Nava Benefits shows top 6 benefit categories searched by HR

6 benefit categories on every HR team's agenda for 2023

December 2, 2022 3:52 PM

Between rising healthcare costs and employee burnout, there's no doubt that HR teams will have their work cut out for them in 2023. But what benefits will be prioritized over others as employers reevaluated their offerings?

Employee benefits brokerage Nava Benefits launched a free search engine earlier this year, empowering HR teams to learn and connect with over 600 vendors across 28 benefit categories. So, instead of having to go through a benefits broker to know what's on the market, HR teams can find the answers themselves — and it seems many are looking for answers in the same six benefit categories.

"The main purpose of our search engine was to give the HR buyer more data at their fingertips to help them make better decisions," says Brandon Weber, co-founder and CEO of Nava Benefits. "Now we've got thousands of HR folks running searches, and we're bringing analytics to the table to see who's looking for what."

Nava found one clear priority: healthcare navigation. In fact, the healthcare navigation benefits category page generated nearly 70% more page views than the second most popular category. For Weber, Nava's top searches indicate where HR teams will be investing their resources as they head into the new year. And whether these benefits help employees make good healthcare decisions, improve employee wellness or expand access to fertility care, it seems HR teams are on the case.

Here are the top six benefits categories on HR team's radars.

Healthcare navigation

Insurance company Aon estimates that employer healthcare costs will increase by 6.5% next year, so it's not surprising that HR teams are looking for solutions to minimize wasteful healthcare spend. Healthcare navigation benefits often center on helping employees identify effective and in-network providers as well as comparatively cheaper facilities for treatment. These benefits may even prevent patients from being overcharged by hospitals. Crucially, healthcare navigation can also help employees get the most out of their current health plans and benefits, explains Weber.

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"There is just an increasing amount of pain being felt by both HR teams and employees around the complexity of benefits," he says. "There's more of a need to provide employees and their families better tools, so they're not left on their own."

Medical insurance

In a similar vein, HR teams are reevaluating their current medical insurance carriers as they face an uptick in costs. And since medical insurance is a core benefit for almost every employer, Weber is not surprised to see it grab the number two spot.

"The status quo is very much proving over the last couple of years to be a broken solution," says Weber. "If you're on the same insurance plan that you've been on for the last three or four years and the same mix of benefits, now is a very appropriate time to ask your adviser."

However, Nava is hoping to put even more power in HR's hands — the company recently launched instant quoting for medical insurance carriers in New York and California. Now, HR teams can get real-time price quotes with a couple of clicks.

Mental Health

Mental health benefit offerings have become an increasingly prominent concern for HR since the start of the pandemic, as rates of depression, anxiety and burnout spiked in the last few years. HR teams will likely be on the lookout for benefits that allow workers to access mental health providers easily and discreetly, with virtual counseling and therapy becoming a more commonplace benefit offering.

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Fitness and nutrition

Employers are also directing their attention to employees' physical wellness — and given its connection to better mental health outcomes and lower healthcare spend, it's hardly shocking to see this category make the list. According to a study published in the peer-reviewed journal BMJ, adults who stayed physically active well into their middle ages saved up to $1,874 a year on healthcare costs after they turned 65 — hence, they may also see healthcare savings before they reach retirement age.

HR teams are looking at digital solutions that track daily fitness and nutrition as well as offer exercises and advice to users. The goal is to improve employees' routines that may otherwise be putting unnecessary stress on their minds and bodies, explains Weber.

Price comparison

Price comparison benefits, namely tools that allow employers and even employees to see if they are getting the best bang for the buck in healthcare, are popular for the same reason the healthcare navigation and medical insurance categories are: companies need to cut costs.

Weber advises HR teams to reconsider their current healthcare partners, whether it be their brokers, pharmacy benefit managers or insurance carriers, and question if they are truly saving on healthcare spend.

"You need to find alternatives to the status quo you've been on for years," says Weber. "There's a real opportunity to bring in solutions, like alternative insurance plans or a better pharmacy solution that reduces drug spend for your population."

Fertility

Since the overturning of Roe v. Wade, Weber has seen a jump in searches for fertility and reproductive health benefits. Fertility benefits have been the second most searched category over the spring and summer, and still remain in the top six despite healthcare cost concerns overshadowing it in the last few months.

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"It's complex to provide fertility benefits for multiple types of needs in your workforce," says Weber. "We are seeing employers increasingly turn to third-party vendors so they can provide this benefit in an equitable way across an employee population in different states."