If you were an Applicable Large Employer (ALE) for the 2015 tax reporting year you may be receiving a letter shortly from the IRS stating you were out of compliance with the requirements of the Affordable Care Act (ACA). The IRS letter (Letter 226J) may state that you owe a penalty for non-compliance – and that penalty may be anywhere from a couple of thousand to over a million dollars.  So – what do you do?

Being able to view the world through another’s perspective is the hallmark of empathy.

Why is this important when it comes to benefits management? Because many benefit brokers only understand the insurance side of the business and fail to appreciate how their benefits programs converge into their client’s total human resource environment. This failure is a major differentiator in the success of the benefit broker and client relationship.

Let’s be honest, renewing small group health insurance is dramatically different than large-group.  With small group, removed are the utilization/demographic patterns, IBNR, trends, administration expenses and much of the contribution modeling (to name a few).  So, if small group renewals are easier, then why are they time-consuming?  And what is the reason for the fire-drills?

Much has been written in the past 20 years on a leader’s emotional quotient (EQ). We have the tools to give our leaders the edge, but do they really know how mastery can impact their company’s bottom-line?

I have been working with Private Equity (PE) firms on their insurance related needs for over a decade and continue to be amazed at the costly error that is repeated in the middle market sector.  The mistake is allowing a newly acquired portfolio company (portco) to retain their current Health and Welfare (H&W) broker based on a “relationship” vs skill sets.    In making this choice, opportunities to reduce the percentage of spend tied to human capital are often overlooked.

One of the most awesome experiences is when an entire company becomes engaged at the same time. Is this by luck, chance, or fate??? I believe not. The most engaged workforces I have known have gotten there by intent, or by strategically engaging their employees.

Here at Craford Benefits, one of the first objectives we are tasked with when working with a client is choosing the right plan type. Many factors are considered when determining this such as location, group size, financial budget, contributions, etc. We analyze all of these factors and then recommend a plan we believe best suits the client’s needs.

Dating back 25 years it was common for employers to pay a large portion of both the employee and dependent cost of employee health and dental insurance.  In many situations it was 100% of the cost for both employee and dependent.  Back then there was generally just one plan of benefits offered.  As HMO’s became more prominent it became more common to offer both HMO coverage and PPO coverage, many times through separate carriers.  Generally, employers charged employees more for HMO coverage so that they would not impair the claims experience for their experience rated PPO coverage. 

Employers are not required to offer employee benefit plans or investment plans as part of a compensation package, but they are an advantageous way to attract and retain employees.

Change is difficult for most organizations but as we know it is necessary to survive in a constantly evolving marketplace. One of the most difficult shifts in culture currently faced by many organizations is how they manage their performance management process.

How do you define empathy? Most of us define it several different ways, but at its core, it is about having the capacity to understand or feel what another being is experiencing from within the other’s frame of reference.

Let’s be honest, the vendor you choose to provide any services to your department and your employees is extremely important.  But the vendor that insures your employees’ healthcare and the experience your employees have with it is crucial.

Every year companies send out open enrollment memo’s for the health insurance they provide to their employees.  It is important (and required in most cases) but are you making the most of it? 

Have you ever wondered why bright executives with great ideas, products and services struggle to achieve their strategic goals? If you dive deeper into these situations, you will find that these same leaders have a great vision and a great strategy. But in today’s challenging business environment, that is not enough