Group Services offers a variety of benefit and health insurance services.
Below is a list of health insurance products and services we offer:
Contact an employee benefits administrator at Group Services for more information.
Health savings accounts (HSAs) and flexible spending accounts (FSAs) let employees or dependents set aside money, before taxes, for qualified healthcare expenses.
Employers can also use them to engage employees to participate in health improvement programs.
HSAs
Health savings accounts are only available to people who are enrolled in a qualified high-deductible plan and have no other health insurance.
High-deductible health plans require higher deductibles and out-of-pocket expenses than other types of health insurance policies, but the premiums cost less per month.
A major advantage to using a health savings account is the money carriers over from year to year, so employees don’t have to use it or lose it.
HSAs linked to high-deductible health plans can help control your group medical expenses by giving a greater stake in their health expenses. HAS account holders can use money in their HAS for any qualified medical expense.
FSAs
Employers set up FSAs for employees and can cover medical/dental expenses, dependent care expenses or both.
A medical flexible spending account will cover any medical expense considered deductible by the IRxS.
Employees elect how much of their pre-tax salary to deposit into their account, reducing their income tax liability.
Employees pay no monthly or yearly maintenance fees on their account. But they need to estimate how much they’re going to need for healthcare expenses because they lose whatever is left in the account at the end of the year.
Dental plan enrollment tends to go up and down with economic conditions. Today, most employers that offer dental benefits offer standalone plans.
The National Association of Dental Plans, found 98% of dental benefits are provided under a separate policy, and PPO plans represent 74% of all group dental plans in a 2011 survey.
PPO plans are supposed to help control expenses by providing higher reimbursements for care given by the network providers, but costs are increasing faster than the general rate of inflation.
To control the costs of an insured dental plan, employers have a couple of options:
Switch to a lower-cost plan. This will open the following options: decreasing the annual maximum, limiting benefits, decreasing annual maximum benefits and more.
Or maintain your level of coverage but have employees shoulder a larger portion of costs. This will increase employees’ share of premiums, increase copayment percentages and switch to an entirely employee-paid plan.
A direct reimbursement plans gives employers greater control over their dental benefit program than an insured plan. With a direct reimbursement plan, the employer determines how much it will spend per employee per year.
Employees also have greater control over their dental treatment choices because direct reimbursement lets them see any dentist and use their funds for any eligible treatment.
Employers also have greater control over cash flow. Instead of paying premiums to an insurer, the employer can invest plan funds and withdraw them as needed for reimbursements.
For more information on selecting the best dental plan for your organization, contact a benefits administrator at Group Services.
The National Retirement Risk Index found 44 percent of U.S. households were “at risk” for financial insecurity during retirement. Many of our baby boomer and Gen-X employees risk a retirement funding crisis. But long-term care insurance (LTCI) can help.
An LTCI plan can help retain baby boomers long-term financial security.
Key components include:
The higher the daily benefit and the longer the benefit period, the more you will pay in premiums. You can control premium costs by selecting the longest elimination period you can afford.
Employees who pay LTCI premiums receive a tax deduction, while company-paid premiums are deductive for the employer and tax-free for the employee.
For more information on how you can provide your employees with this valuable benefit, contact us at Group Services.
Register online today for our COBRA Workshop: An Instructional Overview webinar.
Wednesday, March 21, 2012 from 12:00 p.m. – 1:00 p.m. (EST)
Stacy Barrow, an Associate in the Labor & Employment Law Department at Proskauer Rose, will provide an overview of the rules regarding the right to continue group health plan coverage under federal COBRA laws.
Free spots are still available if you’re interested! Register online and we will send you the webinar login credentials.
Most employees do not know how much they themselves pay toward their own and their dependents’ health insurance premiums.
Below are some strategies for improving your benefits communications and making employees more satisfied with their benefits decisions:
Your communications should cover:
Most importantly, don’t forget to get employee input. Ask them which communication methods and materials are most effective.
Contact Group Services for help in making your benefits communications more effective.
Group Services would like to thank all the presenters and everyone who attended the “Winning Strategies to Manage Benefits” seminar.
The informative seminar introduced innovative ideas and people that can help you improve your business.
Presentations can be downloaded by visiting the Group Services web site.
Please contact us to learn more about our benefit administration services. We improve the profitability and success of organizations and people by applying the tools and expertise.
Adding options to your group life insurance program can be a cost-effective way to enhance your benefits package.
Here are some options available for enhancing your life insurance benefits:
Portability – Employees can retain coverage after retirement by paying premiums directly to the insurer.
Accelerated Benefits – Help ease the financial burden that often accompanies a serious illness, accelerated benefits allow terminally ill insureds with a life expectancy of six months or less to receive an advance payout of a percentage of their group life insurance face amount.
Waiver of a Premium – Also known as “continued protection,”waives premium payments for disabled employee after a specified waiting period.
Contact Group Services for more information on group life insurance programs.
Below are tips for small employers when selecting health care coverage:
Group Services offers a full range of health care and wellness plans for employers of all sizes.
Please contact us to learn more about our health insurance plans.
As the economy starts to improve and more employees start to retire, these labor market chances will have a dramatic impact on compensation.
Organizations should consider the following give compensation-related initiatives:
