Case Study
Business-Crippling Obamacare
Fines, Exorbitant User Costs Lead
Car Wash Business to Smarter
Healthcare Solution at Redirect
Health
RedirectHealth.com • [email protected] • (888) 995-4945
Case Study
Business-Crippling Obamacare Fines, Exorbitant User Costs Lead Car
Wash Business to Smarter Healthcare Solution at Redirect Health
Faced with potential business-crippling penalties that could reach nearly $1 million each year,
leadership at Francis & Sons Car Wash, a full-service car wash, auto detailing and maintenance
center with hundreds of employees across 18 locations in the Phoenix area, knew it needed to act
quickly to provide a comprehensive, easy-to-understand and convenient healthcare solution for
its workforce. Without one, the company’s survival was at stake.
The Challenges: Threat of fines, high costs, language
barriers and vast business footprint create hurdles to
offering right-sized healthcare option
The Affordable Care Act (ACA) has brought a new world
order to a whole class of employers who have never
worried about needing to provide healthcare benefits.
Whether with just 10 employees or more than 1,000, the
challenge was the same – providing a viable healthcare
option to the workforce that would satisfy the new
healthcare law while ensuring profitability. For Francis
& Sons Car Wash, the challenge was real and the race
was on to find a practical solution that fit the company’s
needs:
•
Francis & Sons was wading into uncharted territory
as it operated in an industry that traditionally
didn’t offer health insurance.
•
This environment was also new to employees, who
had never needed to understand the intricacies of
healthcare insurance or absorb costs associated
with coverage.
•
With more than 350 predominantly young male
employees, the majority of whom speak only
Spanish and are spread across the Phoenix,
Arizona area, a one-size-fits-all option would be
challenging to find.
•
Employees would typically seek out quick-fix
healthcare through urgent care or emergency
department visits.
The Scenario: Finding their way through uncharted
healthcare territory
Where purchasing new equipment or upgrading
to better technology used to dominate discussion,
Obamacare was now driving businesses – from car
washes and restaurants to landscape and construction
companies.
Very few of Francis & Sons employees had health insurance
through an insured family member or a self-procured
plan. Like many companies in this category, management
carved out a healthcare option for approximately 10
percent of the workforce, yet complexity, cost and lack of
understanding resulted in very few employees signing up.
Francis & Sons’ workforce viewed healthcare insurance
as confusing and an expensive luxury. Often, employees
would seek out healthcare using the Arizona Health
Care Cost Containment System (AHCCCS) and
emergency department visits. Others would seek help
for non-workplace-related injuries through Workers’
Compensation Insurance, which added an unnecessary
burden to the company.
With the ACA mandate clock ticking down, Francis & Sons
knew it needed to work fast to find a solution that would
be affordable, easy-to-implement and most importantly,
meet the Minimum Essential Coverage now required.
The Solution: Company’s survival, employee wellness
makes Redirect Health the perfect healthcare solution
“The team at Redirect Health did whatever it took
to support us and make us successful. And I love
the concept behind Redirect Health. Their business
model is to provide basically unlimited primary
healthcare outside of the insurance system, and
use insurance for catastrophic medical problems.
EverydayCare™ is an idea whose time has come.”
- Paul Breslau, principal, Breslau Insurance &
Benefits, Inc.
Francis & Sons turned to Paul Breslau at Scottsdalebased Breslau Insurance & Benefits for help. An industry
veteran, Breslau knew it would take much more effort
than merely signing the company up to a plan that met
the ACA mandate. It would require a team effort to ensure
employees understood how healthcare worked, where it
could be accessed and what costs they would need to
absorb.
Breslau’s strategy was to build a layered coverage plan,
starting with EverydayCare™ from Redirect Health, which
would fulfil the Minimum Essential Coverage (MEC)
requirement of the new healthcare law, plus a whole lot
more. In fact, with EverydayCare, Francis & Sons could
offer their employees not just MEC, but unlimited primary
care, physical medicine and physical rehabilitation
(including chiropractic) at Redirect Health Accredited
Centers around the Phoenix area.
“Engaging with Redirect Health was a win-win for
Francis & Sons. Not only did they avoid hefty fines
and penalties, but their employees are also happy.
With EverydayCare, they not only have coverage,
but also unlimited care at Redirect Health Accredited
Centers. And the best part is no deductibles or copays. And employees can usually see a doctor the
very same day.”
EverydayCare™ was combined with a PPO Bronze Plan,
which satisfied the need to provide a coverage option for
employees who would otherwise go through a healthcare
exchange.
With the nuts and bolts in place, the team tackled
introducing the solution to employees. To address
language barriers, a Spanish-speaking agent was made
available to all employees to ensure they knew the breadth
and depth of this new offering. Not only did agents help
employees sign up, but they took customer service to the
next level by filling out applications using Census data
before meeting with employees, thereby simplifying the
process even further.
Francis & Sons, Breslau and the Redirect Health team
were able to create a customized solution, which was
affordable for both the company and employees, and also
empowered the workforce to take charge of their health.
•
Employees were enrolled in Redirect Health’s
EverydayCare™ plan* for just $150 a month,
which addresses the majority of healthcare needs
that people will encounter, such as treatment
of coughs and colds, diabetes, asthma, pain and
injury and other common ailments.
•
The solution was easily implemented, understood
and embraced by employees.
•
Misperceptions about healthcare costs were
shattered among employees. Not only was
healthcare affordable with no co-pays or
deductibles for themselves, but they had the
option to add dependents for an additional fee or
opt out completely (if proof of alternate coverage
could be demonstrated).
•
Because the plan is not limited to a single provider
or facility, employees from multiple locations
now have accessible healthcare options to treat
common illnesses and injuries.
EverydayCare™ by Redirect Health
Healthcare employees will use…
•
The vast majority of employees have chosen
EverydayCare™ as their, and in many cases their
family’s, healthcare solution.
The Outcome: Company worries about compliance,
fines eased and workforce is happier, healthier
“The company is ecstatic that we can offer employees
a viable, effective and well-embraced healthcare
solution that doesn’t cost an arm and a leg.”
- Gloria Guerra, bilingual insurance/HR consultant
for Breslau Insurance & Benefits
•
Unlimited primary care
•
Unlimited physical medicine and injury care
•
Unlimited physical rehabilitation (including
chiropractic)
•
Labs, x-rays and immunizations
•
Pain management procedures and ambulatory
surgical services
•
Care “under one roof” at Redirect Health
Accredited Centers, with no co-pays or
deductibles
Convenience they will appreciate…
The end result for Francis & Sons went far beyond
adopting a healthcare solution that would help bring
them into ACA compliance. They now had a solution that
not only provided required coverage, but also delivered
employees unlimited care at Redirect Health Accredited
Centers, was affordable and helped employees take
charge of their healthcare. And beyond that:
•
Today, nearly 70 percent of Francis & Sons
employees are enrolled in EverydayCare™,
giving them access to care for the most common
healthcare ailments. Enrollment has doubled in
the span of a year.
•
Redirect Health’s bilingual services have been
a significant driver for enrollment. Currently,
95 percent of employees who have enrolled
identified Spanish as their first language.
•
On the whole, access to Redirect Health has
resulted in a workforce that is happier, healthier
and more productive than before implementing
the solution.
•
Concierge service including 24/7/365 visits by
phone
•
Same Day/Next Day appointments
•
Front-of-the-line, no waiting privileges