GPI 431 – Save your employees money on medical treatments and save the company even more.

Assign or hire someone who will find the lowest cost for comparable medical treatments prescribed by the employees’ doctors. If you show employees how to save money on health, they will spread the word quickly among others.

Most group medical insurance plans for employees are structured to have the employee pay a small portion of the premium and the company to pay the balance (i.e. 25%/75% or 40%/60% or 20%/80% as cost split examples).  Thus, it makes sense that when these costs can be cut for health services, it will save money for the employee and even more for the employer.  This decrease in medical cost will benefit both parties, make each happy and overall, save the company on health insurance cost.  It also encourages the employees to get competitive pricing if they will participate.

Examples for hiring a medical treatment cost agent or agency:

• Cat Scan: An employee is given a referral to the hospital to have a cat scan on his lower abdomen.  The hospital (the most expensive place) tells the employee/patient the cost there will be $650. The employee contacts the cost agent.  The cost agent calls a number of local places and finds the same cat scan outside of the hospital and in a smaller clinic for $425. The patient then notifies his doctor where the cat scan will be performed. The patient will pay less and the company will pay less on future premiums since the overall cost has been reduced.
• Tumor Removed: An employee is given a referral to a urology specialist who examines the results of a cat scan and determines the patient’s lesion can be removed by performing a TUR (transurethral resection), excision to cut off the tumor.  He initially gives the patient an order to have it done at the hospital which will cost $1,500.  The patient calls the agent who finds out that the cost is $975 at a local surgery center.  The patient, who is paying 50% of the cost, arranges to have the procedure done at the cheaper clinic and not only saves himself money, but helps to drive down the cost of the insurance premium of the company.
• X-Rays: A doctor orders x-rays of a patient’s knee to be done at the hospital. The cost will be $425.  The employee/patient calls the cost agent hired by his employer and locates a clinic a few miles away from the hospital which will do the same x-ray for $215.   This saves money for the patient and ultimately for the company.

The internal cost agent or outside agency both will operate under complete confidentiality with the employee and his family’s treatment options. The system should be setup where the insurance cards distributed to the employees have the cost agent’s number on them to call any time for assistance.