Tips: Employee Health

Do Due Diligence on Health Plans
The National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA) offers consumer information on health plans. NCQA lets you search by plan name to find out its ranking. If you want to evaluate a hospital, the best source is the Joint Commission on the Accreditation of Health Care Organizations. You may find the language and format of its reports difficult to understand, but you should get an idea of the kinds of inquiries to make.

Consider Providing PPOs
You should provide the option of preferred provider organizations (PPOs) to employees. Often they don´t mind paying deductibles and slightly higher premiums in exchange for greater physician choices and flexibility. PPOs cover visits to designated healthcare providers, but they also pay for services rendered by health-care providers that aren't part of the PPO network.

Let Employees Choose Their Health Care
Allowing employees to choose between a health maintenance organization (HMO) and a preferred provider organization (PPO) gives them the freedom to pick the plan that best suits their needs. It also shows them that you care enough about their individual situations to provide them with two different health insurance options.