Don’t Let Inflation Impact Your Healthcare Offering
Every year, saving money or better managing finances is in the top five on New Year’s resolutions lists. Businesses are no different. Your company may have just finished its budget review, or you may be planning during Q1, but the goal is the same: end 2024 with more profit than last year.
If the only things factored into your success were your income and expenses, it would be easy to ensure that your end-of-year number would be positive. But, just like our home finances, your business’ bottom line is impacted by external pressures, like unexpected maintenance expenses, personnel leaves of absence or even federal regulations. The biggest pressure facing families and corporations, however, is inflation.
Inflation Impacts All Aspects of Business
Some economists estimated an 8% inflation rate for 2022 and a 4.5% rate for 2023. While 2024 rates are expected to level off to around 3%, the impact of the significant rise in prices on goods over the past three years will be felt for years to come. Salaries will continue to be adjusted to allow employees to afford increased prices on groceries, utilities and rent. More dollars will need to be allocated to healthcare as well, by both individuals and companies. Fortunately, there are steps benefits administrators or human resources professionals can take to lessen the impact on a company’s bottom line.
Audits Drive All Solutions
To reduce expenditures from your self-funded health care plan, you must understand how your funds are administered. To do this, you need to audit your healthcare claims fully. Comprehensive audits that review 100% of your healthcare claims provide valuable insights, including patterns of inaccurately billed claims, and identify the best way to reclaim overpaid dollars. Transparency helps policymakers develop effective strategies to combat inflation in healthcare payments.
Once armed with the information garnered through your audit, you can use your findings to negotiate lower rates with providers, thereby reducing overall healthcare costs. As you find cost savings through better rates and reclaimed dollars, you can then advocate for policy change through implementation of targeted cost-containment measures, such as prior authorization programs or utilization management initiatives, which can further mitigate the impact of inflation.
It’s important to note that healthcare claims audits are not a one-size-fits-all solution to inflation. However, when implemented effectively, they can be a valuable tool for protecting against rising healthcare costs and ensuring that resources are used efficiently and effectively.
This new year, make your top business resolution to boost the fiscal health of your self-funded health care plan. Call today for a complimentary review of your current administrative plan and learn how our audit process can help your company’s bottom line.