Six Ways to Lower Rising Health Costs for Companies
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Understanding Benefits Navigation
Companies spend millions on employee benefits—yet many workers have no idea how to use them. The result? Missed preventive care, surprise medical bills, and rising healthcare costs that hit both employees and employers.
Medefy solves this problem. As the leader in benefits navigation, we make healthcare decisions easy, affordable, and frustration-free. With instant access to Care Guides, personalized cost-saving recommendations, and seamless benefits integration, we help employers cut costs and improve employee health—without the confusion.
Key takeaway
- Benefits Navigation Solves Confusion: Many employees don't understand their healthcare benefits, leading to missed preventive care and surprise medical bills. Benefits navigation helps employees understand what's covered, find in-network providers, and avoid unnecessary expenses.
- Technology Centralizes and Simplifies: Digital benefits navigation platforms put all information in one place and provide real-time guidance when employees need it most, such as at the doctor's office. This eliminates the need to search through multiple websites or paperwork for coverage details.
- Proper Navigation Reduces Costs: When employees are guided to make better healthcare choices (like using in-network providers and preventive care), overall healthcare spending decreases for both employees and employers. Tracking metrics like platform usage and healthcare spending helps measure success.
What Benefits Navigation Does
Benefits navigation helps employees understand and use their healthcare plans. It goes beyond providing a benefits package—it ensures employees know what’s covered, how to find in-network providers, and how to avoid unnecessary expenses.
When employees understand their benefits, they make better healthcare choices. Employers see lower costs and fewer wasted resources. Without clear navigation, employees may delay care, overpay for services, or skip using their benefits altogether.
Common Challenges
Many employees don’t know what their benefits cover. This leads to underused preventive care, expensive care choices, and surprise medical bills. Some employees choose out-of-network providers simply because they don’t realize they have better options.
For employers, the challenge is getting employees to use benefits effectively without creating more work for HR. When employees don’t understand their coverage, they rely on HR for answers, which increases workload. Companies also end up paying for benefits that employees don’t use. A strong benefits navigation system fixes this by making information easy to access and understand.
Real-Time Guidance
Centralized Access
A digital benefits navigation platform puts everything in one place. Employees don’t have to search through paperwork or multiple websites to find their deductible, prescription costs, or coverage details.
A centralized system makes it easy to check benefits whether at home, at work, or at the doctor’s office. Employees always have access to the information they need.
Real-Time Guidance
Access to information is important, but real-time support makes the biggest difference.
If an employee is at a doctor’s office and doesn’t know if a procedure is covered, they need an answer immediately. A benefits navigation platform can provide that answer on the spot. Some systems also connect employees with benefits experts who can explain coverage, costs, and options in clear terms.
With real-time guidance, employees avoid guesswork and unexpected expenses. See how real-time benefits guidance works.
Educating Employees and Keeping Them Engaged
Benefits Education
Employees need clear, simple explanations of their benefits. Many avoid using their coverage because they don’t understand how it works.
Providing easy-to-understand resources, practical examples, and cost comparisons helps employees make better choices. A well-informed employee is more likely to use in-network providers, take advantage of preventive care, and avoid unnecessary medical costs.
Ongoing Communication
Employees need benefits information throughout the year, not just during open enrollment. Regular updates help them stay informed and make better decisions.
Timely reminders about preventive care, plan changes, and cost-saving opportunities keep benefits top of mind. This prevents last-minute confusion and ensures employees use their coverage effectively. Learn how proactive benefits education helps HR teams.
Cutting Healthcare Costs with Better Navigation
The Cost Problem for Employers
Healthcare costs rise every year, making it harder for companies to manage expenses. Employees contribute to rising costs when they choose expensive care options simply because they don’t know they have better alternatives.
Smarter Benefits Use
Benefits navigation helps employees find affordable care. When employees are guided to in-network providers, telehealth services, and preventive care, overall healthcare spending goes down.
Clear information also prevents employees from making costly mistakes, like using an out-of-network provider when an in-network option is available. Lower costs benefit both employees and employers.
Setting Up a Benefits Navigation Platform
Evaluating Your Current Benefits
Before adding a navigation platform, companies should review their existing benefits structure. Are employees using their benefits effectively? Which benefits cause the most confusion? Where are the biggest cost overruns? Identifying these areas makes it easier to see where a navigation system can help.
How to Roll It Out
A structured rollout ensures employees actually use the platform. Companies should:
- Review how they currently communicate benefits.
- Set a clear timeline for implementation.
- Introduce employees to the platform with simple, clear messaging.
- Offer training so employees know how to use it.
The goal is to make navigation easy and intuitive from day one.
Measuring Success
Tracking usage helps companies see if their benefits navigation system is working. Key metrics include:
- How many employees actively use the platform.
- Whether more employees are choosing in-network care.
- Changes in healthcare spending.
- Employee feedback on benefits access and understanding.
The Future of Benefits Navigation
AI and Personalization
AI is making benefits navigation more intuitive. Smart systems can predict what benefits an employee is likely to need, send personalized alerts, and provide instant answers based on previous questions. AI improves over time, learning from usage patterns to provide better guidance.
Demand for Comprehensive Solutions
Employees want a single system to manage all their healthcare needs. Employers need solutions that reduce the burden on HR while improving benefits utilization. The shift toward comprehensive benefits navigation is growing, and companies that adopt it will see lower costs and better employee engagement.
How Medefy Helps
Medefy provides a simple, mobile-friendly way to navigate healthcare benefits. Employees get instant answers about their coverage, connect with benefits experts in real-time, and have a single place to access all their healthcare information.
