Today’s workforce is increasingly diverse with employees living in many different stages of life and having varied health benefit needs. Historically, small business owners who wanted to offer health benefits had limited options because of pricey administrative costs and challenges navigating multiple benefit plans.
With a defined contribution benefit plan, small businesses in the Longview Chamber of Commerce can offer their employees more options without adding to the administrative burden. A defined contribution plan also gives business owners more control over managing health care costs.
UnitedHealthcare’s Multi-Choice® is a new product that combines multiple benefit design options; from comprehensive plans to lower cost essential plans; under one benefit package to meet the diverse health and financial needs of employees.
With Multi-Choice, small business employers with 2-99 employees can offer a benefit plan that delivers multiple health care benefit choices for an employees’ diverse health care coverage wants and needs. One plan does not fit all. By offering multiple plans, employees are more satisfied with their benefit package.
Packaged Savings®
Plans are bundled in packages; the employer selects one, two or up to five benefit designs to offer employees and chooses a set contribution amount. Employees then design their own customized benefit plan from health and specialty benefits including dental, vision, life, disability, accident, critical illness, long-term care and more, as well as health savings accounts and telemedicine services. Employees select benefit options that best suit their personal or family circumstances with the option to buy up or buy down additional coverage to fit the health needs of their family.
At renewal, the entire package is available. This gives the employer the opportunity to
contribute at the same level, a different level or offer the same plans or other plans to meet
current business and employee needs.
Streamlined administration
UnitedHealthcare Multi-Choice simplifies the enrollment and renewal process with multiple benefit design options in one easy step, and makes changing the mix of benefit design options from year to year is simple. Small business employers can also save money and lighten their administrative responsibilities by taking advantage of pre-tax premium plans, COBRA administrative services and flexible spending accounts (FSA). And there’s the simplicity and convenience of just one team to administer benefits.
With Multi-Choice, UnitedHealthcare hopes to help small businesses preserve coverage for their employees – and in fact, increase their options – while still controlling costs. We recognize these businesses and their employees are faced with many challenges in today’s economic environment, and Multi-Choice gives them flexible, cost-effective health care options.
Jeff Sherrod is UnitedHealthcare’s East Texas Account Executive for Small Business and Key Accounts based in Longview. He can be reached at jeff_sherrod@uhc.com
