Today, most Canadians are busy, stressed, and overworked.

In fact, 28% of Canadian women and 20% of Canadian men have recently reported high-strain work conditions — a not uncommon trend in the last decade.

For business owners, this high-strain work environment often means former priorities go by the wayside. And one of the first things to go is review and management of their group health benefits plan.

Affordable health care is undoubtedly out there, but many business owners may feel they just don’t have time to review and manage their benefits ensuring that it is meeting the needs of their employees and their bottom line.

Unfortunately, avoiding this responsibility comes with some unwelcome consequences. If you aim to have a group health benefits plan that is beneficial for yourself and your employees, your annual benefits report must regularly be reviewed. This document shows where benefits and money are being used, appreciated — and wasted. Regular evaluation and necessary adjustments will save you money, optimize your coverage, and improve your business’ bottom line.

Luckily, we’ve provided some tips on how to review your benefits plan in 15-minutes.

Here are the three most important things to be on the lookout for within your annual renewal package:

1. Changes in Demographics

Take a look at the demographics of your business. Are employees getting older and requiring a shift in coverage? Have employees recently been married? Are they adding children to their plans? Large shifts in demographics like this can drastically affect the use of your provided coverage and may necessitate changes to your plan.

This is especially true for pooled benefits, such as critical illness coverage, short- and long-term disability plans, and life insurance — all of which are priced based on demographic data.

2. Costs Per Employee

Instead of tracking your overall costs or premiums year-by-year, consider tracking costs per employee. Naturally, if you’ve added numerous new employee plans throughout the past year, your costs per employee may vary. Bringing this information to light can greatly affect your overall insurance costs — and will inevitably make for more affordable health care.

3. Under-Utilized Benefit Categories

Finally, while you might be inclined to focus on the most-used benefits of your plan during a review restrain that impulse and instead, examine coverage areas that are going unused. There’s nothing you can do about benefits that are frequently-used, and attempting to make changes in these areas will likely have negative reactions among your employees.

Under-used benefits, on the other hand, can either be promoted to the advantage of your employees (who may not have been aware of them), or you might decide to cut back on these benefits. Modifying coverage to exclude little-used benefits will allow you to pool more money into benefits that are widely and consistently used.

Administrating your employee health care benefits report is an essential part of managing your insurance and group health options. This report provides essential information and insights for optimizing your coverage and ensuring the best use of your funds across the board.

Speak to your Advisor today for questions about your benefits reports. If you don’t yet have an employee health benefits plans for your business, reach out to one of our Benefits Consultants today for comprehensive and affordable group health insurance quotes.