Group Benefits Insurance

The cost of employee benefits programs in Canada has escalated over the past 10 years. Contributing factors to the increased cost for benefit programs include:

• Government Cut Backs
• Prescription drug costs
• Dental procedures
• Trends towards increasing claims

Throughout the past few years many companies have dealt with increased costs by making slight changes to plan design. ie:changing deductibles and co-insurance.

We have found that for a company to truly manage their employee benefit costs they need to have a consultant work with them focusing on 3 key priorities:

• Benefits Management
• Plan design development
• Employee level communication

Our goal is to work with the existing insurance company in focusing on these three priorities. However, in some situations it is necessary to investigate the services that other providers are prepared to offer.

Benefits Management
Benefits Management is an active handling of your benefits program. Our approach is to work with the insurance company to collect information quarterly that will assist us in reviewing the financial status of your program. This report is generated for our clients and will show results for the quarter, and year to date on claims of premiums paid.

This hands on approach is key to be able to identify any issues, and emerging trends, to allow us to pro-act with you, the client.

Plan Design Development
Many benefit programs today are a product of years of small changes due to "re-active" decisions to price increases, and/or changes made as plan administrators have changed.

We believe that for a plan to truly represent the needs of the company and reflect the make up of the employee group, that a thorough needs analysis must be completed.

This analysis, focuses on understanding your companies goals, mission statement, and then doing a "street test". A fact gathering meeting to collect this information followed by a detailed analysis of the demographics within the group, will allow us to prepare a plan design that meets the needs of the corporation and the employees alike.

Employee Level Communication
In order that a company gets true value out of the investment they make in their company benefits, it is imperative that their employees fully understand the programs in place. With the vast majority of couples working and each having benefits plans, it is key that the employee is aware of the most effective way to arrange his/her benefits.

Individual meetings at implementation and made available annually will ensure that your employees are fully informed of the plan that you provide for them. Meeting the employees in large groups does not allow for employees to deal with the personal issues that they may have and part of the service we provide is to arrange personal meetings as requested.

Proposed Steps
Step 1 - In order for me to provide our services, I will need an agent of record letter signed, authorizing me to work on your behalf, in order to conduct a thorough review of your program and solicit quotations from other benefits providers if necessary.
Step 2 - A fact gathering meeting to collect all necessary information to properly review plan design and prepare benefits proposal.
Step 3 - Meeting with plan co-coordinator to review the benefits proposal, then send to selected carriers, if required.
Step 4 - Analysis of all quotations and summary report prepared.
Step 5 - Summary report and recommendations presented to plan co-coordinator.
Step 6 - Plan changes implemented (if existing carrier), or new plan established with new carrier.
Step 7 - Quarterly review conducted after plan is implemented.
Step 8 - Review plan design and cost annually to make sure it continues to align with the company goals.

Total time period to move from Steps 1-6 can be 4-12 weeks.