan options with “VantageBlue”, currently scheduled to roll out in April, 2011.

We all look forward to paying rising healthcare premiums as enthusiastically as eating that leftover holiday fruitcake your aunt brought over. With that in mind, BSBSRI is taking steps to try and improve coverage for Rhode Islanders while rewarding healthy living. Here are some of the highlights of this new plan option:

Incentives – The plan offers $2 copayments for certain drugs used to treat diabetes, asthma, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. They also offer a $50 incentive (available to both subscriber and spouse) for completing a wellness pledge and an online health assessment. Sounds like easy money.

Promotion of Healthy Lifestyle – Full coverage for programs that help you lose weight, give up smoking, and learn to better manage conditions like asthma and diabetes.

Prescription Drugs – Full coverage for certain generic over-the-counter preventive medications when you have a prescription.

Deductible Options – BCBSRI plans will all have deductibles going forward. They will be aggregating family deductibles together, and one family member will never exceed the individual deductible.
If we are ever going to stem the rising cost of healthcare, incentivizing employees to avoid certain risks is a good place to begin. So start those healthy New Year’s resolutions, because it might just pay off on your health insurance premium next year.

Dan Forbes is a regular contributor on business financial issues. He leads the firm Forbes Financial Planning and can be reached at [email protected]