Keep Seinfeld out of your company-sponsored health plan

My favorite sitcom of all time, Seinfeld, hilariously took on the nuances of everyday life. It has been called "a show about nothing." This nothingness made great television and worked well for the show's characters - Jerry, George, Elaine and Cosmo Kramer - but the notion of "nothingness" does not always translate into real-life, especially for businesses.

In the world of employer-sponsored health care where everyone else is doing 'nothing' - you should do something. It is not enough to cross your fingers when renewal approaches. Instead, take control of health insurance costs and impact your company's medical plan in a positive way. To do this, focus on four things: consumerism, biometrics, cost-containment methods and partially self-funding your plan.

1. Consumerism: Consumerism comes in a multitude of forms.

It is about transforming your company-sponsored benefits plan into one that puts economic purchasing power and decision-making in the hands of participants. One area that has received a lot of attention, especially now with the proposed American Health Care Act, is Health Savings Accounts (HSAs). This is a tax-advantaged medical savings account for participants enrolled in a high-deductible health plan. An HSA aligns the member's financial interest with yours.

In addition, an HSA can be a great tool for retirement savings.

Decision reward programs are another method growing in popularity. It pays the member to make a more cost-effective decision. For example, one of your employees is prescribed a MRI. They search through an app or call in to find a nearby location to get that MRI done a lot cheaper than it would be at a hospital. If this effort saves $1,000 and your plan is partially self-funded, you could share a portion of that savings with the employee as an incentive. Just as you would shop and price compare for any other product or services, it is beneficial to do the same for health care. 2. Biometrics: Improve the health of your employees and members and reduce the severity of claims. How? To start, host biometric screenings and incent your employees and spouses to participate. A screening could identify someone with high cholesterol and partially clogged arteries. That employee may require a coronary stent, which can be a low-cost procedure as opposed to coronary bypass open heart surgery if it went undetected. These tools help catch small issues before becoming major problems.

3. Cost containment methods: Plan participants can have access to procedures with better outcomes and lower pricing. Using centers of excellence, which are special networks that accept bundled case rates and have the best outcomes for transplants, orthopedic surgeries and cancer to name a few, is an extremely effective method to reduce the cost of claims.

Prescription drug carve-outs are another cost containment method. These are consortia and cooperatives that purchase prescription drugs in bulk like a Costco or Sam's Club and have negotiated a complete pass-through of rebates to their members. This essentially delivers the same drug to your members, but for less cost.

4. Partially self-funded: While many of the methods mentioned previously save your company money now, becoming partially self-funded is the only way to control long-term costs.

Once you have cost control methods in place, majority of your members are in consumer-driven plans and participating in wellness and biometric screenings, it is time to take advantage of those cost controls by going partially self-funded, where the company retains the financial reward of these efforts. When your medical plan is self-funded, you only pay claims that materialize. If it is a good claim year, you keep the money, and it will not be recovered the following plan year.

Unlike our friends on Seinfeld, doing nothing is not an option. It is time to take control of costs for both your organization and plan participants.

• Paul Bartman is a principal at Assurance with more than 14 years of experience. His employee benefits expertise helps clients control health care expenses while increasing employee satisfaction.