Group Coverage
Group Coverage
The Malone Company Simplifies Benefits Administration
The Malone Company Simplifies Benefits Administration
Administering and communicating employee benefit plans is complicated and time-consuming. Regulatory and legislative compliance demands more and more staff resources. Onboarding new employees is a mammoth task of its own.
We estimate HR staff at a 100-employee company spend nearly 400 hours a year explaining benefits, reviewing enrollment forms and handling paperwork for new hires alone. Preparing information packets, holding meetings and answering questions during open enrollment is another huge investment in staff time.
The Malone Team can handle as much or as little of that load as you want. Our administrative services instantly reduce the burden on your HR department. Our team specialists have deep industry knowledge, and our HR-specific technology suite saves your HR staff and employees time.
Improve Communication and Reduce Confusion
Improve Communication and Reduce Confusion
Employees need to clearly understand benefit plan options to make wise choices. And clear, consistent communication is a hallmark of a company that values those who work for it.
The Malone Team customizes employee benefits materials to make communication easier for you and your people. Custom materials can include:
- Benefits announcements and educational material, from flyers to posters and emails
- Benefit statements, which summarize overall compensation, salary and benefits
- Consumer-Directed Health Care materials for HSA or HRA implementation
- Handbooks and policies, from a complete employee handbook to individual policy documents
Employee education is a big part of what we do, and part of our job is putting the a benefits plan in context to show its true value as part of a broader landscape that includes compensation, vacation time and other aspects of employment.
Clarity and Convenience
Clarity and Convenience
Clarity and convenience drive all of our tools, forms, education materials and benefits announcements.
No where is this more evident than our consolidated enrollment form, which gets raves from employees and HR staff alike. Rather than juggle separate forms for medical, dental, vision, and ancillary coverage, employees make their choices and sign one document – not a pile of them.
The Malone Company also recognizes the role technology plays in the lives of your employees and benefits staff. Using our online platform, for example, employees can enroll from home when they have the opportunity to take their time and discuss plan options with family members. We make it even easier by providing free mobile apps for employees and HR staff members.
Whether to “go paperless,” use paper enrollment forms or give employees both options is your call. The Malone Team won’t force your company and its culture into a box.
Onboarding New Hires and Transitioning Employees
Onboarding New Hires and Transitioning Employees
Additionally, we can ease your load in onboarding new employees, explain their benefit plan options and answer questions.
For individual employees who face a “qualifying event” that may affect their plan coverage, Our entire Malone Team works with them to ensure a smooth transition that meets their needs.
These could include an employee with a son or daughter about to turn 26 who will no longer be eligible for health care coverage under your group plan; an employee nearing age 65 who plans to continue working but could save out-of-pocket costs by enrolling in an approved Medicare plan; or an employee who loses group medical insurance coverage through a job transition, move to another state, or reduction of hours.
We also work with remote employees and those in other states where you have facilities to ensure they have access to – and understanding of – all their options. Our job is to provide all your employees, wherever they are, access to correct, up-to-date information as well as a Pancoast point-of-contact for questions.
Whether during open enrollment or mid-year hires and changes, Pancoast will be right there with you, acting as the conduit with vendors, providing on-site meetings and answering questions. As a Malone Company client, you always have a choice – we can handle everything or designated parts of employee communication and interaction. Our flexibility is your benefit.
Medical Cost Assistance/QSEHRA
Medical Cost Assistance/QSEHRA
Does your small trucking company need to hire and keep more drivers? Here’s how one company went from 12 to 21 drivers in three months!
Over the years, many small truckers have never started or been forced to eliminate their health insurance benefits due to ever-increasing premium costs that led to lack of employee appreciation and participation. This often costs them drivers they would like to hire or keep who want help with their healthcare expenses.
Now, a bi-partisan change in the Tax Code allows trucking companies with at least 10 but less than 50 full time equivalent employees to enjoy the recruiting, employee-relations and retention advantages of a benefits package, but without the “trap doors” of company-sponsored health insurance plans that can end up actually hurting employees relations.
Introducing the Medical Cost Assistance Package, featuring the NEW, Federally-approved Qualifying Small Employer Reimbursement Arrangement (QSEHRA) from The Malone Company & Benefit Enrollment Services, Inc.
This is not a group health insurance plan – it’s a package that makes any plan your employee has better and more affordable!
Medical Cost Assistance/QSHERA solutions are specifically designed to provide a valuable Employee Benefits package, not a health insurance plan. Instead of forcing employees into an expensive plan you pick for them, they keep their own plan either on a personal plan, the Federal Healthcare Exchange, or other Federal coverage, or through their spouse. You simply provide funding to help them with the costs of their own plan, along with a low cost package to enhance their coverage. This makes what you are doing for them totally visible instead of hidden in group insurance premium cost-sharing. The fact that you can do so at an easily budget-able, highly stable cost makes for a powerful employee relations too that has staying power!
Medical Cost Assistance/QSEHRA Benefit Package Advantages
Medical Cost Assistance/QSEHRA Benefit Package Advantages
- Expenses are entirely controllable by Employer.
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Employer's spending is entirely visible to
employees. - Expenses are predictable into the future - NO rate increases.
- Employees have the coverage they choose - not what you choose for them! If they hove problems with an insurance plan they have purchased, it is the insurance company's problem - NOT YOURS! They con even decline the reimbursement if they would be disadvantaged in terms of any Federal Exchange subsidies they might enjoy. They still would receive the benefit of Medical Cost Assistance package's coverage enhancement features, which are exempt from ACA considerations.
- Premium reimbursements and Cost Assistance package costs are entirely tax deductible to the employer.
- If an employee's expenses ore lower than the reimbursement level you set, what you pay does not exceed their actual expense level.
- Premium reimbursements are not taxable for the employee.
- Low-cost employer-paid Supplemental Benefits package makes any employee's coverage BETTER!
For more information or to discuss how a QSEHRA/Medical Cost Assistance package would benefit your company, call Jim Malone at 931-993-9438.
Top 5 Questions for Employee Benefits
1. Can a group medical plan help prevent turnover in my company?
The cost of employee turnover is expensive and is estimated at the equivalent of 6 to 9 months in salary. Other studies predict the cost is even more - that losing a salaried employee can cost as much as 2x their annual salary, especially for a highly-educated employee. Health benefits are the number one benefit offered by employers, and are an important part of employee recruiting and retention strategies. Many employers look at health benefits as an investment in employees. Employers can save approximately half of these expenses, $10,000 or more per replaced employee, with a health benefits plan that helps them recruit new employees and retain existing employees.
2. How can I avoid penalties and fines from the Affordable Care Act reporting requirements?
By working closy with a benefits broker, you will be able to determine whether you are an Applicable Large Employer (ALE). Your broker will be able to walk you through the requirements and help pair you with an affordable reporting solution if it is required. https://www.irs.gov/affordable-care-act/employers/aca-information-center-for-applicable-large-employers-ales
3. I can’t afford to offer health insurance for my employees. What can I do to provide a benefit package?
Providing worksite benefits to your employees allows them to purchase insurance products that some would not be able to qualify for due to health conditions or afford in the individual market. These benefits are paid by the employees, typically through payroll deductions. These types of products include but are not limited to dental, vision, guaranteed issue life insurance, medical bridges, disability coverage, cancer plans, critical illness plans and accident coverage. These also can help employees cover their medical expenses during a catastrophic health event.
4. What is the minimum exposure to offer health insurance to my employees on a group medical plan?
The employers minimum responsibility is to pay 50% of the plan for the employee. This plan would need to cover the minimum essential benefits required by the affordable care act. Employers are not required to pay the dependent portion of the medical insurance premium under a group plan. Providing the minimum coverage is sometimes less expensive than employers expect it to be. Also, premium paid by employers is tax deductible!
5. What’s one message we hope employers take away from a meeting with our agency? Employee benefits compliance is important and not something to ignore, but it’s also not as overwhelming as it may seem. Our agency’s goal is to help our customers feel less apprehensive of the situation and help them through the proper steps to maintain compliance.
Travel Insurance
Travel insurance is designed to cover you, your belongings and the cost of your travel arrangements against a variety of unforeseeable circumstances that may affect you or your travel plans. Emergencies happen when you least expect it. Travel insurance provides coverage for trip cancellation or interruption; medical emergencies; baggage (loss, damage or delay) or travel delay and much more.
Blue Cross Blue Shield Global Solutions Travel Insurance
The Malone Company offers travel insurance through Blue Cross Blue Shield Global Solutions.
Blue Cross Blue Shield Global Solutions advantages include:
- Richer Benefits - rich coverage without the hidden surprises
- Better Service and Care - concierge-level access to an elite network of the most internationally-friendly medical providers around the world
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More Peace of Mind
- you and your customers have the confidence associated
With the most recognized health insurance brand in the U.S.
Blue Cross Blue Shield Global Solutions plans offer unique benefits and services not available elsewhere. Each Blue Cross Blue Shield Global Solutions policy includes access to best-in-class doctors and hospitals in 190 countries. Members have the ability to review the provider's medical background and biography.
With the click of a button, medical appointments can be scheduled and billed directly to Blue Cross Blue Shield Global Solutions or via a mobile device. Members can also find out about the clinical services available or security landscape in a particular destination. These tools empower travelers to stay safe and healthy by avoiding potential hazards, and by locating quality healthcare, worldwide.