Benefit Planning

Companies need to cut costs. HR benefit costs are a big-ticket item and how you manage those benefits can have a significant impact on the bottom line.

Benefit Planning - 2010

We can help facilitate your benefit plan strategy. Our strength as your benefits broker is in providing you with choices that meet your company needs.

Fully-Insured or Self- Insured Plans: which one is right for your company?

Under a fully-insured benefit plan, the employer pays a premium to an insurance company and the insurance company assumes the risk for the cost of providing medical benefits to the plan’s enrollees.

Under a self-insured benefit plan, the employer is responsible for providing benefits to the plan’s enrollees and assumes the financial risk. Most employers typically purchase stop loss coverage to protect against high cost claims.

The HR Service Team will bring its experience to bear to help you determine which choice is the best for your particular situation.

Comparison	Fully-Insured	Self-Insured
Advantage	Predictable monthly expenses Budgeting for the year is predictable Protection from high claim costs No third party administrator is required Plan documents are maintained by insurance provider	Not subject to state mandates Plans can be customized The employer maintains control over the health plan reserves, enabling maximization of interest income Employer is not subject to state health insurance premium taxes which are generally 2-3% of the premium Pay only what you use
Disadvantage	Prepaying for coverage prior to the cost being incurred Subject to all state mandates and state premium taxes and assessments No claims lag occurring the next benefit year	Employer assumes the risk for paying the health care claim costs. The employer must have the financial resources to meet this obligation Employer is responsible for the coordination and claims processing performed by a third party administrator Predicting and accounting for claims lag incurred the next benefit year

Complex Benefit Plans

Choosing the right type of benefit plan can be complex. More and more companies are moving to:

High Deductible Health Plan (HDHP)
Health Reimbursement Arrangements (HRA)
Health Savings Accounts (HSA)

Our experience has shown that participants need to understand the plan design. This understanding is extremely critical when you roll out a high deductible plan that allows for a tax savings component. Employees who do not understand what expense they will incur against claims incurred will become disgruntled. No one wants employees to be disgruntled over the company’s benefit offering.

HR Service Team provides general educational sessions prior to open enrollment. These training sessions help the employees understand all types of benefit plans – not just the plan the employer offers. The knowledge gained helps employees and their families understand plan design and their role as a benefit consumer. As your broker, we deliver this necessary educational session at no additional cost.

Benefit Communication

Companies invest thousands of dollars per employee per year in benefits. The benefit package can make the company stand out as an Employer of Choice. However, in many cases this important benefit is looked at as a given rather than a benefit.

At HR Service Team, we turn your benefit package into a visual tool allowing everyone to understand the value of your benefit offering.

Utilizing Insurance Providers Free Wellness Programs

Benefit managers often do not have time to promote the free wellness services available through the plan providers. We take wellness programs to heart! Our goal is to help clients utilize the services available.

HR Service Team will help you coordinate wellness offerings and help you keep wellness communications going all year long.

International Benefits

Having an international presence without local HR support in a country can be very challenging. How do you pull together the cost benefit analysis? What are the normal benefits for a specific country? How much should the employer pay for the benefits?

HR Service Team has experience with benefit plans and employment regulations in Canada, UK, Sweden, France, Netherlands, Germany, Switzerland, Middle East, Japan, China, Hong Kong, Singapore, India, and Australia. Our experienced staff can eliminate this struggle for you by helping you with the plan design and international broker partnerships.