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In This Issue
Free: Employee Benefits Web Portal
We have been asked to reprint the below information. During the difficult economic times employers now face, an enhancement to a benefit package which can be provided for no additional employer outlay is in demand
Most employers recognize the value of an internal intranet and web based portal for many different HR and Benefit functions. They also recognize the value associated with employees having direct access to benefit information from the work site or from home. In the past cost may have been a prohibitive factor, preventing the development and deployment of such a valuable asset. Let us show you how we can provide a sophisticated web portal for free. See frame below.
Free: Benefit Plan Benchmarking Service
The below piece is also a reprint for similar reasons to the one above. It is another benefit plan management enhancement that can be deployed by HR and/or benefit professionals without incremental budgetary impact.
Attracting and retaining valuable employee talent in your business is probably pretty close to the top of your priority list. Many employers make decisions about benefit packages without having hard data. Depending on anecdotal local sources can be replaced by solid decision making criterion. See second frame below.
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 New Services
Comprehensive HR/Benefits Web Portal Available Free to Clients
Sophisticated, Client-customized, Web Portal Is No Longer Cost Prohibitive For Small and Mid-size Employers |
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 BBCG maintains a relationship with BrokerSuite, LLC whereby we can provide a complete HR/Benefits web interface to clients free of charge. Below are some bullets summarizing the key services available from each module. The best way to show you the value to your company is to provide a comprehensive proposal and provide you additional details regarding our relationship with BrokerSuite, LLC.
The modules:
- My Benefits Count
- web based portal for benefits and employer/employee communications
- Employment Guide
- on-line library that includes things such as HR policies and forms, regulatory news, benefits news and various customized charts for HR administration
- Online Enrollment
- an on-line, turnkey, web based enrollment module (n.b., various potential deployments: kiosk, company intranet, home use via internet, etc.)
- Total Compensation
- an individual employee customized, web based, view of what many know as the "hidden paycheck" (i.e., the total value of the entire comp/benefits package)
- Total Census
- a centralized tracking tool which accesses all employee demographics, all benefit elections and allows for 15 additional customizable fields
The above services are not just off the shelf where only the client name has been changed. Each project is highly customized to meet the needs and expectations of our clients. BrokerSuite, LLC, backs up each project with a highly sophisticated team of technical experts and an on-going client service manager.
Email us at portal@bocabenefits.com to request a proposal or to pose any other preliminary questions you might have.
Forward to an HR/Benefits Professional
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| New Services
Free Benchmarking Services for Clients and Prospects
How Do You Stack Up Against Your Peers With Your Benefits Offerings? Do You Have Rock Solid Data Upon Which to Make Decisions? What is Working and What is Not? |
Employee Benefits News recently sponsored a web seminar, the subject of which was "Benchmarking Your Benefits Package as a Means of Attracting and Retaining Talent". The tool to do this is available to BBCG and we can produce for our clients and prospects a detailed industry, geography, and employee segment specific FREE report over many different query criterion (n.b., you can decide what you want to know about). It is based on empirical market research and shows where you stack up against your peer companies on numerous important issues. It is essentially a planning track to make sure your plan changes are in step with your industry and area of the country. Also guides you relative to things you might not be doing that you could be or are now doing but receiving only marginal return on those efforts..
BBCG feels it is one of the strongest tools we have ever seen during our time in the benefits industry. The Fortune 200 have had the resources to do benchmarking at this level for a long time. Now, similar analysis is available to virtually any employer.
Email us at benchmarking@bocabenefits.com to request more information on how we might be able to provide a benchmarking report to your organization.
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About Boca Benefits Consulting Group, Inc.
BBCG, Inc. has been providing brokerage and consulting services to Florida employers since its formation in 1996. Its principal consultant, Robert W. Murphy, has 28 years of insurance carrier management and consulting experience. He holds an advanced financial degree and four of the most prestigious financial services designations in the industry (REBC, ChFC, CLU, RHU). He has been a panelist/speaker at a national conference on the future of healthcare and was a participant at a Harvard University executive program entitled "Skills for the New World of Health Care."
Please click here for additional contact information.
Please click here for a proposal request or contact by BBCG.
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Government & Regulatory Issues
Temporary COBRA Under the American Recovery
& Reinvestment Act 2009
[Payroll Professionals: See Subsidy Reimbursement Methodology]
The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act became effective February 17, 2009. Notices are required to be sent to subsidy-eligible persons who became qualified beneficiaries before the date of enactment (2/17) within 60 days of enactment.
The ARRA allows for eligible individuals to receive a premium subsidy from the federal government in the amount of 65% of normal COBRA premium. Eligible individuals will pay 35% of the COBRA premium to continue coverage.
The plan sponsor or carrier that pays the 65% subsidy is permitted to take the amount of any subsidy payments as an offset against their payroll tax payments (i.e., employee income tax withholding, employee FICA tax withholding or employer FICA tax obligations). The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has released a
revised Form 941 for reporting the amount of the premium subsidy taken as a tax credit.
The ARRA covers both insured and selffunded plans , that are subject to COBRA and state and municipal plans that are subject to the Public Health Service Act which provides provisions parallel to that of COBRA. In addition, the subsidy applies to non-COBRA plans that are subject to state continuation laws that are comparable to COBRA.
An eligible individual is someone who is "involuntarily terminated" from employment during the period of September 1, 2008 through December 31, 2009 and is eligible to elect COBRA during that time.
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