The financial strain put on higher education institutions during the pandemic continues to have a deep impact on the industry. As operating costs have escalated and the number of students seeking college degrees drops, many institutions, primarily smaller, private, independent colleges, face significant financial headwinds.
The current trends are reshaping how higher education views employee benefits. While benefits in the higher ed space have historically been very robust, financial pressures have pushed colleges and universities to pivot towards operating more like other industries where leadership with CFO backgrounds drive key decisions.
With employee benefits often being the second largest expense after payroll, smaller, independent colleges will need to be agile and adopt strategies that make the most of their budgets. Taking a proactive approach can help higher education institutions lower costs while maintaining or improving employee satisfaction.
As healthcare costs balloon, higher education institutions should consider the following strategies to curtail spending and improve benefits for their employees:
Prescription drug spend continues to be a top contributor to health benefit plan costs and the pharmacy benefits managers (PBMs) offer modest rebate programs to help offset pharmacy spend. Pharmacy coalitions do much more, ensuring employers have the best contract terms and rebate structures possible and employees have access to high-quality, low-cost medications. Conner Strong & Buckelew’s pharmacy coalition covers over a million lives and brings unparalleled leverage strength to the institutions that join.
Data warehouses and analytics can help employers uncover cost drivers and gaps in care in their employee population. With a data warehouse, employers can see who in their population is utilizing care, what the prevalent trends are and where there are gaps in care. Armed with such data, institutions can begin to develop proactive solutions to avoid costly claims before they develop.
Advancements in medicine have made early disease detection and diagnosis far more accessible. Employers can offer programs to understand their employee populations’ risk of developing diseases like cancer through DNA testing. Detecting these diseases before they emerge or at their earliest stages is critical to reducing costs in the long term. Additionally, employees with disease markers can then be actively monitored so any sign of the disease can be addressed much more cost effectively.
Employees with chronic conditions or managing multiple healthcare issues at once can quickly turn into high cost cases if their conditions are not properly managed. Introducing programs that connect these employees with resources like care managers or health coaches can help employees better navigate the healthcare system and ensure they are taking the necessary steps to manage their conditions and avoid visits to the emergency room.
Most higher ed institutions cannot afford to be reactive. Proactively reducing risks that can lead to costly claims requires more than standard wellness programs. Conner Strong & Buckelew has assisted a number of colleges in deploying proactive strategies that offer a strong return on investment.
With our out-of-the-box thinking and in-house population health and pharmacy experts, we are able to help institutions find unique solutions to their employee populations’ specific needs and challenges. Our employee benefits services, including data analytics, pharmacy benefits management and population health solutions, help drive down costs while enabling improved health for your employee population.
If your institution is ready to take a proactive approach to employee benefits, please call us at 1-877-861-3220 or email [email protected].
John Manion
Vice President, Business Development Executive
