From the very beginning, myHSA believed in advisors and we have never gone directly to companies, this has been our model. As former advisors, we know and appreciate the first-hand the value advisors bring and the importance of independent advice. Not a lot of small and mid-size businesses have in-depth knowledge of employee benefits and the corporate tax advantages related to healthcare. Advisors do though, and have always been there to help in that area. A good advisor goes far beyond finding you a product at the lowest price. Here are 3 examples of how our advisors brought huge value to businesses in the last week alone.
Renewal Management
An advisor called me last week and said a group of 12 employees had a huge increase in Dental Rates for their insured plan renewal. Since the benefits for dental are capped, self-insuring it does sometimes make sense for the employer if they are financially comfortable with it. Even though he wasn’t moving it right away, he was preparing and analyzing a self-insured option prior to the renewal meeting while also negotiating with the insurer on the client’s behalf. The advisor inquired if it was possible to just do a “dental only” plan with us and mimic the plan aspects of the insured plan and it definitely was! Now he can go to the client with laid out options and together they can decide what to do.
Educate the Client’s Accountant
The tax code is a lot to know and not all accountants are well versed in the health benefits side of things. With our help, one of our advisors provided huge value by sharing information. She simply shared specific links and paragraphs from the CRA website and tax folios that involve HSAs. We were helping put this information all together with the advisor. We receive many questions on what is allowed and not allowed with shareholders of the corporation. The advisor brought so much value to this situation because CRA actually does not actually provide detailed information on how to approach this, but she did the right thing and involved the company’s accountant in on the plan design phase so they were all on the same page for the client.
Product Options
Many small to mid-size employers are not aware there are so many options out there in the employee benefits landscape, even for smaller companies. This can include a wide spectrum of products like Insurance, Health Spending Accounts, Taxable Accounts, Employee Assistance Programs, Group RRSP, and much more. An advisor asked about including our marketing material in with a newly formed business with a few employees. He wanted to present a few options to help educate the client of what is out there for their employees. This included a small group insured plan as well as spending accounts. We think that this approach is perfect. Some clients feel their employees will get the most value form an insured plan, and we are 100% ok with that. For growing companies, an HSA is a good “starter” package for of 2 or 3 employees. There is cost containment and as they grow in their employee count or revenue, they can wrap or even replace with group insurance.
Employees are the drivers of most businesses, so having an advisor to help out with creating, implementing, and maintaining their rewards packages is very valuable to the business owners and management. Keep providing massive value!