Family-building Benefits
Some employers recognize modern family-building options by offering expanded and inclusive benefits. Such benefits can provide you peace of mind as employers show their emotional and/or financial support for your decision to build a family. This article highlights common family-building benefits and tips to understand them better.
Family-building Benefits Overview
Family-building benefits are becoming increasingly popular since they inclusively support the complex ways individuals and couples build their families. Benefits may cover options including fertility drugs, medical treatments and procedures, surrogacy and adoption.
Learn More and download the latest Know Your Benefits Newsletter
Cybercrime and Benefits Plans; Health-related Productivity Costs | Benefits Breakdown – July 2021
Cybercrime and Benefits Plans
There is a cyberattack every 39 seconds, according to recent estimates from the University of
Maryland. Data breaches and cyberattacks are daily headlines—and employee benefits plans
are no exception to those threats. In fact, employee benefits plans are even more vulnerable
as the coronavirus pandemic continues. Organizations and benefits providers are relying
heavily on electronic access, ultimately creating new vulnerabilities.
Learn more and take action – view the full newsletter below.
Health-related Productivity Costs
While offering health coverage and benefits for employees and dependents is a major
business expense, lost productivity due to physical and emotional health problems can be
much more expensive for employers. To combat lost productivity, employers can consider:
• Offering health fairs, screenings and health risk assessments
• Addressing conditions that affect many employees
• Integrating health benefit strategies with wellness initiatives
• Designing a benefits package to support ideal behaviors
If an employer doesn’t address employee health care needs, the workplace is far more likely
to experience the negative effects of diminished productivity. However, if the organization
can commit time and funds to help employees get and stay healthy, it can reduce medical and
pharmacy costs and increase worker productivity.
Learn more and take action – view the full newsletter below.
Benefits & Me – June 2021
Understanding Accident Insurance
Whether you suffer a concussion falling off a ladder or dislocate your shoulder moving the couch, injuries can lead to costly medical care, loss of work time and various other related expenses. If you don’t want to be caught financially unprepared to handle an accident, consider accident insurance.
Regular medical insurance won’t cover all the expenses that result from an injury. At the very least, you will likely owe a deductible and copays. Accident insurance acts as a safety net to help you pay out-of-pocket medical and nonmedical costs resulting from an accident or injury.
Accident insurance might cover the following occurrences:
• Injuries, such as fractures, burns, concussions, cuts, eye injuries, broken teeth and paralysis
• Medical services and treatments, such as ambulance rides, emergency care, nonemergency care, hospital stays, physician follow-ups, therapy services, surgery and medical testing
• Family lodging and travel needs related to an accident and follow-up care
Contact your HR manager to learn more about accident insurance.
The Importance of Preventive Care
Seven out of 10 Americans die each year from chronic diseases, many of which are preventable. When preventive care is used and illnesses and diseases are caught early enough, you can avoid or better control your health problems. Preventive care is a type of health care used to shift the focus of health care from treating sickness to maintaining wellness and good health. Prevention includes a healthy lifestyle, exercise, diet, laboratory tests, counseling and immunizations. Preventive care can save you money as follows:
- Lowering the long-term cost of managing disease helps catch problems in the early stages when the disease is more readily treatable. The cost of early treatment or diet or lifestyle changes is less than the cost of treating and managing a chronic disease or severe illness.
- Preventive care is covered in full by health insurance.
To prevent more serious problems later, schedule your regular health screenings and evaluations today.
Benefits Debit Cards
Benefits debit cards are a valuable asset if you participate in flexible spending accounts (FSAs), health savings accounts (HSAs) or health reimbursement accounts (HRAs). These cards allow you to easily pay for health and medical expenses with the swipe of a card.
These convenient transactions are made possible by an Inventory Information Approval System (IIAS), which allows a retailer to automatically verify eligible FSA and HRA purchases through their own inventory control system (e.g., UPC or SKU number).
The following locations accept benefits debit cards:
• Health care, dental and vision providers
• Retailers with an IIAS
• Health care-related retailers that have an IIAS or sell mainly medical care items
Benefits Breakdown – April 2021
5 Steps for Year-round Benefits Engagement
Open enrollment is something you probably only think about a few times a year. For employees, it might be even less often. That’s why it’s important to touch on benefits throughout the year—to ensure employees are making the most of them. Here are five steps for providing employees with thoughtful, year-round benefits engagement:
- Have a goal in mind—Think about your main employee benefits objective for the year.
- Keep topics relevant—Stick to your goal throughout the year when communicating.
- Aim for brevity—Get straight to the point with your messaging.
- Change up the medium—Consider videos, flyers, posters and articles to vary messaging.
- Set up a communication calendar—Space communications out for the most impact.
Reach out for more tips on helping employees maximize their benefits.
Benefits Education for Young Employees
Employee benefits aren’t always simple. In fact, for many young employees, they’re downright confusing. Look at basic health insurance term knowledge, for example. Only 7% of individuals can define terms like premium, deductible and coinsurance, according to UnitedHealthcare. Here are five ways you can start informing young employees about their benefits right away:
Start with benefits 101—Start educating with benefits 101 initiatives, assuming employees have no base knowledge. Resources in this area cover insurance basics, such as common terms, group health coverage ins and outs, and enrollment period restrictions.
Explain what’s in it for them—At the core of any transactional conversation is the question of “What’s in it for me?” Employees, especially younger ones, will undoubtedly want to understand why it’s worth it to learn insurance basics.
Vary the messaging—Use several formats to help reinforce benefits literacy among employees and capture more attention. Examples include email announcements, PowerPoints, videos, mail-home flyers, posters and comprehensive packets.
Don’t stop educating—Benefits literacy isn’t something achieved overnight. Rather, it should begin immediately and continue year-round.
Be there for questions—Have a dedicated person on the HR team help answer benefits-related questions. This individual should be available to respond to emails as well as attend in-person or virtual meetings.
You have a responsibility to educate your employees about their benefits. Young employees can’t be expected to understand their benefits nor make wise health care choices if they don’t understand benefits basics. Reach out for sample employee education materials.
Benefits Breakdown – March 2021
Understanding Prescription Drug Pricing Trends
In 2019, the United States spent nearly $370 billion on prescription drugs, keeping trend with significant increases year over year. Although prescription drug spending has historically been a small proportion of national health care costs compared to hospital and physician services, it has grown rapidly in recent years—comprising about 10% of national health care spending.
3 Voluntary Benefits Trends to Watch in 2021
Voluntary benefits have always been great tools for rounding off employee benefits offerings. And that value isn’t lost on employers—at least 50% offer some sort of voluntary benefits, according to an Alera Group report. Employers can expect to see voluntary benefits grow in these three key areas in 2021:
- Expanded offerings such as eldercare and critical illness insurance
- A focus on financial wellness, including budget counseling and financial planning
January Benefits Buzz
Recently, the Departments of Labor (DOL) and Health and Human Services (HHS) issued an updated template and related materials for the summary of benefits and coverage (SBC). These materials are required to be used for plan years beginning on or after Jan. 1, 2021. This means that the updated template must be used for the 2021 plan year’s open enrollment period.
On Friday, Nov. 15, 2019, the Trump administration released its final rule regarding hospital price transparency. This final rule will take effect Jan. 1, 2021, a year later than originally proposed.
Group Benefits
Whether your business size is 2 or 2000, we will create a benefits plan for your employees aligned with your business or organization’s goals and philosophies.
We take a step back, listen, and learn, before we customize a plan with the proper industry benchmarks and data. This ensures that the process put into motion starts off right. We feel that this is better approach than simply just shopping the prices or taking a “one-size fits all” attitude.
We offer all lines of group benefits:
- Medical
- Dental
- Vision
- Short-term Disability
- Long-term Disability
- Life
- Travel
Speak with one of our Benefit Consultants today.
Individual Health Benefits
We provide quality health insurance coverage for individuals between the ages of 1 and 64. Using some of the same providers we use for commercial coverage, we bring peace of mind to individuals looking for quality health insurance for themselves and their families.
We work with Exchange (Marketplace) based plans and Off-exchange (Marketplace) based plans. As your benefits consultant, we will make sure you have access to helpful tools and resources you need to manage your plan.
Speak with one of our Benefit Consultants today.
Voluntary Benefits
Voluntary benefits enhance core benefit packages and deliver added incentive without employers spending more on insurance. A solid voluntary benefit platform offers your employees the ability to purchase competitively-priced coverage, and in most cases without underwriting questions. Voluntary Benefits complement your core benefit strategy while reducing company costs and employee financial risk.
Voluntary Benefits may include:
- Disability
- Dental
- Vision
- Life
- Long-term health care
- Cancer insurance
- Supplemental Health
Speak with one of our Benefit Consultants today.
Health Savings Accounts
Health Savings Accounts (HSA) were formed in January, 2004 as part of the Medicare Prescription Drug and Modernization Act. These programs replace Medical Savings Accounts (MSA). In essence, HSA have removed all of the negative requirements of an MSA and retained the positives.
Health Savings Accounts are established on a non-taxable basis to reimburse individuals for out of pocket liabilities. By purchasing a high deductible health insurance plan, an employer reduces his/her premiums. From these premium savings, monies can be set aside to help offset some or all of an employee’s additional out-of-pocket liability.
Guidelines for a Health Savings Account
| Base health plans require a minimum of a deductible for an individual with single coverage and an overall out of pocket cap and a deductible for families with an out of pocket cap. |
| Accounts may be funded with employer dollars, employee dollars or both |
| Catch-up, provision employees between the ages of 55-65 can fund an additional amount over the maximum |
| All accounts are assigned to the employee regardless of how the funding was provided |
| Employer fund amounts are tax deductible to the employer as a cost of providing benefits |
| Reimbursements are non-taxable to the employee |
| Unused funds are carried forward from year to year |
| Upon termination of employment, unused funds are maintained by the employee |
| Type of Limit | 2019 | 2020 | Change | |
| HSA Contribution Limit | Self-only | $3,500 | $3,550 | Up $50 |
| Family | $7,000 | $7,100 | Up $100 | |
| HSA Catch-up Contributions (not subject to adjustment for inflation) | Age 55 or older | $1,000 | $1,000 | No change |
| HDHP Minimum Deductible | Self-only | $1,350 | $1,400 | Up $50 |
| Family | $2,700 | $2,800 | Up $100 | |
| HDHP Maximum Out-of-pocket | Self-only | $6,750 | $6,900 | Up $150 |
| Family | $13,500 | $13,800 | Up $300 |
Speak with one of our Benefit Consultants today.
Client and Employee Resources
The more your employees understand your benefit plans the more they become educated, empowered consumers. The programs you provide will also gain an enhanced value.
As your strategic partners in employee benefits, we can provide multiple avenues of ongoing support, including:
- Employee Meetings (English and Spanish)
- Webcasts
- Payroll Stuffers
- Poster Campaigns
- Newsletters
Carrier Directories
E-Verify is a web-based system that allows enrolled employers to confirm the eligibility of their employees to work in the United States. Click the image below to begin.
