What to Do if Your Group Health Plan Doesn't Offer Prescription Drug Coverage:
Prescription drug prices are at an all time high, making this issue one that is on the forefront for health insurance. If your group health plan does not offer prescription drug coverage in their basic plan, your employees may be spending too much for their medication. There are ways that you can help your employees pay less for their medication, without having to switch to a new group health plan.
Benefit Riders
Many group health insurance policies may not offer built-in prescription drug coverage, but they may have a benefit rider available that will round out the policy. This type of benefit rider will be added on to your existing policy and will usually carry an extra fee. Under a benefit rider for prescription drugs, your employees will enjoy coverage for their medications. This means that they will have to pay a percentage of their costs for their prescriptions, but it is usually much less than they would have to pay without the rider. In the end, the extra cost for the rider is made up for in the savings your employees will have on their medication.
Health Savings Accounts
If your group health plan is HSA eligible, your employees will be able to use the funds in their HSA to pay for their prescription medication, tax-free. While this is not the same as having all or part of their medication covered, it will still result in some savings. Contributions and payments made from an HSA are not taxable, and the money that is saved in the account is allowed to accrue interest, tax-free
It is important to note that while HSA eligible plans may not have a co-pay, there is an exception for prescription drug coverage. If your HSA group plan has a benefit rider for prescription drug coverage that requires a co-pay, it will not be disqualified. In this case, your employees can save money on their medications and pay for them out of their HSA account, tax-
Prescription Discount Cards
In the event that all other options fail, prescription discount cards may be your alternative. These cards are not considered as an insurance policy, but rather, a discount plan for medications. They will require a monthly fee, which is usually around $8 to $10 per month, per employee. People with this card can present it at a participating pharmacy and save a percentage on their prescription. This usually means that your employees will be able to save anywhere from 25 to 45% on their medications, which is comparable to the coverage for prescription drugs offered by many insurance policies.
There are many different discount cards currently available in the United States. You will need to make sure that there is a card offered in your area and that local pharmacies participate in the program. Once you have determined this, you will be able to inform your employees about this available option. If you choose, you can offer this card as part of their benefit's package and pick up the entire cost of the card for them, or you can ask them to pay for all or part of the monthly costs.
By using one or all of these suggestions, you can pass along savings to your employees that they would otherwise miss.