How Do Your Benefits Stack Up Against the Competition?

Today’s economic climate has heightened financial worries for Americans. For businesses, health care costs are a major concern and weigh heavily on the minds of many human resource directors and CFOs.  How can they strike a balance between affordable health care as well as attract and retain quality employees, while remaining competitive?

In partnership with the Greater Washington/Baltimore Metropolitan Area business community, Gelman, Rosenberg & Freedman and The Insurance Exchange, Inc. (TIE), a premiere large regional full-service insurance brokerage firm focusing on the Middle Market employers, are offering a free benchmarking metrics tool to strike that balance.  This invaluable survey helps HR directors and CFOs determine how their employee benefits package stacks up to the competition.

“Controlling health care costs and attracting and retaining quality employees are the top two major concerns for HR directors and CFOs,” explains Joseph “Jody” Buyalos, Executive Vice President, Employee Benefits, TIE. “We’ve partnered with the highest-regarded, most respected international actuarial consulting firm in the insurance industry to bring their Fortune 100 actuarial expertise to the underserved Middle Market.”

A Fortune 100 Service for Mid-Market Companies

This comprehensive Mid-Market Benefits Survey of employer-sponsored benefit plans takes just 1 to 2 hours to complete the first year and is in a user-friendly, secure web-based format.  It can be completed at any time and results are saved electronically so that they can be completed or edited later.  Future year updates take only 15 to 30 minutes since results are saved from the previous year.  A comparison of national averages from the previous two years to current averages is also included in the report.  Best of all, the user’s individual results will be provided in a clear, easy-to-understand format by a qualified and knowledgeable consultant.

“Other surveys from national consultants are cost-prohibitive and geared towards huge Fortune 500 companies with a minimum of 5,000 employees, which is not relevant to the Middle Market,” says Buyalos. “Our service is FREE and open to all employers in this region.  We are specifically targeting the underserved Middle Market employer with 50 to 5,000 employees.  The survey results are eye-opening for many employers because they are better able to determine if they are above or below the averages in terms of their health care, wellness programs, and other benefit offerings.  This region is traditionally richer than the national averages but unlike other competitor Surveys our Survey shows BOTH the Regional AND National averages.  It also offers employers suggestions as to how they can improve their health care offerings in a cost-effective manner; thereby ensuring good employee retention.”

Last year, 4,306 U.S. Middle Market employers participated in the survey.  There are 35 questions with over 900 different data elements so the survey is extremely useful in benefits benchmarking.  Buyalos recommends that HR Directors and CFOs take this survey annually since the results are saved and all you have to do is spend 5 minutes to update any changes from the previous year and you will receive your complimentary copy.  “We are in a dynamic marketplace,” he concludes.  “Trends in employee benefits packages are constantly changing and this survey is an invaluable way to stay on top of them each year.”

Hurry!  The survey closes August 1, 2009. Start the Survey!

Who is The Insurance Exchange?

The Insurance Exchange, Inc. is a large regional, boutique style high-service insurance brokerage and consulting firm focused on the Middle Market, defined as employers with 50 to 5,000 employees.  Our areas of specialty range from employee benefits consulting to commercial property casualty, retirement plan services, safety and loss control, bonding, risk management, claims management, HR compliance, and wellness programs.

What information will I receive by participating in the survey?

You will receive a FREE Individual Custom Report (ICR) with Summary of Results showing your plan(s) benchmarked to other Survey Participants both Locally and Nationally over the last two years covering the following:

• Deductibles
• Office Visit Copayments
• Retail Prescription Drug Copayments
• Medical Plan Cost Increases
• Monthly Premiums (Single/Family)
• Monthly Employee Contributions (%)(Single/Family)
• Wellness Initiatives
• Other Benefits Offered

This report will give you invaluable information as you go to make strategic benefit planning decisions in this tough economy.

Is other more detailed information available?

Yes!  The survey contains 35 questions and over 900 different data elements.  Due to printing and timing limitations during the data collection process, we are unable to distribute all of these initially so we have selected the most frequently requested items for the FREE Individual Custom Report given to all Survey Participants.  Additional information showing actuarial evaluations is available to clients of The Insurance Exchange and may be requested based on your specific needs.

Will my information remain private?

We take your privacy very seriously and take every precaution to ensure your trust is not violated.  Your information is confidential, and we do not share your specific results with anyone but you.  All information is aggregated and de-identified when shared publicly.  Additionally, all information sent through the Internet is secured though password protection and firewall security.

Is the survey easy to complete?

Yes!  We hired a highly respected actuarial consulting firm with national experience in this area to produce a survey that is quick and easy to navigate.  You can complete the survey online in an average of about 1 to 2 hours. 

Before you begin, you will need the following information available on hand:

• Plan designs for all health and welfare plans (typically found in your Summary Plan Description)
• Total monthly premiums (or budgeted rates), employee contributions (monthly dollar amounts) and enrollment for your plans
• Vacation, wellness, third party disease management, voluntary benefits, leaves of absence and other miscellaneous benefits you offer

Additionally, if you need to take a break, the survey allows you to save your results and come back to them later.  This feature is useful if you have to stop before you answer all of the questions or if you want to return to the survey to change an answer you previously entered. 

Each subsequent year, you can just log in and update your answers from the prior year which should only take 15 to 30 minutes.

How can I participate and when will I receive my results?

If you would like to participate, you can obtain access by doing the following:

Visit the Insurance Exchange 2009 Mid-Market Benefits Survey homepage.

1. For new participants – Open the website and go to the main login area.  To login, create a new account by entering your company name, e-mail address, password, and confirm password information in the boxes below the label, ‘Never taken the survey? Sign up for a New Account below.’  Once your account is established, you will enter the 2009 survey and have ongoing access to your survey if you need to finish/modify your responses at a later time.  Please note that all e-mail addresses within the survey database are unique to your response.

2. For returning participants – Open the survey site and click on ‘Returning User? Please click here.’  to the enter the login area.  Then, enter the e-mail address you entered last year and the password tie-inc in the appropriate boxes.  This will take you directly into the 2009 survey pre-populated with your responses from last year (or 2007 if that’s when you last completed the survey).

Note:  E-mail addresses are necessary in order for respondents to save and view responses at a later time.  We do not use e-mail addresses for any other purpose.

To participate in the aggregated results for the Washington/Baltimore area and the seminar presentation, you need to have your response in by August 1, 2009.

We will be offering a webinar presentation in August of the survey results led by our actuarial partner and the Insurance Exchange Benefit Practice Leader.  We will send your Individual Custom Report (ICR) prior to the webinar.  If you are unable to attend the webinar, or would like a more personal interaction, we can arrange another time for you to receive your results in person.

Who can I contact if I have questions?

Rebecca Fuller
 The Insurance Exchange, Inc.
9713 Key West Avenue, Suite 401
Rockville, MD 20850
Phone: 703-728-486
E-mail: fuller.r@tie-inc.com