Q: Although we’d hate to do it, my organization may need to reduce the benefits we offer due to the impact of the coronavirus pandemic. What are some considerations we should be thinking about?

A: Your first call should be to your benefits broker, who can advise you on appropriate strategies that will work for your budget but also keep your employees covered to the fullest extent possible.

I can’t say this strongly enough—don’t try to do this without professional guidance. Employment benefits must comply with a wide range of laws and regulations, and you don’t want to make a costly mistake. These include state regulations as well as federal, which can complicate matters if you have employees in more than one state, and particularly in employer-friendly locations like California.

Here are some questions to ask your broker:

Should your organization consider self-funding healthcare costs? Self-funding increases your financial control, plan design flexibility, and plan management options. It used to be that only large organizations could self-fund, but now organizations with as few as 10 employees are eligible. Self-funding can reduce your healthcare spending by between 4 percent and 10 percent annually.

You can minimize the sting of reduced healthcare benefits by offsetting them with some additional no- or low-cost benefits.

Should your organization join a stop-loss captive to reduce risk? Employers that self-fund healthcare costs typically purchase stop-loss coverage to insure against extremely large claims. Instead of traditional stop-loss coverage, employers can join together in a group medical stop-loss captive.

Should your organization carve out a drug plan from medical insurance? If you do, you can re-evaluate pharmacy benefits each year. If you request bids annually, you may secure better terms.

You can minimize the sting of reduced healthcare benefits by offsetting them with some additional no- or low-cost benefits. For example, you might increase the amount of time off that employees may take, or go to an unlimited time-off policy that has been successful with organizations like Gallup.

Work with local organizations to offer discounts at health clubs or other businesses that you know would be valuable to your team. Encouraging your employees to join a health club can help you reduce healthcare benefits as they learn to take better care of themselves.

Whatever you do, take time to put together a sound communication plan. Keep in mind that your employees are already stressed over their own financial situation. You need to build a strong case for why you are making these decisions and do your best to support them in other ways.