Members of the local chamber of commerce will get access Monday to Humana health insurance plans that can lower their premiums by up to 20 percent.
Both organizations said they also expected the new perk, called HealthSolutions, to generate more revenue through a higher number of members and customers.
To be eligible for the plans, businesses must be members of Greater Louisville Inc., join one of three subassociations — professional services; wholesale/retail trade; manufacturing, mining and construction — and pay GLI an administrative fee that ranges from $500 to $1,000 depending on business’ number of employees.
A GLI membership costs as little as $595. A local business with 10 employees that can join one of the associations and is not currently a GLI member can access the plans for $1,095.
GLI officials told Insider that businesses easily can offset those costs through lower health insurance expenses.
For example, the chamber said, a company with 19 employees may be able to save $6,000 with HealthSolutions.
Savings depend on the health plan and the size of the business, with two to 50 employees being the “sweet spot,” said Shawna Burton, GLI’s vice president of Engagement and Organizational Advancement.
She said GLI used to offer a similar perk to its members, through which they could save 2 percent on their health insurance premiums, but was forced to discontinue it when Congress passed the Affordable Care Act. Changes in the law are now allowing the chamber and Humana to bring even greater savings to local businesses, GLI said.
The prior version had proved immensely popular among Louisville businesses. GLI said it gained about 600 members after it offered the perk the last time. When it discontinued the perk, it lost some members, though officials could not say exactly how many. The chamber now has 1,550 members.
GLI leaders told Insider that HealthSolutions also would help Louisville businesses with talent attraction. As the labor market tightens, the importance of benefits’ packages, including health insurance, increases, because employers have to compete for a shrinking pool of employees and job applicants.
“What we hear from small businesses is that it’s difficult … to offer health insurance … and to compete with larger businesses,” Burton said.
Jennifer Willis, vice president for Humana in Kentucky, told Insider that many small businesses want to offer health insurance but cannot afford it.
HealthSolutions gives smaller employers an opportunity to be able to offer the benefit, she said, and as employees take care of their health needs and participate in wellness initiatives, their health should improve and costs should go down for all of the businesses in the associations.
Willis said HealthSolutions includes more than 25 plans, with a significant spread in premiums, depending on the desired benefits. For example, deductibles range from $0 to $5,000.
While Humana offers the plans for a discount, Willis said it benefits the insurer because of the increase number of business customers, which it gains primarily because of the chamber’s marketing prowess. As the chamber seeks to help existing members and tries to recruit new ones, it has a vested interest in making sure that the business community is aware of HealthSolutions.
Humana expects to gain hundreds of customers through the end of the year, Willis said, especially as it begins rolling out HealthSolutions to other states.
Date:April 24, 2017