Author Archives: CorpStrat News

This Company Is Changing the Employee Benefits Game

Are you an employer looking for a new and innovative health insurance plan to offer your employees? Wouldn’t it be amazing if there was a new company in the market that actually did something different from all the traditional insurance carriers? Well, we think there is.

There’s a new kid on the block with a really different approach to Employee Benefits. It’s a publicly traded company built by some of the brightest minds in America: venture capitalists in Silicon Valley. They’ve already partnered with one of the biggest health insurance companies in America to leverage an A+ rating. Also, they provide access to a network of doctors one million strong. With these forces combined, they’re able to offer a completely new approach to healthcare that both empowers employees and makes health insurance better.

This may sound too good to be true. So how do they do it? They use technology and mobile apps to create telemedicine that actually works.

Through the app, you’re able to

Talk to a doctor anytime for zero copay
Refill prescriptions with the push of a button
Gain access to a network as big as the blues
Specialist referrals are not needed

By partnering with one of the biggest insurers in the nation, they’ve created great leverage on healthcare providers to push the negotiated rates down. There are also a host of tools baked into the app, designed to incentivize employees to be healthier. Think things like walking rewards, amazon gifts cards for buying healthy groceries, discounted gym memberships, and access to a huge behavioral health network.

What are you waiting for? Give your current and prospective employees a benefits package to brag about. We can help you get set up today!

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We think the future of Employee Benefits is here. If you want to hear more about how this could benefit your business, please reach out to us at marketing@corpstrat.com

Open Enrollment is Over…Now What?

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2022 has presented employers with a unique set of challenges. With healthcare costs rising due to inflation, employees opting for unconventional careers post-COVID, and the Great Resignation hanging over their heads, employers need to work harder than ever to attract, retain, and reward their team. Most employers can’t afford to lose anybody. In order to keep their teams intact they need to actively seek out how to make their benefits package more enticing for current and prospective employees.

Here’s a quick hit of the things employers should be doing right now to ensure they’re delivering the best benefits without going over on cost.

1. Are your employee benefits offerings delivered online?

If they’re not, you’re way behind the times. This is an easy way to bring your benefits, delivery, and communication into the 21st century. (Curious how you can get your benefits up to speed, learn more about your Employee Benefits Audit.)

2. Have you done a great job of packaging your offerings to attract employees?

Can you show a new prospective employee what your offerings are, easily and digitally? Beyond medical insurance, employees should be able to easily access the status of and information about their PTO hours, 401K, and remote work options. This is all part of the package employees will look at and consider during the hiring process and the easier it is to understand, the more likely they might be to sign on.

3. Is your HRIS up to speed?

Since the start of the pandemic, the majority of employees are opting for full-time or hybrid remote work. This means your HRIS System needs to be able to manage remote workers effectively and accurately.

Ask yourself:

Do my employees currently have an easy way to clock-in, clock out, sign documents, and request PTO from home?
Can they view their hours worked or PTO availability?
Are all the rules being followed on meal breaks? Would I know if they weren’t?

If the answer to any of these was “I’m not sure”, let’s talk.

4. Have you looked at low cost ways to expand your benefits?

Healthcare costs are rising and this can be a headache for employers. Instead of trying to reinvent the wheel, take a look at voluntary plans that you can add to your benefits package. Benefits like dental, vision, life, disability insurance, and AFLAC are all great benefits that employees they can’t get on their own.

5. Take time mid-year to review the market and assess how you can improve your offerings.

Contrary to popular belief, renewal is not the best time to reassess what your benefits package looks like. Your broker should actively be helping you find ways to improve your offerings throughout the year. Get strategic with your broker. Now is the time for them to shine.

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If your broker is not a valuable part of your business planning team, give us a call at 818-377-7260 or email us at marketing@corpstrat.com

5 Hidden Attributes in Health Insurance Plans

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Many people don’t even think about their health insurance plan until they get sick. The fact is, it also means many people aren’t getting the most out of their plans because they don’t know how to unlock hidden benefits. We firmly believe that a good health insurance plan can do something powerful for everybody. Even if you’re not sick or injured, a good plan can put you on a path to optimal health with the right type of support along the way.

Today we’re sharing some of the most popular hidden attributes in health insurance plans.

1. Alternative Medicine

That lingering back pain might be a thing of the past. Most insurance plans provide some benefits that cover chiropractic care, massage therapy, and acupuncture treatment as a means of alleviating pain or assisting with an injury or illness.

2. Weight Loss & Smoking Cessation

Many insurance companies have moved the needle on preventative care and are incentivizing people to lose weight and get healthy. They have outreach programs that support those struggling to quit smoking and lose weight. Some even subsidize health club memberships.

3. Mental Health

As part of the Mental Health Parity Act of 2010 in the ACA, all insurance companies are required to provide equal benefits for mental health. Let’s face it, in these crazy and uncertain times, we can all use a little mental therapy. If you look closely, there are benefits available to you designed to help you cope and deal with life’s challenges. These benefits include access to psychologists, psychiatrists, and both in and out patient care.

4. Telemedicine

Stay healthy and alleviate concerns, all from the comfort of you own home. The pandemic accelerated virtual healthcare visits and most insurance companies have moved towards allowing people to have consultations and doctor’s visits virtually. Many people have this benefit without realizing it, be sure to login to your benefits platform to take advantage of not needing to go to the doctor’s office.

5. Disease Management

People that are diabetic and asthmatic can benefit from full-fledged programs that include blood sugar monitoring and consultations. These diseases may require round the clock support so having resources to aid in disease management is key. Don’t be afraid to ask your plan if they sponsor blood sugar management tools.

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Insurance companies are adapting to become much more consumer-centric. Reach out and find out what’s available. You’ll be surprised how many opportunities there are.

If you have any question, reach out to us at marketing@corpstrat.com or 818.377.7260

5 Tools for Creating the Near Perfect Open Enrollment Process

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The perfect open enrollment process: does such a thing even exist?

COVID-19 has changed how businesses operate, the most dramatic of these changes is managing open enrollment for benefits. Gone are the days of handing out papers at in-office lunch meetings where an HR professional would walk the team through new benefit plans. Now, employers have to find creative ways to clearly lay out benefits to remote employees so they can choose their plans easily.

This year’s open enrollment process does not come with the additional pain of high increases in premiums, however, employees’ expectations of what makes a benefit plan appealing have changed. They are much more interested in benefits—their cost and how their coverage will hold up in light of the pandemic.

Here are some helpful tools to guide and create the near perfect open enrollment process:

1. Go Digital.

If your company is still processing Open Enrollment through paper, you’re behind the curve and could lose current and prospective employees. The employees of today expect automation—they want to be able to sign documents, change information, and make requests online or through a mobile app. Automation also does so much for your company in terms of efficiency and compliance. Be sure you’re using one of these automation tools, it’s an absolute must.

2. Be Bold & Vibrant.

It might be a little hard to build a great story and message through plain text but if you use videos and some cool graphics, you can really help employees understand what benefits are best for them and help them determine what programs compliment their family’s needs.

3. Explain Cost.

Be sure to clearly explain the deductions that employees will make from their paychecks. How frequently it will happen and that they’re pre-tax so they know they’re getting more bang for their buck.

4. Offer Voluntary Benefits.

More than ever, employers need to build a robust package that includes things like voluntary benefit programs. In the past some of these programs were seen as a bit silly but in today’s diverse workplace, employees want more options—disability, accident, cancer, critical illness are all great add-ons.

5. Tell Your Story.

Tell it loud. Be sure you build a comprehensive overview of your entire benefits package. Not just singular pieces of health and 401K. To your employees, it all melds together. Employees are going to measure these offerings as a whole. They may not know the key difference between Aetna and Blue Cross, but what they do know is the difference between what they pay when they go to the doctor and what and what comes out of their paychecks. Be sure to communicate this clearly to your people. Don’t be shy about reminding employees about the power of your benefit plans, both at open enrollment and throughout the course of the year.

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Have questions about Open Enrollment? We’re here to help. Reach out to us at 818.377.7260 or marketing@corpstrat.com

6 Things to Ensure Your Benefit Package Is up to Par Post-COVID

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The pandemic has changed so much for employers. Just a year and a half ago, companies were grappling with adjusting to remote teams, securing PPP loans, and the uncertainty of so much in the business world. Now that we’ve got something close to a new normal, the demand for employers to build robust benefit packages is even more challenging given the difficult climate we have in attracting and attaining people. Employees are expecting more and employers are finding it difficult to deliver.

That’s why we’ve put together our top suggestions for making sure your benefits hold up in a post-COVID world.

1. Benchmarking

Ask your Benefit broker to provide some tools to measure both your offerings and your cost-share strategy. The bar has risen and employees are expecting to get more and pay less.

2. Benefit Packages

In prior years, companies slimmed down their benefits and increased their cost-share to employees. It’s time to revisit both as competition for talent is at an all-time high. It won’t be enough to offer basic health insurance. You need to make sure your benefit package includes dental, vision, disability, life, as well as robust pre-tax cafeteria plans for tax advantages.

3. Safety

At the forefront, employees want to understand their safety is put first. Not solely in regards to COVID protection. Many employees are reluctant to return to the office and need to feel that their employer is looking out for their safety and best interest to smooth over the transition.

4. Purposefulness

Employees are seeing work as much more than just a job. They want a community. They want a company that supports positive, proactive, and complimentary values to their own and consistently walks the walk and reinforces those values.

5. Remote work

Don’t discount the comfort that most employees have come to know and love. This past year has shown employees that they can work and earn from anywhere. So no, remote work is not going away anytime soon. Workers are comfortable working at home and a lot of them would prefer to do so. Be sure to build options around this and give yourself the opportunity to evolve dynamically.

6. Reward and Recognize

And repeat it again and again and again. Employees expect to be recognized when they do good work and reviewed regularly . Don’t be surprised to see younger employees seeking faster advancement and increased wages at a pace that most companies are just not prepared to address.

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If you need help putting together a robust Post-COVID Benefit Package, we can help with that. Reach out to us at marketing@corpstrat.com.