Employee benefits
Employee benefits, quoted, enrolled and serviced by the same people
Employee benefits are the plans a company sponsors for its staff: medical, dental, vision, life and AD&D, disability, and the voluntary coverage employees buy through payroll. We build the lineup, run the enrollment and stay on the account all year.
What lines of coverage can a small employer offer?
All of these, in whatever combination fits the budget. Some are employer paid, some are shared, and some are fully voluntary.
- Medical
- Dental
- Voluntary Dental
- Vision
- Voluntary Vision
- Life/AD&D
- Voluntary Life/AD&D
- Disability
- FSA
- HSA
- Voluntary Benefits
How is a group health premium set?
Two ways, and which one you get depends mostly on your state. Oregon small groups are usually tiered. Many Washington groups are age rated. The plan can look identical and the rate sheet can still read completely differently.
| Tiered rating | Age rating | |
|---|---|---|
| How the premium is set | One price per coverage tier: employee, employee plus spouse, employee plus children, family. Everyone in a tier pays the same. | A rate per person based on age, usually grouped into bands. Your bill is the sum of the individual rates for everyone enrolled. |
| Where it is common | Oregon small group medical. | Many Washington groups. Bands are not the same from carrier to carrier. |
| What it means at renewal | A premium moves when the employee changes tier or when the whole rate sheet changes. | A birthday alone can move a premium, so a stable group can drift even when nothing else changed. |
What do you handle during the year?
These four are most of the work, and they are ours.
| Event | What we do |
|---|---|
| New hire | Add the employee to the enrollment system, record the life event, send the activation link and the reminders, record the election, enroll with the carriers and send HR the payroll deduction summary. |
| Termination | Terminate in the enrollment system and with each carrier, file the confirmations and send the continuation coverage notice that applies, which may be federal COBRA or a state continuation rule. |
| Renewal | Start early, shop the market again, lay the renewal next to the alternatives, tell you what changed and what we recommend, then put the decision in front of you with time to make it. |
| Open enrollment | Load the plans, build the materials, open the window, answer employee questions, chase the people who have not answered and file every election with the carriers. |
Let's look at your group
Send a census and your current plan. We will bring back options and tell you plainly what we would do.
In Montana, Utah or Idaho, call 406-404-6378.
Frequently asked questions
- What does a benefits broker actually do during the year?
- We shop the carriers at renewal, build the plan lineup, run open enrollment, add new hires, process terminations, send the continuation notices that apply and answer employee questions as they come up.
- What is the difference between tiered and age-rated premiums?
- A tiered rate sets one price per coverage tier, so every enrolled employee in that tier pays the same. An age-rated plan sets a rate per person based on age, and your bill is the sum of those individual rates.
- Why do Oregon and Washington groups look different?
- Oregon small groups are usually tiered and many Washington groups are age rated, so two employers with the same plan design can get rate sheets that read very differently.
- Do we have to use an enrollment system?
- It is not required, but it is how we keep windows, elections and confirmations straight. We set it up, load your plans and walk your employees through it.