“Do you want to WOW your employees with voluntary benefits?” asks Laura Martin, Director of Worksite Marketing at One Digital Mid-Atlantic. “Then it’s time to get creative.”

Open Enrollment 2024 isn’t easy. The talent shortage is still real. Employees suffer from post-pandemic physical and mental health challenges. And saving money is on everyone’s mind.

The much-touted The Hartford’s Future of Benefits Pulse Survey found that U.S. employees are cutting back on day-to-day expenses, paying off debt, and trying to increase their household income. However, as much as businesses want to support their employees, they must also mind their bottom line.

Creative Cost Savings in OE 2024

How will this play out in OE 2024? For employees, financial security will be a key driver in their decisions. More than ever before, employees will:

• Maximize the value of their benefits for the money
• Opt for low-premium, high-deductible plans
• Choose benefits that promote financial wellness and security

How will employers meet these needs? On the one hand, the labor market is still tight, and HR needs a comprehensive benefits package to satisfy existing employees and attract new ones. On the other hand, employers must stick to their budgets.

As Laura said, it’s time to get creative.

With its rising premiums, health insurance is one of this year’s open enrollment trouble spots. Laura sees businesses diversifying from the traditional model of expensive, high-premium, low-deductible plans. “They’re moving employees to high-deductible plans plus supplemental programs to cover the gaps,” she explains. “Hospital indemnity, accident plans, and critical illness benefits are some examples.”

But Laura tries to take her clients one step further. In competitive markets, where employers are under pressure to impress and court employees, she encourages them to pay for one of their employees’ voluntary benefits. “An accident plan can be only $20 a month,” says Laura. “It’s a minimal cost with a huge WOW factor for employees.”

Pet Insurance for OE ‘24

Voluntary benefits are even riper for creativity. A key finding of the Goldman Sachs Ayco 2023 Benefits and Compensation Trends in Corporate America Report was that companies are “reimagining and growing voluntary benefits as competitive differentiators.”

Pet insurance offerings, in particular, have increased 120% in the past three years. In fact, Kathy Baber of Goldman Sachs Ayco gets more questions from prospective hires about whether her company provides pet insurance than about employee medical insurance!

That comes as no surprise to Laura. Pet health insurance saves employees hundreds to thousands of dollars a year. “Pets are expensive!” she says. “We spend more on our pets than our kids!”

Maximizing Cost Savings for Pet Benefits

But not all pet benefits are created equal! For employers serious about supporting their employee pet parents, Pet Benefit Solutions offers a two-plan punch that optimizes pet benefits for maximum savings.

First, there’s Wishbone, a traditional pet health insurance plan designed exclusively for employer groups. It offers low deductibles and 90% reimbursement on covered services.

“You won’t get a sign-up card for Wishbone from your vet,” says Laura. “It’s only sold through the work site, and the group environment allows them to discount. It’s been proven by my groups again and again that Wishbone is considerably less expensive than other pet health insurance plans.”

Then there’s Total Pet Plan, which fills the gaps in traditional insurance. Total Pet Plan offers employees an unbelievable bundle for less than $.40 a day:

• Discounts on brand-name prescriptions, preventatives, products, food, treats, and toys
• Free shipping on all orders from petcarerx.com
• Same-day pickup on human-grade prescriptions at Caremark pharmacies
• Instant 25% discount on in-house medical services at participating veterinarians
• No claim forms or waiting for reimbursement
• No exclusions for pets of any age or with pre-existing conditions
• Unlimited assistance via a 24/7 pet telehealth service
• Durable ID tags to help bring pets home if they go missing

“For employees with multi-pet households, traditional insurance can get really expensive,” explains Amy Crane, Vice President of Voluntary Benefits at Pet Benefits. “There’s a deductible and copay for each pet! And an older pet could cost over $100 a month.

“But Total Pet Plan is ALWAYS $11.75 for a single pet or $18.75 for a family plan.”

“If you have a pet that wears a collar, you HAVE to buy Total Pet,” Laura says. “You break even, or you make money! The preventatives discount alone more than pays for the plan.”

The pet telehealth service is another money-saving feature. “One night, my dog had hives, and I rushed him to the emergency room. It cost me $1000!” says Laura. “If I had spoken to a telehealth vet, I would have known I could wait until the morning and only pay a regular veterinarian office fee.”

Getting Creative with Pet Benefits

“I love offering two plans so employees can pick what works best,” says Amy.

However, Laura and Amy, both pet parents themselves, encourage employees to get the best of both worlds and enroll in Wishbone AND Total Pet Plan. “Wishbone is there for illness or injuries, and Total Pet Plan covers wellness and preventatives,” they explain. “It’s a no-brainer since Total Pet Plan pays for itself.”

Wishbone and Total Pet Plan are a value-packed duo as is, but employers looking to WOW their employees this OE can do even more.

“Especially in the high-tech space, companies need to differentiate themselves,” says Laura. “I suggest offering Total Pet Plan as an employee-paid benefit!”

In one case, fifty out of seventy employees snapped up the benefit! “It cost the company less than $10,000 for the year, and the ROI in employee engagement was huge,” Laura says. “Best of all, with Pet Benefits, it’s not just about amazing products. Their account management team supports employees to get the full value of their benefits.”