Your employees and vision are your greatest asset to the success of your company. Any employee you need working daily is what we call a high-stakes worker. You need these employees working to make your company successful, and they are not easily replaceable.

It is both in your and their best interest to keep them healthy and productive, so an affordable healthcare plan is needed. This will also help you to recruit and retain the very best in your industry. In the absence of an affordable healthcare plan offered to employees, the following situation plays out too often in the construction industry:
An employee is doing yard work and hurts his back and has no affordable access to care. Then while working on site, the worker hurts his back again. These types of situations could potentially be avoided by delivering affordable access to healthcare to treat the injury right away.
In today’s healthcare world the choice between office visits, a simple phone call or text to a provider has changed the landscape on how employees get care. Offering quality benefits will not only positively impact employees, but it also saves employers costly fees with workers’ comp. With the right care at the right price, these costly situations can be avoided, keeping high-stakes workers on the job.
So how can construction firms balance the increasing cost of healthcare and overcome the construction labor shortage? It is simple, invest in your employees’ healthcare. High stakes employees are critical to your success, without these workers your company produces nothing. The goal is to be attractive for recruiting and retaining the best employees.
Follow these simple steps:
1. Buy a foundational plan that delivers meaningful access to healthcare, which takes care of the majority of their basic healthcare needs. Seek out plans designed explicitly for low-wage earners that take out the most significant barriers to accessing healthcare. On top of this, look for a plan, such as ones that Redirect Health offer, that allows the innovative use of Virtual Primary Care access to reach healthcare providers in both English and Spanish.
When your employee does need in-office care, costs can be a challenge, especially when there is a copay. Costs prove to be such an obstacle that a national survey showed that 40 percent of Americans did not go to the doctor in 12 months due to costs holding them back. On top of that, 32 percent said they did not fill a needed prescription due to the high costs. When searching for the ideal healthcare plan for your employees, prioritize finding a plan that will deliver primary care office visits without additional out of pocket fees.
2. Identify your budget and forecast an ROI. The cost of turnover for a $10-$12 hourly employee can be anywhere between $3,000-$4,000. For many positions that require specialized training, this cost could be much higher. By offering quality healthcare benefits to your employees you can avoid costly turnovers by maintaining your top talent, as well as attract other potential applicants.
3. Offer additional insurance options as a “buy-up” for catastrophic or high-dollar needs. Consider what catastrophic means to different employees, as this may vary drastically between your $10-$12 hourly employees compared to your managers or supervisors. Each will likely have different financial protection requirements.
Businesses excel in highly competitive labor markets when they leverage affordable healthcare plans and offer them for free to their employees. With this, employees will be happier and healthier in their roles. Overall, investing in healthcare benefits wisely will result in significantly reduced turnover and will greatly impact the success of your company in the long run.
Dr. David Berg is co-founder and Chairman of the Board of Redirect Health, a national leader in healthcare innovation. Dr. Berg is focused on creating an amazing healthcare member experience, and he does this by simplifying traditionally complex systems that most believe could not be changed. With deliberate and strategic, outside-of-the-box thinking, he innovates new ways to deliver easy and affordable healthcare to people everywhere. For more information please visit www.redirecthealth.com.