A Closer Look...

Two common mistakes

Many organizations, when purchasing a health and prescription or dental plan, will begin by consulting with a benefits broker as their first step. The benefits broker however will not be familiar with the internal aspects of the organization and may make recommendations that will not best serve the organization. Additionally, benefits decision makers may simply continue to maintain a plan type and/or provider that the organization has continued to use without, other than costs, evaluating what may better serve the organization.

After the planning process

Once benefits planning has occurred, it is important to understand the various types of plans available; how they work; understanding what types will best serve the needs of the organization, employees, and employee dependents; understanding the types of cost controls that are available; different funding options; understanding health reimbursement accounts, health savings accounts, Section 125 flexible benefit plans, and full cafeteria plans, etc...

Spending the time and effort to understand the different plan design options and cost controls, and how they will serve your needs is an important step before having a benefits broker shop various providers.

Our specific services

We can help to:

• Determine what type of plan will best suit your organization, prior to shopping for a plan, e.g. Indemnity plans or managed care like HMO's, PPO's, POS', EPO's.
• Determine the most advantageous funding arrangement.
• Understand key medical insurance terms and how they will affect your plan or organization.
• Control health care costs, e.g. changing the delivery system or negotiating expenses; redesign employee contribution; explore prevention and wellness programs; understanding the effects of preadmission testing and preauthorization; utilization review, e.g. precertification, concurrent review, case management, post-treatment bill review; consumer-directed health care, e.g. HRA's and HSA's, etc...
• Identify brokers and work with your organization through the shopping or change process as well as the critical decisions that need to be made for your plan.