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Employee Benefits
We can help you develop an employee benefit package to help you attract and retain key employees. We’ll show you what other companies are doing to attract the top talent in the market place. There are many ways to improve your benefit package without breaking the bank.
Employee Benefit Process
Employee Benefits Process & Planning
Next to payroll, your employee benefit package is usually the most expensive line item for a small business. The first step to consulting on an employee benefit package is to listen. We like to hear what seems to be working well, what could be better, and what are you trying to accomplish by offering an employee benefit package. First we evaluate what your benefits look like now. Are they achieving what your goals are? Could it be done better, more efficiently and less expensively? Once we determine the ideal benefits package, we will tailor a program that works well for both employees and management. Many firms don’t have a full time HR department to create, explain, administer and review an employee benefits program. This is where we can help. We are happy to run employee enrollment meetings, answer employee and family benefit questions, and help when problems or questions arrive at claim time. A firm’s needs change from year to year, depending on the make-up of their employees, the firm’s budget, and overall premium increases. Each year we will repeat the entire process of evaluating the benefits you offer, how well they are working, what can be done better and how we can cut costs without adversely affecting the overall benefit offering.
We know what our small businesses are doing and offering from an employee benefit standpoint, and it is our goal to make sure that your benefit package will give your firm the ability to attract and retain the top talent in the marketplace, because at the end of the day, that is why you want an employee benefit package.
New Business Onboarding
Once you have decided on the benefit offerings, our office will help to coordinate group enrollment meetings, process initial paperwork, and follow the process from start to finish to ensure you group accounts are set up properly. Once that process has been completed, we will notify you of all plan numbers and effective dates.
Account Support
Our group benefit managers are here to help. We can help you and your family, in addition to your HR managers with troubleshooting claims, enrollment issues, benefit questions, enrollment challenges and billing issues.
Technology
Through our benefit partner, AmWINS*, we are happy to offer employee enrollment and benefit management software in certain jurisdictions, to your firm for use by your HR department and employees. This can make your employee enrollment and education process quicker and more streamlined. We can also offer TPA services where we can offer consolidated billing for multiple insurance companies, as well as consolidated employee enrollment forms.
* AmWINS is a third party company and is not owned or operated by Weitz Financial Group, LLC, New York Life Insurance Company or its affiliates.
Renewals
Someone from our renewal team will reach out to your group 60 days prior to your renewal date. They will see if there have been any substantial changes to your employee census. In addition, they will review your current benefits and will request competitive comparison quotes from other carriers to ensure that you are aware of multiple company’s benefits and prices for the upcoming year.
Employee Enrollment Meetings
In order for your employee benefits package to be an effective attraction and retention tool, your employees and their families need to understand their benefits and know how to use them. We are happy to conduct annual employee benefit meetings to ensure that your benefits are fully explained and so that your employees know what a substantial investment your firm has made in them, through your benefits package.
Group Health Insurance Options
Health Maintenance Organization Plans (HMO’s)
For companies seeking the greatest degree of cost control over health care benefits, an HMO plan can be the ideal choice. Under this plan, employees and their covered dependents select a personal physician, called a Primary Care Physician (PCP), from the network of participating providers located in their service area.
When using the services of their PCP and obtaining referrals through this physician to other participating providers, employees will usually receive the full range of HMO benefits.
Point of Service Plans (POS)
For companies that currently offer their employees traditional indemnity plan benefits but are looking to make the transition into managed care, a Point-of-Service (POS) Plan can provide the perfect vehicle.
When your employees enroll in the POS Plan, they will select a Primary Care Physician (PCP) from the HMO network, just as with the HMO stand-alone plan. They will generally receive enhanced benefits when using their PCP's services or those performed by other participating providers, referred by their PCP.
However, employees and their covered family members may also select health care providers without referral from their PCP any time care is required throughout the calendar year and receive the more traditional indemnity benefits. In exchange for this flexibility, employees pay a greater portion of their health care costs.
Preferred Provider Plans (PPO’s)
Preferred Provider Organizations (PPO) plans allow employers to encourage their employees to seek care in a cost-effective managed care environment, while retaining the employees' freedom of provider choice. Employees can generally receive richer benefits by using the PPO network of Preferred Providers. Or they may choose any licensed doctor or hospital and receive reduced out-of-network benefits in return for greater freedom or provider choice.
Heath Savings Accounts (HSA’s)
An HSA works with a health plan that has a high deductible. You can save money in your HSA account before taxes and use the funds to pay for eligible health care expenses. HSAs can also help you save for retirement, when you can use the funds to pay for general living expenses without penalty. Funds can be contributed on a pretax basis by either the employer or the employee and may be carried over from year to year.
Health Reimbursement Accounts (HRA’s)
A Health Reimbursement Arrangement is an employer-funded account that helps employees pay for qualified medical expenses not covered by their health plans. HRAs are compatible with a health plan that has a high deductible and they are owned by the employer. Funds can only be contributed by the employer and may not be carried from year to year.
Additional Services
Dental Insurance
Funding for Qualified Plans (401(k)’s Pensions, SIMPLE IRA’s, SEP’s, TSA’s)
