Benefits Done Differently
With 843 Benefits you and your employees get a relationship with an experienced broker who is truly invested in your success. We grow as you grow and you will never be handed off to account managers. Your employees can reach out to their agent for questions 24-7 or go online to schedule 1 on 1 meetings at their convenience. We call that customer service obsessed, and although it might not be the most popular way to do things, we think its the best way.
What makes a plan successful and sustainable?
We help you create and administer benefit plans that are...
ENGAGING
Improve engagement by increasing helpful communications between the employees and your advisor, and offerring mutiple opportunties to connect throughout the year, in conjunction with wellness programs that make their benefits program more fun.
Health centered
Take care of the sick with great insurance, but also provide a diverse range of programs that addresses the cause of increased insurance costs, medical risk, in hopes of limiting the frequency and severity of claims in the future.
Tech SAvVy
We invest in technology to streamline enrollment for employees and give them 24/7 access to their benefits, while simplifying administration with easy to use tools that can be integrated with most payroll providers at the click of a button.
ACCOUNTABLE
Business owners often don't understand the difference between independent brokers
and large national agencies.
As an independent we are compensated the same on day 1 as day 1000, and that compensation is based on the number of enrolled employees, so doing things that are in your best interest, are also in our best interest.
What if you could order a benefits package off a menu?
Here are some ideas to get you started!
THE START-UP
A Defined Contribution plan with a minimum $15/mo spend per employee can provide supplemental coverage like dental, vision, life or disability with no participation requirements.
Works well for restaurants or other businesses where reportable incomes are generally less than $50k per year and maintains eligibility for employees to receive federal tax credits for individual coverage.
tHE bASICS
Take care of your staff with a simple dual option medical solution and supplemental benefits offered on a voluntary basis to keep costs down.
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We often suggest a 70%-80% contribution to a bronze level plan which can be directed towards a silver or gold level plan for employees who need better coverage.
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Employers should budget $250-$400 per employee for this type of plan.
tHE RECRUITER
Growing businesses typically need to recruit more experienced employees who have families so contributions for this strategy often involve a percentage of both employee plus dependent costs for a dual option medical plan, along with a defined contribution of $30-$50 to offset dental, vision or other supplemental expenses.
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Employer paid benefits like a basic life insurance policy or Employee Assistance Programs are common add ons.
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THE EXECUTIVE
When you need to provide benefits for multiple classes of employees with different needs, we can help you strategize the right contributions to take care of both executives and your rank and file employees.
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One example would be to provide a 70-80% medical contribution for both employee and dependents with a $100 defined contribution benefit for your higher wage earners, paired with a 70-80% employee only medical benefit with a $50 defined contribution plan for your rank and file staff.
Education is crucial for both employers and employees.
Here's a short description of popular plan types...
FULLY
INSURED
(Traditional Group Plans)
BLUE CROSS BLUE SHIELD
UNITED HEALTHCARE
BLUE CHOICE
CIGNA
Fully Insured refers to traditional insurance from carriers you know like Blue Cross Blue Shield, Blue Choice, United Healthcare, and Cigna. These plans charge you a premium based on rates that are filed with the state and are only affected by age, zip code, and smoker status. If you have less than 50 employees there is no chance of being declined or rated up for medical conditions, but there are also very few rewards for good health.
843 Benefits was established based on the fact that with fully insured business we can't do anything about the rates. What we could do, was provide the latest administration and enrollment technologies for free, connect you with other business services that provide amazing service, and give your employees a community wellness program designed to get them engaged in healthier activities.
Level Funded 101: Under a level funded plan, an insurance company determines a funding amount for the year based on the employer’s prior experience or health assessment. Then the employer pays a set amount to an insurance company every month to pay for claims, fixed costs, and administrative expenses. This regular, equal payment is why the product is called a “level” funded plan.
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At the end of the year, if the total claims, costs, and expenses are less than the employer’s contributions for the year, the employer gets a refund. If the total claims, costs, and expenses are more than the employer’s contributions, the carrier covers the shortfall with insurance.
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This model is exciting to us at 843 Benefits because we can help employers and employees take control of future rate increases by reducing risks and promoting healthy activities.
LEVEL
FUNDED
(the new kid on the block)
UHC
CIGNA
AETNA
ALLSTATE
BLUE CHOICE
BLUE CROSS BLUE SHIELD
ICHRA
Individual Coverage
Health Reimbursement Account
BLUE CROSS BLUE SHIELD
Employers looking to offer an Individual Coverage Health Reimbursement Account generally range in size from 1-20 employees. However we also see large groups with 50+ employees who have been hit hard with annual cost increases benefit from this program. Contributions can be a flat dollar amount or scaled to increase with age or enrollment of dependents.
One of the benefits of this plan is that each employee can choose their own plan to fit their needs and budget. Ironically that is also one of the biggest downfalls as support and education for employees who are all on different plans can be difficult.
Typically the larger the employer the more complicated this becomes but software is improving. In SC enrollments are done directly with BCBS separate from your supplemental benefits so having a good system in place to manage it all is important. (Hint...we got you covered!)
Defined Contribution Plans are a great way to insure benefits are being provide for ALL EMPLOYEES. The employer "defines" a specific contribution amount per employee and receives a tax credit just like they do for a medical plan. The employee then has the freedom to personalize their benefit plan by self-directing the contribution to the insurance solutions which are most important to them.
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Any costs beyond the contribution amount are the responsibility of the employee which makes budgeting for the employer very easy.
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Additionally, this plan does not constitute a group medical benefit, so for those on federal subsidies and HC.gov, there is no impact.
Defined
Contribution
Plans
Dental, Vision, STDI/ LTDI, Life Insurance, Critical Illness, Accident Insurance.
Provided by Companion Life, Guardian, Unum, Sun Life and others.
ARE YOU READY TO TAKE THE NEXT STEP?
( It's not nearly as tricky as these tires! )
"If we want to reduce the cost of protecting ourselves against the bad things that can happen but hope never will, we MUST look to the causes of those conditions, and take some responsibility for our decisions. Not just spend more on insurance!"
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Dave Williams
CEO | Founder 843BHM
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CHARLESTON, SC 29492
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BLUFFTON
1024 BERKELEY HALL BLVD
BLUFFTON, SC 29909