Cukiemonster
New Member
- 4
Good Morning everyone, I have been searching for a forum such as this and I'm glad I have finally found what I'm looking for.
I reached out to a prospect that was a fairly warm lead. I have recently gotten into the broker world after spending 20 yrs on the employer side of things (Corp. Benefits Specialist) and the carrier side (Small Group Health Account Manager).
After reaching out to this prospect to see if she would be receptive to meeting, I received this response from her. I'm not quite sure how to help and was hoping for some advise from my counterparts here.
Hi Greg. XXXXXXXXX is currently seeking a solution to our health coverage dilemma and possibly you have that solution. To save time, which I seem to never have enough of these days, I’ll provide you with a synopsis of our current situation
We have approximately 430 hourly employees, mostly throughout XXXXXXX but about 75 or so in XXXXXXX. Being in the food service industry that serves academic institutions, ours is a seasonal business --- very little activity between end middle of May to the middle of August. Our full-time hourly employees are benefits eligible (paid time off, bonuses, medical insurance, dental insurance, term life insurance and short term disability insurance). Currently we compress twelve months of premiums for all insurance options into a nine-month payment schedule because the employee most likely will be on unemployment from mid-May through mid-August. The employee pays for summer coverage throughout the previous months’ deductions, as there is no way for us to collect the premiums any other way.
The most difficult hurdle with this scenario occurs when an employee does not enroll in any of the coverage plans in the first month of the nine-month compressed premium payment schedule. For example, we hire Joe A. in August. We have a 30-day wait period before Joe’s even eligible for insurance enrollment, which makes his eligibility kick in mid-September. Joe completes the forms and his coverage will begin October 1. Now he’s one month behind our perfect nine-month compressed schedule of payments (September thru May). Therefore, Joe’s premiums now must be compressed into an eight-month payment schedule, making his premium deductions each payroll different than everyone else’s and a bit higher, but still affordable. Now we come back from Christmas break (mid-January) and hire Jana K. Jana is very interested in our insurance program because she heard it was affordable. Jana must also wait out the 30-day employment period before she can enroll, meaning she won’t be eligible to enroll until mid-February, with her coverage taking effect on March 1. Now Jana’s nine-month compressed premium payment schedule is really compressed --- nine months into three (March, April and May)! The premium deductions are very expensive – to expensive for her to enroll and now she feels she must wait until our next open enrollment period, which gratefully, is August.
This system is a headache to administer and track, as we have to keep up with fluctuating deductions based on start dates coupled with turnover.
I’ve been talking to a company (through our XXXXXXXX broker) that is working up a self-funded insurance solution for our company as a whole (we have separate insurance policies with yet two other carriers for the management health, dental and term life plans in addition to the limited medical plan that we offer to our hourly employees). This company may be able to incorporate the limited medical plan for our seasonal business AND administer most of everything. Just so you can factor this in, too, we have about 50 exempt management-level employees who are offered separate coverage plans --- much more robust than the limited plans for the hourly employees.
So, if you feel you have a solution or more than one viable solution then I will make time to visit with you in person. If the best you feel you can do is seek out different carriers who may have slightly better rates for basically the exact thing we have, then that’s not a solution for me.
Mull all this over and shoot me back an email at your convenience. Have a good weekend!
I reached out to a prospect that was a fairly warm lead. I have recently gotten into the broker world after spending 20 yrs on the employer side of things (Corp. Benefits Specialist) and the carrier side (Small Group Health Account Manager).
After reaching out to this prospect to see if she would be receptive to meeting, I received this response from her. I'm not quite sure how to help and was hoping for some advise from my counterparts here.
Hi Greg. XXXXXXXXX is currently seeking a solution to our health coverage dilemma and possibly you have that solution. To save time, which I seem to never have enough of these days, I’ll provide you with a synopsis of our current situation
We have approximately 430 hourly employees, mostly throughout XXXXXXX but about 75 or so in XXXXXXX. Being in the food service industry that serves academic institutions, ours is a seasonal business --- very little activity between end middle of May to the middle of August. Our full-time hourly employees are benefits eligible (paid time off, bonuses, medical insurance, dental insurance, term life insurance and short term disability insurance). Currently we compress twelve months of premiums for all insurance options into a nine-month payment schedule because the employee most likely will be on unemployment from mid-May through mid-August. The employee pays for summer coverage throughout the previous months’ deductions, as there is no way for us to collect the premiums any other way.
The most difficult hurdle with this scenario occurs when an employee does not enroll in any of the coverage plans in the first month of the nine-month compressed premium payment schedule. For example, we hire Joe A. in August. We have a 30-day wait period before Joe’s even eligible for insurance enrollment, which makes his eligibility kick in mid-September. Joe completes the forms and his coverage will begin October 1. Now he’s one month behind our perfect nine-month compressed schedule of payments (September thru May). Therefore, Joe’s premiums now must be compressed into an eight-month payment schedule, making his premium deductions each payroll different than everyone else’s and a bit higher, but still affordable. Now we come back from Christmas break (mid-January) and hire Jana K. Jana is very interested in our insurance program because she heard it was affordable. Jana must also wait out the 30-day employment period before she can enroll, meaning she won’t be eligible to enroll until mid-February, with her coverage taking effect on March 1. Now Jana’s nine-month compressed premium payment schedule is really compressed --- nine months into three (March, April and May)! The premium deductions are very expensive – to expensive for her to enroll and now she feels she must wait until our next open enrollment period, which gratefully, is August.
This system is a headache to administer and track, as we have to keep up with fluctuating deductions based on start dates coupled with turnover.
I’ve been talking to a company (through our XXXXXXXX broker) that is working up a self-funded insurance solution for our company as a whole (we have separate insurance policies with yet two other carriers for the management health, dental and term life plans in addition to the limited medical plan that we offer to our hourly employees). This company may be able to incorporate the limited medical plan for our seasonal business AND administer most of everything. Just so you can factor this in, too, we have about 50 exempt management-level employees who are offered separate coverage plans --- much more robust than the limited plans for the hourly employees.
So, if you feel you have a solution or more than one viable solution then I will make time to visit with you in person. If the best you feel you can do is seek out different carriers who may have slightly better rates for basically the exact thing we have, then that’s not a solution for me.
Mull all this over and shoot me back an email at your convenience. Have a good weekend!
