Risky Business

Alternative Group Benefits: Another Option for Employers Coping with Rising Healthcare Costs

By Jessica Morgan, Benefits Consultant

Every American is painfully aware of the impact of skyrocketing health insurance costs. Rising premiums, higher deductibles, larger co-pays, reduced benefits—both employers and employees are feeling the pinch as they look for plans that are affordable for everyone.

That’s why HRAs—Health Reimbursement Arrangements—are a welcome addition to the range of options that employers can offer their workforce. HRAs allow employers to give tax-free dollars to their employees, who then can use the money to purchase their own health insurance as well as pay for other eligible medical expenses. While HRA plans may not be the panacea for all the “ills” of the health insurance dilemma, they represent significant progress from the point where we were even just a few years ago when I first began to tackle this problem.

Then, in January 2002, fresh out of college, I was hired to administer a group health plan for my parents’ company. Though I knew little about health insurance, I learned quickly that the premiums we were paying were too expensive for both the company and our employees. After doing extensive research and reading numerous Internal Revenue Service (IRS) publications relating to health care, I uncovered one solution for the family business: a High Deductible Health Care (HDHC) plan. The high deductible encourages employees to make healthier lifestyle choices and spend their medical dollars more prudently while also allowing them to save for future medical expenses in their Health Savings Account (HSA), funds that they can take with them if they change jobs. The HDHC is good for employers also: Under the plan, our premiums were reduced by about half.

Not stopping there, we also began to offer HRAs as an alternative to our HDHC Group plan. Our hybrid benefits package gave employees a choice: Those who felt more comfortable remaining on the traditional HDHC group plan did so, while employees who wanted greater economy, portability, and freedom of choice opted for the HRA. We structured the packages so that employees choosing either plan received the same amount in benefits. The plans’ common denominator is that both increase employees’ awareness of how they spend their health dollars, thus encouraging them to live a healthier lifestyle because, quite simply, it saves them money to do so.

In 2007 The Wall Street Journal took note of our success and wrote a cover story on our creative benefits packages. Increasingly, employers asked me to assist them in designing an HRA or a hybrid plan for their businesses, even though I was not then an insurance agent. But after years of administering (and participating in) an HRA/Group Plan hybrid, I decided to change my career path and obtained a health insurance license, allowing me to use what I had learned to assist other small businesses.

However, finding an agency that provided both group and individual health insurance and that was sufficiently forward-thinking to consider these newer options was more difficult than I had anticipated. Surprisingly, I found that many agents in the mainstream insurance industry know little about HRAs, particularly those plans in which employees can access a broad range of products from different providers.

After pitching dozens of insurance agencies on employer-based hybrid health care plans, I finally found an agency willing and able to offer these cutting-edge health insurance solutions: Setnor Byer Insurance & Risk, which recognized the advantages of hybrid plans and was excited about offering their clients and prospects an even fuller range of cost-saving options.

Setnor Byer, with almost 30 years of experience in the insurance industry, can help employers expand their benefits offerings, promote wellness in their workforce, and reduce health insurance costs for both the company and its employees. With dozens of plan structures available, Setnor Byer’s insurance professionals will help you choose the right one so that your employees— and your business—remain healthy.

Here’s to wellness.

For more information about these and other types of healthcare insurance policies, contact the professionals at Setnor Byer Insurance & Risk by calling 954.382.4350 or visiting www.setnorbyer.com.

Time-Off to Vote?

Our company, which has offices in 11 states, has received numerous inquiries from employees regarding our time-off policy for the purpose of voting in the upcoming general election. Is there a single law with national applicability that governs how employers must accommodate employees wishing to take time off from work to vote?

No. Although a citizen's general right to vote is established by federal law, the manner in which employers must accommodate employees wishing to take time off from work to vote is governed by state law. Unfortunately, since states are left to establish their own voting accommodation standards, there are significant differences in how employees may exercise their voting rights. For example, the time allotted to employees wishing to vote can vary from Nevada's "sufficient time," to Ohio's "reasonable time," or to Alabama's "one hour." Although Minnesota's statute does not set an express limit on the amount of time that an employee can take off to vote, it does provide that an employee has the right to be absent from work for the purpose of voting "during the morning of the day of that election." In some states, if the polls are open for a minimum period of time before the employee's regular shift begins, or if they remain open for a minimum period of time after the employee's shift ends, then the employee is not entitled to time off from work to vote. For example, in Georgia, an employee does not have the right to vote during his or her work hours if the polls are open for at least two hours before or two hours after the employee's regular work hours.

Other relevant issues include whether employees must be paid for the time they take off from work to vote and whether employees must give employers notice before taking time off to vote. However, some states have not enacted any laws addressing an employee's right to take time off from work to vote. Such a lack of uniformity among the states increases the likelihood that an employer will unwittingly violate an employee's right to vote. This is particularly relevant in cases involving employers that operate in several states because these employers may be required to afford their employees different rights depending on the state in which the employees work. Since the right to vote is widely regarded as fundamental, any violation of this right, even if unintentional, may be considered a serious legal infraction. Therefore, employers should consult with a licensed attorney before implementing a policy on an employee's right to take time off from work to vote.