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Welcome to Nefouse & Associates INC. We were the first Insurance agency to offer health insurance and employee benefits online in Indiana, back in 1999. Since then, the health insurance markets have changed a great deal In Indiana and the rest of the country. What has not changed, is the reasons why you want to explore group health benefits in Indianapolis.
Since we have been offering our broker & consulting services, we have seen almost every reason why you have come to the Internet, to research Group Health Insurance Indianapolis benefits. In every situation we have been successful in finding the best solution for the group.
Indianapolis start up companies
With a lot of startup companies in Indianapolis, the new business owner may not have any relationships in place with group health brokers. This leads you to the web for answers. Very quickly you may find out, that large agencies will not give you any of their time. Your start up may not be big enough, especially post ACA. You want health insurance numbers, so you can determine if it fits your new companies’ budget. The first step is, you must have at least 2 full time employees that are not related. You will need their birth dates and zip codes to start.
Start up companies with funding
This situation is where you have funding and existing employees. The company may be getting ready to launch or you need the cost of the benefit package for the business plan. In this scenario, the startup has to offer an employee benefit package to keep or recruit employees. This category of employees, may be used to a higher level of benefits. It is important to create a benefit package that is very attractive to your employees. This can lead to higher employer cost and additional administration duties.
Spin off company
Every year we see large Indianapolis companies spin off divisions or sell them to their employees. It usually has a really interesting dynamic. Here is an example:600 employee life groups and a division of 17 is spinning off to be their own company. The Group Health Insurance Indianapolis is often a part of the business that was not addressed. If you are coming to the Internet for health insurance information with your spin off, then this may be you. In some situations, the larger company will provide their health benefits for a certain time period. The new leadership of the small company, may have overlooked the new administration responsibility. These spin offs may be used to having a HR department take care of these benefits. Well, the 17 life group may not have anyone versed in employee benefits. Now you need the numbers, and then need to first match the current benefit design. Most of the time the exact benefit cannot be matched. Large companies have great control over their benefit designs. Next you may be shocked at the cost of trying to match those plans. Going from large group to small group can be a difficult adjustment.
Existing company wanting to grow
Your Indianapolis company may have been in business for years and now you have an opportunity for growth. That growth is going to consist of hiring new employees and retaining the current ones. One of the keys is offering group health insurance and employee benefits. To go out and attract good employees, they will want a benefit package. Without it, you put your growth strategy at a disadvantage. Not only are you going to want to offer health insurance, but dental, vision, life & disability. You will want to create a benefit package that is attractive. To make a package attractive you as the owner, will have to invest into the employees. This can be a delicate process of what you want to offer and what you can afford to offer.
Current insurance broker issues
We see this all the time, where the current brokers primary focus is not Group Health Insurance Indianapolis. They may be an insurance advisor in another field and offered the group coverage as a type of favor. This can lead to a lot of problems because that broker may not be informed on current market conditions. We also see this with a lot of agents that are closed to retirement. You’re not doing yourself any favors by keeping a consultant on that really can’t consult you. This can lead to compliance issues under the ACA. Not to mention you may be paying more than you should be.
Sometimes, the owner of a company will have a strong relationship with their current broker, but want to check market conditions. This is usually to confirm the current broker is delving the best deal. In this situation, it is difficult to take a large group out to market without the incumbent broker knowing about it. This situation usually occurs in smaller towns and the owner is usually right about taking the case to market. 80% of the time, there is a significant amount of savings. This is especially true, if the company is self-funded with a small TPA.
The agency that is representing your company, has sold out or retirement is occurring.
This is another big issue that will bring a company to the web for information. If an agency has a merger or is bought out, this can change the dynamics of broker client relationship. You may be used to a certain level of customer service, which now is no longer being offered. This usually happens with smaller companies that have less than 50 employees and is very common with companies under 20 employees.
Agent retirement is a big issue in Indiana right now.
A large amount of Insurance agents specializing in the health insurance and employee benefit fields are in their mid-60’s. This may come as surprise, but there has not been a lot of new agents to enter this field. After the Affordable Care Act was passed, there was a large amount of younger brokers that left the industry. So now you’re in a situation where your agent is closed to retirement and is unable to advise you on all the compliance issues under the ACA. With these senior agents, a lot of their carrier’s relationships have changed. Their relationships with keep people at the carriers are no longer in place. This is because their contacts have retired. This can lead, to a broker not having the influence with a carrier they once had. Which leads to you having representation that does not meet expectations.
Employer mandate under the Affordable Care Act
Under the ACA, all employers that are considered large applicable groups have to offer Group Health Insurance Indianapolis benefits or pay a penalty. This has led to a large amount of employers going to the Internet to try to understand health insurance options. For these companies, it’s choosing the best of the bad options. Most of their business models, did not have the cost of an employee benefit package in them. The new cost of a health benefit package can be difficult to absorb. Most of the companies that elected a group health plan, had to address the administration of the plan also. The process of a 1st year group to enroll in coverage can be very difficult and frustrating to ownership. We have been able to stream line the entire process, which helps.
Exploring self-funded
Your Indianapolis company may have grown to the point, you are ready to look at a more sophisticated approach to the health insurance benefits. Self-funded plans can be the right solution, but it should be approached by a consultant that has experience in this area.
In recent years, partially self-funded products have become available to small groups in Indiana. The plan designs, may be called level funded or hybrid plan. They look and feel like a full insured product but they have the potential of receiving a claims refund. These plan have sparked a lot of interest.
Leaving a self-funded plan
Some companies that are under 200 lives, may determine that risk of self-funding it is no longer the best option. This usually happens when a group experiences multiple years of high claims. By moving back to a fully insured product, you are limiting your exposure to risk. In smaller towns in Indiana, this can be the case. The local TPA has a self-funded arrangement in place and does not want to move the group to a full insured product.
Need additional request for proposals
With some organizations, a board will ask for additional proposals during the renewal process. This could occur when there is a change in the board’s leadership. The new board members may be performing an extensive budget review and eventually they come up with the employee benefit package. This situation can be a tough one because your local broker community already has bid on the account over the years and refuses to offer any new proposals. You are now forced to come to the Internet to find brokers that are willing to submit a proposal.
Exploring dropping current benefit package
With guaranteed issue under the Affordable Care Act, this has been a more common option. Only certain types of companies can benefit from this option. This solution only works for small groups that have no intention of growing and want to lower their overhead.
Check out our FAQ’s page for any questions that you may have. We are always available by phone as well at (317) 803-4220. Contact us today and we will be glad to assist in all of your group health insurance Indianapolis needs.
