Employee health benefits have grown so complex that businesses are weaving in an additional layer with hopes of making it easier for workers to navigate them.
Plan design changes, frustrations with red tape and coverage denials, and a growing number of specialized programs for conditions such as obesity and cancer are prompting self-insured businesses to partner with benefits navigation companies such as HealthJoy, Healthee and Transcarent. These partnerships are intended to help employees use their benefits more effectively, improve their experience and drive down costs.
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Health insurers such as Elevance Health, Cigna and CVS Health subsidiary Aetna offer similar in-house tools, yet employers are increasingly turning to outside vendors for help.
“Employees are really struggling to understand what’s available to them, how much it will cost, how to get an appointment, where to go. All of those are very real problems,” said Elizabeth Mitchell, president and CEO of the Purchaser Business Group on Health, a coalition of about 40 large employers including Microsoft, Walmart and Boeing that collectively spend $350 billion on health benefits each year.