Healthcare Benefits & Incentive Plans

Health care benefits in the United States can vary drastically depending on your job, insurance company, how much you can afford to pay or your age. More and more, insurance companies and employers are beginning to offer health care incentives to employees and/or customers to reward good health. Incentives can also be offered to health care providers themselves for patient satisfaction, efficiency, clinical effectiveness and patient safety.

Wellness Incentive Plans

• Some insurance companies offer wellness incentive plans to their customers. The idea behind these plans is to reward patients who take care of their health, and to provide even more motivation to continue doing so. The incentive component of Physicians Care health plans, for example, allows customers to collect "wellness points," which, in time, can be cashed in for discounts at gyms or fitness clubs, or applied toward free gift cards.

Pay-for-Performance Incentives

• The Integrated Healthcare Association offers what is commonly called the IHA P4P, a pay-for-performance incentive directed at physicians. hospitals and other health care providers. The incentive is rewarded according to a number of criteria, including clinical quality, patient experiences and the adoption of health information technology. According to the IHA, these incentives help health care workers take part in collaborative learning and "participate in continuous quality improvement."

Medical Benefits

• Most major health care plans in the United States are either preferred-provider organization plans (PPO) or health maintenance organization plans (HMO). Some employers offer one or the other, while some offer both and let the employees choose for themselves which they prefer. PPOs offer more choices in health care providers and coverage but are also more expensive. HMOs are more restrictive, but generally cost the customer less money out-of-pocket for premiums and for care. Both plans usually cover doctor and hospital visits as well as prescription medications.

Short- and Long-term Disability

• Another type of health care benefit offered by employers and insurance companies is short-term and/or long-term disability. Short-term disability benefits replace a portion of an employee's income if that person cannot work for a certain period of time. The amount is usually a percentage of the employee's wages and commissions, if any. Long-term disability does the same, but over a larger number of days. To get disability payments, patients may have to submit documentation regarding the condition, recovery time and the first date of work missed.

Vision and Dental

• Private vision and dental insurance must often be purchased separately from medical insurance. These two kinds of insurance usually cover optometrist and dentist office visits, exams, eyeglass frames, lenses and surgery. Federal Medicare and Medicaid also offer vision and dental benefits.