Employee Benefits

A HEALTH MAINTENANCE ORGANIZATION (HMO)
An HMO group health plan requires employees to appoint a primary care physician who directs treatment utilizing service providers affiliated with the HMO. HMOs offer access to a comprehensive package of health care for a low monthly premium. A small co-payment is often required for services, depending upon the type provided.

PREFERRED PROVIDER ORGANIZATION (PPO)
PPO group health plans offer a vast network of quality healthcare providers and facilities. Employees save the most money on healthcare if they use providers within the network, as some services may be only partially covered or not even covered at all when outside providers are used. Also, many services may not be covered if deductibles are not first met, however, the plan includes important wellness and preventative services provided outside of the deductible with a small co-pay.

SELF-FUNDED HEALTH PLANS
When employers self-fund their own group health plan, they will benefit from a significant savings in the overall cost of their benefit programs. For example, savings may be in premiums, increased cash flow and certain tax advantages. Additionally, employers have more control over the benefits that the plan offers. Typically, self-funding was not available to small employers in the past. However, today self-insured group health plans are considered to be good options for both small and large employers.

How it works. A self-funded group health plan requires the employer to become the insurer. Most often, employers will partner with a PPO to provide services for the plan. Then, a third party administrator (a TPA) is engaged to handle claims and processing. Self-insured employers run the risk of large catastrophic claims. As a result, they need to purchase stop-loss insurance to protect themselves in such an event. Even with the additional expense of stop-loss insurance, employers save a significant amount of money on premiums and other advantages.

PARTIALLY-FUNDED HEALTH PLANS
Partially-Funded Plans (aka Level-Funded) are a variation of a Self-Funding and allows small employers to take advantage of all the cost saving and benefit design features of a fully self-insured plan, however, they share the risk with one of our top national carriers. The premiums for shared funding plans are generally much lower than fully insured plans. An employer may save even more by implementing wellness programs into the benefit strategy.

How it works. An employer will select any of the fully insured plans that the carrier offers. Then rates will be determined by the group’s claim history. Next, stop-loss insurance is added to protect against catastrophic claims. Since the carrier will handle the administration of the plan, there is no need to hire a separate vendor to handle claims and processing.

HEALTH SAVINGS ACCOUNT (HSA) )
An HSA combines a high deductible, lower premium group health insurance plan (PPO) with an employee owned savings account. Both employer and employee can contribute, with pre-taxed dollars, to the savings account. The account is used directly by employee to help fund the deductible and other qualified medical expenses.

HEALTH REIMBURSEMENT ACCOUNT (HRA) )
An HRA combines a high deductible, low premium health insurance plan with an employer owned tax favored savings account. This plan requires that the employer contribute to the savings account. The account can be used to reimburse employee for co-pays and other qualified expenses submitted by the employee, prior to the deductible being met.

FLEXIBLE SPENDING ACCOUNT (FSA) A Flexible Spending Account is a tax-favored savings account funded solely by the employee through regular pre-tax payroll deductions. The funds can be withdrawn, tax-free, to pay for eligible medical, dental, vision, prescription and dependent daycare expenses. Employees elect how much they want withdrawn from each pay period. By participating in a FSA, an employee always has cash to pay for these expenses, and as an added benefit, their taxable income is reduced which also increases the percentage of pay they take home.

PREMIUM ONLY PLAN (POP) A Premium-Only Plan allows employees to select, purchase and pay monthly premiums for their own individual insurance plan with pre-tax dollars. Employees elect a set amount of wages to be deducted from each payroll to be used by the employer to reimburse the employee for the monthly premium.

Wellness benefits, which have become very popular, help to attract good employees while increasing productivity, moral and your bottom line. Our carriers have invested heavily in adding the right combination of preventative and wellness features to their base health coverage to help improve lives and lower costs all the way around.

Following are a few of the wellness resources available through these wellness benefits:

• Biometric screening, education and preventative programs.
• Onsite or virtual physical fitness & nutritional classes.
• Discounts to gym memberships.
• Access to additional resources such as fitness trackers, blogs, subscriptions and more.
• Employees also have access to telehealth solutions, as well as a nurse hotline 24/7 for general medical advice.
• Employees have access to programs such as smoking cessation, substance abuse help, financial wellness seminars and more.
• Employees have access to preventative medicine such as flu shots, mammograms, colonoscopy, heart and cancer screenings and more.

GROUP LIFE INSURANCE
A good life insurance policy provides for an employee’s final expenses, taxes, mortgage and more. Additionally, it may even pay for their children’s education. Also, employees are more productive when they feel secure that their loved ones will be taken care of, in the event of illness or an untimely death. Smart employers consider life insurance a key part of the benefit package, and a valuable tool in attracting top talent.

Permanent Life Insurance
This type of life insurance builds cash value which is sometimes used as collateral for loans, if needed. However, most employers only offer basic term life insurance (see below), but also offer permanent life insurance on a voluntary basis. Even so, employees appreciate the opportunity to widen their safety net.

Term Life Insurance
This type of life insurance does not build cash value. However, it will pay a set amount to the named beneficiary upon the death of insured within the stated term. Additionally, some policies may also make payments upon terminal or critical illness.

GROUP DENTAL PLANS
Employees always appreciate dental coverage as part of the basic benefit package. Studies have shown that regular dental exams help employees to stay healthier and more productive in the work place. Additionally, you can detect serious underlying conditions such as heart disease and diabetes, through regular dental exams. In fact, the National Association of Dental Plans and the Centers for Disease Control have performed studies that show that employees with dental insurance have better attitudes and are less likely to suffer from depression, a common condition in today’s fast-paced world.

Dental insurance offers a variety of diagnostic, preventative care and corrective services. This includes cleanings, exams, x-rays, fillings, root canals, orthodontia for children, and emergency care while traveling.

Similar to dental policies, vision plans are inexpensive and save employees money on routine eye care. Examples of care include exams, eyeglass frames and lenses, contacts, and even discounts on procedures like LASIK. Additionally, monitoring your eye health with regular exams helps to prevent serious eye diseases like glaucoma and cataracts. In addition, regular eye exams help to detect early stages of diabetes, high blood pressure, and high cholesterol.

National surveys have shown that Short Term Disability and Long Term Disability remain of high importance for most employees. Thus, savvy employers attract and retain top talent by offering both STD and LTD insurance as part of the employer paid benefit package or as a voluntary (worksite) benefit.

Short Term Disability
During the time an employee is unable to work due to a qualifying disability (illness or injury), STD generally allows for income payments to the employee to begin after about a two-week waiting period and will continue to pay the employee until he/she recovers or maxes out the benefits–usually anywhere between one month to two years, depending on the policy.

Long Term Disability
During the time an employee is unable to work due to a qualifying disability (illness or injury), LTD generally allows for income payments to the employee to begin after about a 90-day waiting period. However, it could be much longer depending on the policy. The policy will pay the employee far longer than STD–for a few years, up to age 65, or even for life.