Hidden mark-ups hike up small businesses' healthcare costs by 25% — here's how to avoid overpaying

If you lead a small-to-midsize organization, there's a good chance your healthcare costs contain 20-30% in unnecessary (and hidden) markups.

Yes, you read that right. Since founding the benefits brokerage Nava, I've spent time with hundreds of small-to-midsize (SMB) employers across the country. About 8 in 10 are in this situation and they don't even realize it.

To put the financial impact into context, let's take your average small employer, ACME Co. They have 200 covered employees and are paying the national blended average of ~$10,000 per employee per year for medical insurance. If ACME Co's insurance costs increase at the national average of 6% per year, over the next five years those mark-ups add up to a whopping $2.25M. Think of what ACME and their employees could do with that money back in their budget.

But there is good news: it turns out America's largest employers have figured out how to avoid these mark-ups, and so can SMBs. Let's unpack what they are, why you're paying them, and how to cut them out of your plans without impacting the benefits you offer your employees.

Read more: https://www.hrdive.com/spons/hidden-mark-ups-hike-up-small-businesses-healthcare-costs-by-25-heres/606865/