Benefit Breakdown Newsletter – October 2022

Trending employee benefits that strengthen attraction and retention efforts

Attraction and retention are top of mind for employers in the wake of "The Great Reshuffle” — the mass movement of workers to jobs that prioritize their needs — and macro trends like the tight labor market. According to Zywave’s 2022 Attraction and Retention Benchmarking Overview, more than 75% of employers consider attraction and retention among the top five business challenges for their organizations. As a result, many employers are expanding and enhancing their benefits offerings to remain or become more desirable to employees.

The benefits that may be helpful to employers’ attraction and retention efforts include:

the availability of telemedicine;
flexible work arrangements;
competitive compensation;
career development opportunities; and
student loan assistance.

Various labor market trends are driving employees to demand better benefits packages. There are many benefits employers can offer to attract and retain workers. Some perks, like ones that help lessen the effects of inflation through competitive compensation and student loan assistance, became popular during the pandemic. Employers should consider expanding benefits offerings such as these to improve their overall attraction and retention efforts.

What employers should know about prior authorization

Prior authorization — also referred to as preauthorization, preapproval or precertification — is the process by which medical providers obtain approval from a patient’s health plan or insurance before administering specific medications, treatments or procedures. This process aims to protect patient health and improve affordability by reducing unnecessary medical expenses. Both medical and prescription drug plans use prior authorizations.

Understanding prior authorization can enable employers to assist their employees in receiving adequate care and preventing the misuse of prescription drugs. It can aid organizations in reducing their overall medical expenses by helping employees avoid unnecessary or delayed treatment and denied claims. To do this, health plans partner with medical professionals to identify efficient and effective treatments, improve patient outcomes and reduce medical expenses for the health care system. Despite the benefits prior authorization can provide, the process’s requirements are controversial because they can often lead to delayed treatment and negative patient outcomes, hinder patient progress or burden physicians and their staff.

Prior authorization acts as a safeguard to keep individuals healthy by ensuring appropriate and effective medications are prescribed. It can also help make healthcare more affordable by providing patients and providers with coverage information and lower-cost alternatives.

For more information about employee benefits, our services and products, contact HANYS Benefit Services by email or call 800.388.1963.

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