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RISING WOMEN EXPERT
ADVICE...
What are “Group Health and Dental Benefits”?
Are you a business owner looking to attract top talent and keep your
existing employees happy? If so, group benefits in the form of health and
dental coverage along with disability and life insurance may be a means to
achieve this goal. Plans can be designed to suit the needs of small
organizations only interested in the basics as well as for larger companies
with many divisions who want customized plans with the most comprehensive
coverage. Whether you have 2 employees or 200, the range of options is
extensive and before committing to implementing a benefit plan you may want
to ask a few questions such as those listed below.
Is the monthly premium deductible? Yes, the portion paid by the
employer is an eligible business expense and the company can share the cost
of these plans 50-50 with the employee.
Will all employees qualify for the benefit plan? Generally insurance
companies require a person to be working a minimum of 20-24 hours per week
in order to enroll on the benefit plan. As well, the employer can chose to
implement a waiting period of a certain time frame, say 6 months for
example, before allowing new employees to join. This way the company can
first determine whether or not the new hire will be a part of the company’s
long term plan before having to outlay additional funds to pay for these
benefits.
Is it possible to change insurance carriers? Yes, the number of
insurance companies offering benefit plans is numerous and therefore you
will have more than one company to choose from. It’s quite common in the
industry to have the health and dental plan reviewed every few years to
ensure the current design and benefits offered are still providing the
employer and the employee with the most suitable coverage.
Do we have to opt for 100% coverage or can we choose less? In many
cases a company will start with an 80% health and dental plan with a small
amount of life insurance built in. This can reduce the monthly costs and the
option to increase to 100% coinsurance can usually be requested at a later
date.
How do we decide on a carrier? The large insurance companies do
dominate to a certain degree much of the marketplace but there are also
smaller insurance carriers who specialize and compete very well on both
service and price so it does pay to shop around. In order to do so contact a
licensed sales person to help walk you through the process.
Jim Coleman is a Financial Advisor with Raymond James Ltd.
403.938.9715 jim.coleman@raymondjames.ca
*The views of the author do not necessarily reflect those of Raymond
James. This article is for information only. Raymond James Ltd. is a member
of CIPF. Securities-related products and services are offered through
Raymond James Ltd., member CIPF. Financial planning and insurance products
and services are offered through Raymond James Financial Planning Ltd.,
which is not a member CIPF.
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