4 healthcare myths debunked by theSkimm and Nava Benefits

September 28, 2023 6:16 PM

True or false: You can't be creative with your healthcare offerings.

This is one of the myths that Lisa Dallenbach, chief people officer at digital media company theSkimm, and Ed Ligonde, partner, market director at brokerage company Nava Benefits, put to rest during their panel at EBN's Benefits at Work conference on Thursday in San Diego.

After meeting at EBN's conference last year, Dallenbach and Ligonde teamed up to bring theSkimm's predominantly female workforce what Dallenbach describes as more thoughtful benefits, rather than the straightforward, less flexible plans of the past. No matter the breakdown of an employee population, appealing to their needs is within reach if you are willing to look beyond the typical standard health plan, she said.

"We see a lot of issues around paid family leave and childcare, around overall work-life balance and mental health," said Dallenbach. "We just did a survey on the state of women, and almost 100% of respondents said they were prioritizing mental health and sleep. Healthcare benefits really factor into these things; you can't have a healthy life and you can't have a healthy mental state of mind if you don't have support in these areas."

Nava Benefits' Ed Ligonde (right) and theSkimm's Lisa Dallenbach (center) tell EBN's Paola Peralta how their partnership brought better benefits to the staff of theSkimm.

So bring this support they did, and in the process of sharing this story, Dallenbach and Ligonde debunked some long-standing views, and proved that employers do, in fact, have the power to give their people access to more personal and effective forms of care.

Myth 1: Healthcare benefits are one-size-fits-all

"We are moving away from, 'This is what we have, take it or leave it,' to customizing every single aspect and being as comprehensive as possible," Ligonde said.

Through working with Nava, theSkimm was able to learn about and put together solutions that were more tailored to their specific population.

"It's important to be honest about what you don't know, and have good partners to help you understand what you don't know, and where you can be creative and bring in solutions that you haven't seen before," Dallenbach said.

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Myth 2: Health benefits are all insurance-based

Many employers now include multiple point-solutions such as non-insurance based lifestyle benefits in their healthcare plans to complement existing offerings, said Ligonde.

"Employee benefits aren't necessarily insurance; [they] are the benefit of being an employee," he said. "Ultimately, what can we do as benefit advisers and as employers to provide an ecosystem that empowers employees to effectively get access to care for their personal and professional lives so they can continue to bring their best selves to work?"

Myth 3: Health benefits are separate from the company brand

Employers should be providing support that employees aren't getting elsewhere, and by communicating the "why" behind offering chosen benefits, this support becomes an integrated part of company culture, said Dallenbach.

"Having plans that are better tailored to them, that are more cost-advantageous, [helps employees] understand that as an organization, total benefits including healthcare coverage is something that is really important to us," she said. "This then goes back to the whole employee experience, you become a brand that people will join, and it becomes a retention tool as well.

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Myth 4: The solution is simply to spend more money

Utilizing technology to track employee benefit usage and analyze their feedback, employers can prioritize cost-savings along with learning which benefits garner good engagement, said Ligonde.

"I feel for employers, because you went from offering certain levels of benefits to offering everything under the sun to keep employees happy," he said.. "But a few things shine bright: Employers are taking a second look at where every dollar is going from the employee benefits standpoint, and we need to see how to get more transparency into where those dollars are going, and how we can pull some levers to make [benefits] more attractive to ongoing as well as existing talent."