Obtaining proposals for group insurance benefits can be relatively easy. There are multiple outlets for receiving bids. Most of the insurance companies have now set up in-house sales; this allows groups to go direct to the carrier to obtain a proposal. Some payroll companies have broker divisions in which they can provide suggestions. The best option is to use a broker like Nefouse & Associates.
Going Direct to Insurance Company:
There is a myth that if you go direct, your cost will be lower, this is not true as the insurance company will charge the same amount if you an agent or not. Going direct will receive rates and plans designs only from that company. Going direct may also lead to receiving plans designs that the carrier wishes to promote. Then there is the other side where they send all 50 plan options; let’s be honest: who wants to review 50 different plan designs?
Payroll Companies Health Quotes:
Today a lot of payroll companies have group health divisions, and so they are actively selling employee benefits. The ones that are active with group insurance also have a professional employer organization (PEO) option. The PEO plan can be an insurance product built by the payroll company. They usually will have a relationship with UnitedHealthcare or Aetna which will allow them to quote their products. These companies usually have an insurance department in another state with few ties locally. This may not be an issue until a higher level of customer service is needed. The other issue to be aware of, are fees associated with the health plan from the payroll company. These fees can be as high as $1,250 an employee which can devalue the benefits.
Insurance Brokers
The best outlet for obtaining quotes is through a broker. Agencies can quickly generate a proposal for all lines of insurance benefits. A seasoned broker can determine which companies are going to be completive. Not all agencies are the same, many agencies will not quote small groups. It’s not they don’t want to help companies, but they have limited human resources. There are only a few agencies like Nefouse & Associates in the state of Indiana. Brokers that can provide relevant insurance knowledge to all phases of the business cycle.
Ready to get quotes:
To obtain a group health insurance, you will have to provide a company census. This is a list of the full-time employees, names, birthdates, zip codes. You will also need to dependent birthdays if they are interested in coming on the plan. If you want disability proposal, add job titles and salaries. If you have current benefits in place, you will be asked for a copy of your current plan and rates. Some owners especially ones that come from a business that must bid on contracts frown is releasing their current information. On large groups, insurance companies will not release a quote unless they have a copy of your current plan.
If you are looking to offer group benefits for the first time, you will need to survey your employees if they want coverage. Remember, if you are not offering benefits current employees may have little to no value in them. It’s extremely important not to promise benefits to your employees, use terms like we are exploring the options. There are multiple steps in putting group benefits in place, sometimes not all those steps can be met, which leads to no benefit offering, which can create a negative situation with employees if they were promised benefits.
Now you know you are eligible for group benefits, you have surveyed your employees, put together current coverage, generated a census, and now you’re ready to go out to market, contact Nefouse & Associates.
