Author Archives: CorpStrat News

5 Ways CorpStrat Outshines Other Benefits Brokers

As the Fall season approaches, we’re excited to present you with five compelling reasons to continue partnering with CorpStrat for your Fall benefits. Your benefits plan is a crucial aspect of your company’s well-being, and our dedication to excellence ensures that you receive the best service possible.

1. Expertise that Shines: Unveiling the Brilliance of CorpStrat’s Cutting-Edge Brokerage

Our reputation within the industry is a testament to our expertise. Recognized as a top-tier broker by reputable carriers such as Anthem and Blue Shield, we possess the insights needed to optimize your benefits offerings. Let’s discuss strategies that can lead to substantial savings, like the Anthem plan, potentially reducing costs by 20% or more annually.

2. A Human-Centered Approach: CorpStrat, Where Your Team’s Well-Being is Paramount

At CorpStrat, you’ll never be met with automated responses. Our commitment to personalized interactions ensures that you receive tailored solutions that align with your specific requirements. Navigating the complexities of healthcare and insurance is seamless with our engaged and attentive team.

3. Streamlined Digital Enrollment: A Paperless and Convenient Future

Transitioning to digital enrollment eliminates administrative hurdles. Our Ease platform offers a user-friendly experience, making enrollment hassle-free and environmentally responsible. Bid farewell to paper-based processes and embrace streamlined digital solutions.

4. Unleashing Creativity: Innovative Benefits to Elevate Your Team

Our commitment to your success means thinking outside the box. Imagine the potential of providing your key team members with guaranteed acceptance Life Insurance, all without the hassle of underwriting or setting up a private company foundation. Our creative ideas and strategic planning aim to elevate your benefits program to new heights.

5. Compliance Excellence: Staying Ahead of Regulations

Navigating complex compliance requirements is a challenge we’re well-prepared for. We keep you updated with cutting-edge compliance solutions, including ERISA, COBRA, and various pre-tax programs, ensuring your peace of mind.

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Your continued trust is vital to us. With a client retention rate exceeding 95%, our track record speaks for itself. We’re here to ensure your benefits experience is second to none.

Let’s continue our journey together. Should you have any questions or wish to discuss your Fall benefits strategy, please don’t hesitate to reach out.

Introducing VIVITY: Revolutionizing Healthcare for SoCal Small Groups

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Are you ready for a game-changing healthcare experience that puts affordable, high-quality care within reach? Look no further than VIVITY, the groundbreaking health insurance product brought to you by Anthem Blue Cross. We are thrilled to unveil this innovative solution that offers premium savings of up to 22% compared to Anthem’s FULL HMO plans on average. With VIVITY, your journey to exceptional care begins now!

What is VIVITY?

VIVITY brings together the expertise of Anthem along with seven world-class healthcare systems, forging a unique partnership with one mission in mind: delivering outstanding healthcare. Say goodbye to compromise and hello to a seamless and engaging member experience. VIVITY is designed to provide affordable, top-notch care with concierge coordinated service, making healthcare accessible and convenient for Southern California Small Groups. And guess what? This means significant savings for your company!

Why choose VIVITY?

Let us tell you about the exciting benefits that await:

1. Affordable Savings

VIVITY takes the lead when it comes to cost advantage. You can expect savings of up to 22% compared to Anthem’s FULL HMO plans on average. Plus, your employees can enjoy high-quality healthcare without breaking the bank. It’s a win-win for everyone!

2. Exceptional Care

VIVITY is not your ordinary health insurance plan. It’s a joint venture with seven renowned healthcare systems that are globally recognized for their exceptional care. With this powerful partnership, you can rest assured knowing that you’ll receive the highest standard of medical services and treatments, all under one comprehensive plan.

3. Regional Focus

VIVITY is tailor-made to cater to the needs of Southern California Small Groups. They understand the unique challenges and requirements of this region, and have strategically focused their efforts to provide you with the best possible care at an affordable price. Prepare to witness significant savings for your business!

What sets VIVITY apart?

This is not just another run-of-the-mill insurance plan. VIVITY represents a true breakthrough in pricing, offering one of the first significant premium reductions in many years. It’s time to take advantage of this game-changing opportunity and put your healthcare savings into high gear.

VIVITY is all about creating a seamless and engaging member experience, ensuring that you receive affordable, high-quality care with concierge coordinated service. It is designed to make healthcare accessible and convenient for Southern California Small Groups, because we believe that exceptional care should be available to everyone, regardless of their budget.

To showcase the strength and expertise behind VIVITY, we proudly introduce our seven award-winning partners:

Cedars Sinai
Huntington Hospital
Providence
Memorial Care
PIH Health
Torrance Memorial
UCLA Health

These renowned healthcare systems have joined forces to deliver an unparalleled healthcare experience that sets a new standard in the industry. They’re breaking barriers and transforming the way you think about health insurance.

Ready to learn more about how VIVITY can significantly reduce your healthcare insurance premiums? Don’t hesitate to reach out to us at marketing@corpstrat.com or call us at 818-377-7260. We’re here to answer any questions and guide you through the exciting possibilities that await with VIVITY.

Trend Spotter: Employers Are Prioritizing Holistic Well-Being

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Many employers enhanced their mental health and well-being benefits during the COVID-19 pandemic and are expected to build on that in 2023. Americans struggled with mental health and substance misuse before the pandemic, but these struggles were exacerbated during the pandemic and persist today. Today we’re talking about what employers have been doing to ensure their team has the support they need to maintain their mental health and strike a good work/life balance.

Americans are struggling to maintain their mental health.

According to a recent survey by the Kaiser Family Foundation, mental health is a serious concern for the majority of American adults. The findings revealed that an alarming 90% of adults feel the nation is experiencing a mental health crisis. Furthermore, 1 in 5 adults rated their mental health as “only fair” or “poor.” Most adults cited stressors, including finances, politics and current events, relationships with family and friends, and work. There are also many barriers that prevent people from accessing mental health services including cost, scheduling (e.g., couldn’t get time off work) and the stigma associated with mental health.

Since the average American will spend 90,000 hours at work over their lifetime, employers are uniquely poised to help address or eliminate these hurdles.

Employee burnt out is at an all-time high and could affect retention.

Another critical component of employee well-being revolves around work-life balance. As remote and hybrid work arrangements become the norm workers’ lines between work and life remain blurred. This lack of clarity can cause employees to never feel they they can “switch off”, quickly leading to burn out. Organizations will need to take greater responsibility for workers’ burnout and actively seek ways to help avoid it. To address burnout and other well-being challenges, employers may consider offering or expanding their employee assistance programs, behavioral health anti-stigma campaigns, and training for recognizing employee and peer behavioral health issues. Many workers will be looking to their employers for guidance as well as the education and support they need.

A new framework to ensure optimal employee physical and mental wellness.

Here are the U.S. Surgeon General’s new five-part framework for employers. It outlines how the workplace can promote employee mental health and well-being:

1. Protection from harm.

Physical and psychological safety is critical for ensuring employees’ mental health and well-being.

2. Connection and community.

Positive social interactions and relationships in the workplace can support employee well-being.

3. Work-life harmony.

Work-life harmony involves employees incorporating work into the rest of their lives in a way that promotes happiness during and outside of the workday.

4. Mattering at work.

Employees want to know that the work they do matters and contributes to the success of the overall company.

5. Opportunities for growth.

Employees may be more optimistic about their abilities and contributions when there are more opportunities to achieve goals based on their growth.

Conclusion

All signs indicate that employee well-being will become a primary focus for employers in 2023. Many workers have experienced elevated stress, burnout, and poor mental health in the past few years. Having holistic benefits offerings can alleviate many of these issues. These benefits will make employees feel recognized, appreciated, and safe. When an employee is thriving, you can expect increased job performance, better stress management, and less chance of burnout. This year, successful organizations will lead with humanity as employee well-being continues to be challenged by social and economic pressures.

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Need help implementing holistic benefits? Contact us at marketing@corpstrat.com.

How to Take Care of Your Key People (the Right Way)

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Your business is humming along but without your top employees, your company might start feeling the strain immediately. Many small businesses rely on a few key people to keep things running smoothly and efficiently. But what happens to your key people when they fall ill or become disabled? Today we’re going to talk about how to continue taking care of your key people even in the face of disability.

Who are your key people?

Most companies need their MVPs to run their business successfully. Your key people are high performing and often do the work of many people. Business simply runs better when they’re there. When a key person becomes sick, injured, or disabled, it’s likely to disrupt the business in both functionality and profit.

In today’s world, longevity at a company can seem like a rarity. Apart from losing key people to positions elsewhere, a big concern is if your top performing employees have an illness that disrupts their ability to do their job at a high level, thus impacting their earning capacity. It’s a problem most companies fail to consider.

How to take care of your key people when they’re disabled:

Many companies do have some type of Group Disability coverage that provides blanket protection to everyone and yet surprisingly these plans don’t adequately protect the highest earners. The limits typically cover the masses, leaving your MVP’s to receive less than their standard wages by a large differential. In addition, you’ll likely need to hire a temporary replacement to fill the shoes of your key person, further draining the company’s funds.

Sick pay is one area that the IRS allows companies to effectively discriminate in favor of highly compensated people, provided there is a plan in place. Many times, a company might use insurance to fund salary continuation when an employee is sick.

Careful, there’s a catch…

Tread cautiously because if you do it incorrectly, you could create a situation where all your employees expect to be paid when they are disabled.

If done right, companies can selectively discriminate in favor of their most highly compensated. They can also buy insurance products to assure that they have adequate income continuation while not posing a burden to the company.

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If your firm has a Group Disability plan, reach out to us. Let’s talk about how we make sure your most important people are protected properly. Email us at marketing@corpstrat.com

Should you Hire or Outsource HR?

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A question we often get is, “Should I hire a full-time HR person or outsource my HR?” It’s a really important question and we wanted to address it on the blog today. In general, HR is a critical part of any business operation. So much gets wrapped up in the HR seat, it’s often responsible for: maintaining morale, culture, hiring, firing, delivering employee handbooks, ensuring compliance, and more.

However, many firms decide not to have a full-time, dedicated HR person. Instead they’ll opt to delegate the task among several employees, all who may know a little bit about HR laws and guidelines, but may not know enough of the nuances to keep a company in compliance and help it reach its full potential.

So is there are “right way to do it”? Not necessarily, but there is a “right” solution that best fits your organization. We think there are three primary ways a business can set up their HR department; none of them are “right” or “wrong”, it’s just about finding the option that best fits the employer.

1. Hire a full-time HR person.

This is pretty self-explanatory, you can hire an in-house HR person that focuses solely on managing and executing HR. We think having an in-house HR person may be best for growing companies that have 55-70 plus employees. These organizations are large enough that they really do require the support of a full-time HR person or HR team.

2. Outsourced HR.

If you hop on Google and look for an outsourced HR solution, you’ll find hundreds of them. Very few of them are really good but there’s an unending supply of them. These outsourced HR companies will help you with all the baseline HR tasks: handbooks, compliance, access to form libraries and policies. They can even help with employee agreements like hiring or separation agreements. Often they’ll provide ongoing support through a call center or email.

The main drawback is as a user is you’re left on your own to navigate their system and, because these tech HR companies are so massive, it can be difficult to get someone on the phone to answer your questions directly.

3. Full-service, outsourced HR.

Full-service, outsourced HR provides the same benefits as the outsourced HR department, but you get much more value because you would have a proxy HR department but not on your payroll.

These type of firms, can step in, get to know your team, and help with culture, morale, interviewing, hiring, terminations, conflict resolution, etc. And a lot of times they’ll even work directly with the employees and help drive your HR initiatives. We think this is how you get the best of both worlds.

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There’s really no right or wrong way to do this. Every company is going to set up their HR department differently, based on the size of their company and their objectives. Sometimes it’s about finding the best combination of the two, depending on the needs of the company.

At CorpStrat, we offer full-service, outsourced HR. If you have questions about how to best set up your HR department, let us know. We’re here to help. marketing@corpstrat.com