Top 5 Healthcare Questions from Employees

As an HR leader in your organization, you are likely asked questions regarding your organization’s healthcare plan on a regular basis. While we encourage our clients to direct these questions to our Client Care Team at Exude, we thought it would be helpful to share our solutions and best practices.

We asked our Client Care Team, who regularly answers employee healthcare-related questions, to come up with a guide to answer the top 5 healthcare questions that they receive from employees.

1. I lost my ID card, what do I do?

One solution is to download your carrier’s app to your smart phone and login so you no longer have to carry your card with you. Going forward, employees can simply pull out their phone when visiting a doctor. Another solution is to login to the carrier portal and print a temporary ID card, or if you don’t have a printer, take a picture on your phone. The numbers provided on the ID card are all your doctor’s office needs to resolve the issue, so no matter the format, you should be good to go once you have the ID numbers.

2. I unexpectedly got a bill in the mail, should I pay?

No, not yet. It’s much more challenging to have money returned once the bill is paid than it is to have an incorrect bill re-processed. We recommend telling employees not to pay right away and to first call and confirm that the bill is correct. There are times when a carrier doesn’t process a bill correctly or a doctor submits a claim with an incorrect billing or procedure code. By researching first, you can avoid paying unnecessary bills. If you work with Exude, we recommend reaching out to our Client Care Team who will research any bills on your employee’s behalf, saving them time and money. If you don’t work with us, try contacting your broker as this is something they should be able to resolve for you.

3. Is my doctor in-network?

Whether your employee needs to see a specialist or wants to remain with their current family doctor, identifying in-network physicians can be very important. To help employees understand their current providers, we recommend providing a list of in-network providers so they can see if their doctors are included. The list is usually pretty lengthy, so a digital link to the carrier’s site might be a better option. You can direct employees to search for their doctor using their doctor’s name, practice name, or zip code.

Here are some helpful links:

• Aetna’s in network doctors
• IBC’s in network doctors

4. Which medical plan should I pick?

This is a common question for new employees, but one that cannot be answered objectively. Rather than telling an employee what is “best,” it’s recommended instead to educate them on the differences between the plan options, and equip them to make the best decision for themselves based on their healthcare needs.

5. What’s a high-deductible health plan (HDHP)? Should I enroll?

A High Deductible Health Plan is a health insurance plan with lower premiums and higher deductibles than a traditional plan. This type of plan can be appealing because of the lower premium costs, which results in lower employee contributions. However a HDHP is a “consumer-driven” health plan which has higher deductible to encourage employee to be more conscious of the cost of their care. If an employee anticipates low healthcare spend, this may be a good option for them.

Exude’s Client Care team takes the complexity out of healthcare by acting on behalf of you and your employees. Check out other employee benefits services.