Tele-Medico

Typically, employers offering a full suite of benefits to their employees would include medical, dental, vision, short term disability, long term disability, and life insurance coverage in their employee benefit programs. A majority of large employers, and an ever-increasing number of medium and small employers, are now adding a tele-physician component to their benefit programs. Why?
The Teladoc no co-pay and no deductible program model, has by far the highest utilization rate in the industry, and therefore the highest Return on Investment (ROI). Large national players like Home Depot, Penske, and Rent A Center have significantly reduced their claims-related operating expenses by providing the Teladoc tele-physician program to employees.
Including the no co-pay and no deductible program model in the corporate benefit package can also result in significant out-of-pocket savings for employees. Typically, corporate medical plans have a $20-$40 physician co-pay, a $100-$250 ER deductible, and either a 90%/10% or 80%/20% employer/employee co-insurance ratio. By first reaching out to a Teladoc physician, employee families can avoid some co-pays and deductibles, as well as some portion of their medical cost-sharing responsibilities.
In terms of overall value to employers and employees, the Teladoc no co-pay and no deductible program should stand second in line behind the company’s medical program; and ahead of the dental, vision, STD, LTD, and life insurance programs. Why? Because the program generates cost savings for employers and employees, and costs less and has a higher utilization rate than the other programs.
For small employers that are unable to provide a full-blown benefit package to employees, the CADR+ program satisfies 75% of a family’s medical needs for $.05-$.10 per hour (for a full-time employee). Because the program is so affordable, many businesses are also finding that it’s a powerful way to reward loyal part-time and/or seasonal employees.

Teladoc in the Telehealth Marketplace
As mentioned in previous blogs, Home Depot, Penske, T-Mobile, Rent-A-Center, and numerous other well-known national corporations have successfully used the Teladoc tele-physician program to reduce employee claims-related medical expenditures for more than a decade. Teladoc was founded in 2002, and the simple reasons for their phenomenal growth are as follows:
The American Medical Association estimates that 75% or more of a family’s medical needs can be satisfied remotely. The Top-10 Teladoc consultations are for sinus problems, urinary tract infections, pink eye, bronchitis, upper respiratory infections, nasal congestion, allergies, flu, cough, and ear infections.
A remote tele-physician consultation is far cheaper than an Emergency Room visit, Urgent Care Center visit, or a Primary Care Physician office visit. Businesses providing the program to employees save on claims costs. Employees/individuals enrolled in the program save on co-pays and deductibles.
You can’t beat the convenience of the program. Speaking to a board-certified physician from the comfort of home beats trudging to an ER in the middle of the night. Many customers enroll in the Teladoc program for the convenience of being able to access physicians and pharmacies while traveling.
For one surprisingly low monthly membership fee, up to 6 family members can participate in the program, and those family members need not reside under the same roof.
It’s not uncommon for families to have telehealth coverage of some sort in their current company-provided or individual ACA plan, but rarely if ever is it used. Usually, individuals need to dig through their plan paperwork to determine if they have they coverage. Once they do, they determine that their coverage comes with a hefty $40-$50 co-pay at the time of the consultation. Further, that coverage is limited to the individual, and does not extend to 5 additional family members. The Teladoc model that we have put in place overcomes those problems, and is happily embraced by our business and individual customers.