Employers in the United States face quite a challenging dilemma. On the one hand, the US is dominated by employer-sponsored health insurance. Over 155 million individuals receive health insurance via a legacy system that developed during WWII in the 1940s as an additional benefit when wages were frozen. The ACA enshrined in the law that employers with more than 50 people are required to provide health insurance. However, providing health insurance has become increasingly expensive with premiums increasing 252% since 1999 (KFF). Employers spend nearly $1T on health care and countless hours negotiating plan benefits every year yet have little control or insight into where all that money is going.

Only 31% of businesses with less than 50 employees offer health insurance (KFF), as traditional plans are even more expensive without enough people for a risk pool. It is hard to attract and retain talent that has been trained to expect a health benefit. Sure, group plans exist and there are the individual marketplace exchanges, but both options are more expensive and come with incredible complexity.

The recent Mercer survey showed that employers are focused on increasing affordability and access to improve attraction and retention, with virtual care also being a core focus (Mercer). As a small business, if you provide a health stipend to employees, you can save 50% on your annual health expense and attract top talent by presenting CrowdHealth as an alternative healthcare option to your employees.

Separate health insurance from employment, stay focused on your core business

As a small business with less than 50 employees, we know struggle to compete with the big boys offering expensive benefit packages. As a contractor, we know you may have multiple projects you’re working on as an entrepreneur as one of ~60 million Americans, 36% of the workforce, that is engaged in the gig economy (Zippia).

At the same time, 75 million Americans quit their jobs in 2021 (Forbes). There are more than 11 million job openings and an unemployment rate below 4%. The ability to move and work from another location as digital nomads has empowered Sovereign Individuals to have significantly more freedom in their life. Americans are choosing where and how they want to live. Ultimately this freedom needs to be reflected in the way companies provide health benefits to their employees.

Tying employment to health insurance with narrow, local provider network contracts restricts freedom and no longer makes sense today. No more dealing with expensive insurance brokers and dealing with ever-increasing premiums (Axios). Keep it simple with CrowdHealth and you can stay focused on your core business. Help us build a new health care system that exists outside of the current behemoth.

Pay employees a monthly stipend to be used towards their health

As an employer, you can still show your people you care about them by providing them cash to go towards their health each month. The average employer pays $537 a month per individual employee, representing 83% of the total premium (KFF). The individual pays another $108 a month, plus thousands more just to hit their deductible, a co-insurance per visit, claims denials and network restrictions.

Let’s shatter this paradigm and build a new way of doing healthcare that introduces free market economics into healthcare and consumer choice. Instead of paying an average $537, why not give an individual $250 to spend towards their health every month? This would save you as a company 53% annually - for a business of 40 people the savings would be over $137K. For families, it’s $695 a month to join CrowdHealth – compared to the average $1850 a month on the average ESI plan, let alone the thousands of dollars families would need to spend to hit their deductible before the insurance even kicks in (KFF)!

Empower individuals to choose how they would like to spend the money

Employers want their employees to be healthy and productive. Part of being healthy requires taking personal responsibility for one’s own health. Let individuals and families do what is best for them. We believe the value of joining CrowdHealth as an alternative will be very attractive to your people, especially those already taking control of their health.

With individual CrowdHealth membership at $175 a month, your people will access to a variety of services to live a healthy life, such as 24/7 telemedicine, discounted prescriptions, and annual wellness visits funded by the Crowd. $30 of the $175 goes to CrowdHealth (that’s our revenue), and the rest is saved in your crowdfund account. This is not a premium that you never get back; it’s held in your account to contribute to other’s health bills in the community. Members tap into community crowdfunding if a health event costs over $500 and receive a generosity score based on your track record of giving, which is voluntary. If you choose to be in the Bitcoin Crowd, 75% of the savings will be saved in bitcoin for future health needs. 31% of workers under 30 prefer to work for a company that offers a Bitcoin savings benefit (NYDIG). If you leave, it’s also your money and bitcoin to take with you after a small closing fee. With CrowdHealth, now you can offer a Bitcoin and health benefit to attract top talent to your business.

Reintroduce market forces to align incentives in health care

Value in healthcare is defined as high quality service at a low cost.  Due to perverse incentives, healthcare in the US has led to lower quality at a higher price and limited access to care, with payers and providers both incentivized to push the cost of care up.

As an individual presenting as a self-pay cash our members are getting 30-50% off the traditional insurance negotiated price, and 60% off on emergency room bills. Each member at CrowdHealth has a Care Advocate helping them to navigate the health system, find the best, high-quality provider at a fair price, no matter where they live in the US. CrowdHealth leverages individual consumerism in healthcare and reestablishing the relationship between patient and provider, cutting out rent-seeking middlemen.

Incremental changes are not going to cut it to impact our $4T healthcare industry. We need to build an entirely new system and way of doing business in healthcare. Saving in bitcoin, an appreciating asset, and directing money to health care services that individuals value rather than into the blackhole of insurance premiums will make a difference and can differentiate you as an employer.

If you’re interested in learning more about utilizing CrowdHealth for employees at your small business, please send a note to jon@joincrowdhealth.com or schedule time for a meeting here – I’d love to connect with you!

Sources: Percent of Private Sector Establishments That Offer Health Insurance to Employees, by Firm Size, Kaiser Family Foundation, 2020; https://www.mercer.us/newsroom/2023-employer-health-and-benefit-strategies-focused-on-affordability-and-access.html; https://www.forbes.com/sites/christinecomaford/2022/01/14/new-research-on-the-real-cause-of-the-great-resignation/?sh=2f06979e3b72

2021 Employer Health Benefits Survey, Kaiser Family Foundation, Nov 10, 2021. < https://www.kff.org/report-section/ehbs-2021-section-1-cost-of-health-insurance/>; https://nydig.com/benefits/savings-plan/employers?utm_source=Social

https://www.mercer.us/newsroom/2023-employer-health-and-benefit-strategies-focused-on-affordability-and-access.html

https://www.axios.com/2022/09/19/employer-health-costs-premiums-workers

‍