So you’ve managed to stay in business despite increased health care premiums, higher deductibles, rising costs across all sectors, tighter budgets, etc…not to mention the regulatory concerns. And then it hits: another 5-10% increase in the cost of health insurance premiums at renewal. What can be done about this? Is there any relief in sight?
While we at Integrated Benefit Solutions cannot control the cost of healthcare, what we can do is find out if you are paying too much for your current healthcare plan. Perhaps a different carrier, or benefit design, or plan year change, could help your business save money and keep the level of benefits you currently give to your employees the same or better. Of course, with the rise of healthcare costs across the country, there is no way around it: we will all have to pay the higher premiums eventually. But we don’t have to accept the annual 5-10% increases and just go along with it. There are things we can do (of which we don’t want to give away here, you know, trade secret stuff) to keep you cost neutral so you can focus on your business of staying in business.
You might say to us: “Well, I already have a broker, and they have us in a plan/marketplace/private exchange etc…I must have the best benefit setup already, right?” Well, probably not. In fact, many of the groups we get from other brokerage agencies don’t have their employer groups in the best combination of plans. Why? Because the broker, in that instance, gets a higher commission! It’s a conflict for some to put a group in a lower cost plan, because then that broker would take a pay cut. For us, it’s always about doing what’s best for the group. ALWAYS!
This is also common: “We are an under 100 life employer group and we go direct with the insurance carrier. Surely we get a discounted rate because of this. Right?” Absolutely not. There is no rate reduction for going direct with an insurance carrier for a non-experience rated group. You are basically paying for a broker, and you don’t have one. And by the way, your current carrier isn’t going to notify you if their competitor has a better plan. Just sayin’…
Another common occurrence: “My broker set us up on this neat/new/slick looking Compliance/HR/Benefit Software. It’s really expensive but they tell us it keeps us in compliance so it must be worth it, right?” Not so fast. Most employer groups out there have very few regulatory requirements that are so complicated they would need expensive software to keep track of it. Those groups that are under 50 Full-time equivalent employees have no reporting requirements to the IRS for their heath plan. We have software that is completely free (FREE) that will not only give you access to a huge HR Library, but also keep track of all your benefit related documents as well as track compliance issues you may face based on your group size. Why give another broker commission of off your group AND pay for software that you might not really need. It doesn’t add up.
We’ve helped hundreds of businesses save money they didn’t know they had by redesigning their health plan design. Why not reach out to us today and see if we can be of any help to you. Best case scenario? Your current broker did their job. Worst case? They didn’t. You might want to find that out.