Do Employees Actually Use a Discount Health Benefit, and How Do You Measure It?

This guide explains how a Beyond Med rollout works, what drives use, what to measure, and what to ask any vendor, Beyond Med included. It gives no participation, usage or savings benchmark, because results vary by group.

What Does Rolling Out Beyond Med Involve?

Beyond Med supports standard benefits administration through platform integrations and secure file exchange, together with invoicing, eligibility reconciliation and employee education. A typical rollout runs in this order:

• Confirm the basics. The employer, the eligible population, the effective date, the funding structure (voluntary or sponsored) and the benefit tiers.
• Define enrollment timing and communication. Open Enrollment or year-round, and how employees will hear about it.
• Map administration needs. Benefits-administration and eligibility requirements, then secure eligibility-file exchange or a platform integration.
• Set billing rules. Invoicing, payroll deduction and reconciliation.
• Review geography and interests. Where employees live, which services they want, and what provider access exists near them. Priority recruitment needs come out of this step.
• Train the people who will field questions. HR, enrollment teams and member-support staff.
• Launch education and enrollment.
• Reconcile after launch. Eligibility exceptions are resolved, and member communication, network recruitment and engagement reporting continue.

The voluntary model typically needs no direct employer funding. It still takes employer time for implementation, eligibility, payroll and communication. What Beyond Med costs an employer explains who pays what.

Why Do Some Employees Use a Voluntary Benefit and Others Never Do?

Use follows relevance. Participation depends on communication, relevance, price, geography and how enrollment is run. Five factors do most of the work:

• The services match what employees already look for. Care that people pay for outside their medical plan, such as weight management, fertility, dermatology, chiropractic and acupuncture, mental wellness, vision and hearing, is where they are already spending money.
• Employees know what it is, and what it is not. Beyond Med is not insurance. It does not process claims, reimburse members or provide emergency protection. Employees who understand that they pay a participating provider directly at the member rate can judge its value.
• There is a participating provider within reach. A benefit with no nearby provider cannot be used, however well it is explained. Beyond Med reviews employee locations and current network access before launch, and can focus recruitment on requested specialties and places.
• Finding care is easy. Members can search for participating providers themselves or ask the Concierge Team, then schedule directly with the provider.
• The message is repeated. Open Enrollment presentations, benefit guides, enrollment pages, email campaigns and webinars all help, and a single announcement does not.

What Should HR Measure?

Three numbers get confused, and they tell you different things.

Ask which of the three any report gives you, and do not read one as another. For a voluntary program, enrollment measures interest and use measures value, so track both. For a sponsored program, where every eligible employee has access, compare use against the eligible population instead, because nobody opted in.

What Reporting Does Beyond Med Provide?

Depending on the agreement, Beyond Med may provide summarized information on member interests, delivery preferences (provider office, in person, telehealth or mobile), participation and engagement. The cadence and the fields are defined for each client. Ask for the sample report before you sign, so you know what you will see and how often.

HR can use that information to:

• Prioritize provider recruitment in the categories employees want.
• Spot geographic gaps.
• Tailor employee education.
• Choose webinar, event or health-fair topics.
• Decide whether a service deserves more attention in the wider benefits strategy.

How Do You Judge Whether It Is Working?

Judge it against a goal you set before launch, not against a benchmark from someone else's workforce. Reasonable goals include:

• Employees can find a participating provider for the services they asked for, near where they live.
• Employees understand what the benefit is and is not.
• Use rises in the categories where you promoted it.
• Provider gaps flagged in the first months get addressed.

Two cautions. First, a member may save on a visit, but savings vary by provider and service, and Beyond Med cannot guarantee that every member saves more than they contribute. Second, do not treat a discount health benefit as a way to lower your medical plan spending. It supplements your medical plan and does not replace it, and Beyond Med makes no claim that employer medical costs will fall.

What Should You Ask Any Vendor About Use and Reporting?

• Which of enrollment, engagement and completed visits do you report?
• How often, and in what format?
• Can I see a sample report?
• What do you do when employees ask for a service nobody near them provides?
• Which numbers do you publish, and which are specific to a group?
• What does my team have to do each month?

Key Takeaways

• A discount health benefit is used when it matches services employees already seek, is explained plainly, and has participating providers within reach.
• Enrollment, platform engagement and completed provider visits are three different measures. Know which one a report gives you.
• The membership can be voluntary, typically with no direct employer funding, or employer-sponsored. Membership pricing is quoted per group.
• Beyond Med reporting includes summarized member interests, delivery preferences, participation and engagement, with fields and cadence agreed per client.
• Set your own success goals before launch.
• Beyond Med is not insurance and does not claim to lower employer medical costs.

Key Terms Glossary

Enrollment: An employee choosing to join the benefit.

Engagement: Activity on the platform, such as searching for providers or contacting the Concierge Team.

Completed provider visit: A member using a participating provider and paying the agreed member rate.

Member rate: The price a participating provider has agreed to charge Beyond Med members for a participating service.

Eligibility file: The list of employees who can use the benefit, exchanged securely between the employer and Beyond Med.

Concierge Team: Beyond Med staff who help members find and navigate participating providers.

FAQ

Do employees actually use discount health benefits?

Use depends on relevance, communication, price and provider access, and it varies by group. Beyond Med does not publish a typical usage rate. Ask any vendor which measure they report before you compare numbers.

What does implementation look like for a voluntary discount benefit?

Confirm the eligible population and effective date, set up eligibility-file exchange and payroll deduction, review employee locations and interests, train HR and support staff, then launch education and enrollment and reconcile eligibility afterward.

How long does implementation take?

It is scoped to the employer's systems and timeline. Ask Beyond Med for a timeline in your proposal.

How do I measure return on a voluntary benefit?

Set goals before launch, such as provider access in the services employees asked for, employee understanding and use in promoted categories. Track enrollment, engagement and completed visits separately. The voluntary model typically needs no direct employer funding, so judge the return by access and use.

What reporting does the employer receive?

Depending on the agreement, summarized member interests, delivery preferences, participation and engagement information, on a cadence defined for the client.

Does a discount health benefit lower our medical plan costs?

Beyond Med makes no claim that it does. It supplements your existing health benefits and does not replace them.

Is Beyond Med insurance?

No. Members pay participating providers directly at the agreed member rate. Beyond Med does not process claims or reimburse members.

Next step

To see what a rollout would look like for your workforce, start on the For Employers page and book a demo.