Employee Benefits Insurance

When comparing the cost of an employee benefit plan it is good to look at the annual cost per employee for singles and families. Employee family costs range between $3,000 and $6,000 dollars per year. Single employee costs can be as low as $1,500 per year.

There are multiple factors that impact the premium you pay for employee benefits:

• The types and levels of benefits that you offer to employees will impact cost of premium. In general, when the reimbursement level is higher for employees, yearly overall maximums are higher which results in premiums being higher than average
• The level of cost sharing that you choose between you and your employees will impact cost. As a plan sponsor a company may charge back up to 50% of monthly premiums to their employees or pay 100% of the premium on behalf of the employees.
• Adding ancillary benefits such as long-term disability income protection (LTD) or Optional Life Insurance to your plan will also increase the cost. However, premiums for these types of add-ons are generally paid for by the employee.
• Regional sales tax, whether PST or HST, in your location must be added to your premiums which will also impact the cost. Any premiums paid for by the company are tax deductible for the business and reimbursed claims are non-taxable to your employees in most provinces.

FCA provides employee benefits to companies ranging from one, to one hundred to thousands of employees. In general, a traditional benefit plan can be arranged for companies with two employees or more. Two employee companies can consist of the owner and another employee. As the number of people you employ increases, so will the options available for you to offer in your benefit plan.

For companies with only one employee there are specialty programs available that FCA can also arrange.

FCA simplifies the process of arranging a benefit plan. From the initial conversation, through a market study, to the implementation of a new program and the ongoing management, we are always here to assist you. Here is a brief overview of the process:

• Initial phone call or virtual meeting to determine your companies needs and objectives
• Gather information about your company and your employees
• FCA develops an RFP (Request for Proposals) document to send to the insurance community
• FCA receives proposals and presents all options back to you in a report
• Follow up meeting to discuss your options

The above process takes approximately 14 business days to complete.

We recommend having between four and six weeks from the date you decide to move forward to the effective date of your new benefit plan. Some plans can be implemented faster but this time frame provides a seamless transition for your company, employees and the insurance company providing the benefits.

The most common paperwork required to implement your plan is as follows:

• Master application
• Beneficiary forms
• Pre-authorized payment details
• Online Employee Enrolment using FCA’s benefits management software

Yes, FCA offers all types of benefits plans ensuring your insurance program meets your current and future objectives.

These are the most common types of Employee Benefit plans offered:

• Traditional Plan – This is a standard plan and one of the most common whereby the insurance company has most of the risk.  The company pays a monthly premium and the insurance company reimburses all eligible claims up to a specified or unlimited maximum. Each employee has the same coverage as the other.
• ASO (Self Insured Plan) – This type of plan runs the same as the traditional plan and usually employees have the same level of benefit as well. However, the financial arrangement is different. In this scenario the company takes on some of the claim payment risk up to a specified maximum (Stop/Loss) for the frequent and somewhat predictable claims for Health and Dental.  The insurance company maintains the risk for larger catastrophic claims such as Life and AD&D Insurance, Long-term disability insurance, Critical Illness and Travel as well as large claims above the Stop/Loss referenced above.
• Healthcare Spending Account (HCSA) – Flexible spending account whereby the company allocates a fixed amount of dollars for each employee and the employee may choose how to spend their health dollars.
• Hybrid Benefit Plan – A combination of a traditional employee benefit plan and an HCSA.  Most spending employee claims are reimbursed through the HCSA and the insurance company pays above and beyond a deductible or Stop/Loss

FCA strives to maintain current and contemporary solutions for clients including options for HRIS for your company.