Why Your Engineering Firm Should Get A Quote
If your engineering firm had the opportunity to offer enterprise level benefits to your employees, while reducing overall premium costs, would you consider evaluating those options?
In an environment filled with so much economic uncertainty (i.e. inflation, recessionary fears, employee turnover, etc.), we’re all searching for ways to extend our runways and offer competitive advantages for our employees.
What does the ACEC and the ACEC Life/Health Trust stand for?
The American Council of Engineering Companies (ACEC) Association has been the voice of the engineering industry in the United States for over 100 years, representing thousands of engineering firms and hundreds of thousands of engineering employees across the nation. For the past 57+ years, the ACEC Life/Health Trust, has been empowering over 1500+ small and medium size firms and 100,000+ employees by offering enterprise level benefit insurance programs which these firms would otherwise not have access to on the ACA open exchange marketplaces. Their programs boast a 91% retention rate.
The Trust advocates on behalf of all its member firms by utilizing its size and negotiating power with its carrier partners to offer 1) richer benefits at a lower price point than what many firms can access or negotiate going it alone and 2) access to a pair of the largest provider networks nationwide for those employers with employees in multiple states. Gone are the days of being forced to offer age-banded rates only.
What role does Efferent Solutions play?
Efferent Solutions has been a trusted broker partner of the ACEC L/H Trust for many years and has saved its engineering firm clients hundreds of thousands of dollars in annual premiums. While our agency values our partnership with the ACEC, it does not act on behalf of or exclusively to the association, meaning our agency is a fiduciary to our engineering employer clients, not the ACEC.
We quote local/regional ACA traditional fully insured, level-funded, and self-funded vendors as well. Our experience with the Trust programs gives your firm a competitive advantage to consider all viable options and ensures you are in the strongest possible position to compete with the larger engineering firms to attract and retain the best available talent in your market.
What benefit programs are offered through the ACEC Life/Health Trust?
When we speak of enterprise level benefits, we are not just referring to the quality and price of the benefit plans, but to the benefit package as a whole. The Trust offers its member firms access to multiple benefit programs and hundreds of different plan options, which is where our support becomes crucial. We help you navigate and narrow down the hundreds of available plan options to only a handful of the best options for you to evaluate.
Here are the programs you will have access to choose from:
Group Medical Benefit Programs
Fully insured PPO - traditional fully insured PPO medical plans
Select – a level funded (aka “alternate funded”) plan – enjoy the benefits of a self-insured plan while minimizing your overall risk exposure
Advantage – a competitive stop-loss policy coverage for firms considering the self-funded route or those with an existing self-funded medical plan
Patient Advocacy Support Programs (included as part of the above medical benefit programs)
These programs work directly with employees to assist them in their search for quality of care providers, respective costs associated with an upcoming procedure, and evaluates the plan coverage so the employee gets the most out of their benefits.
Group Ancillary Benefits
Dental
Vision
Life Insurance
Disability
Voluntary Life Insurance
Critical Illness
Accident
EAP
Group Telehealth benefits (co-pays)
Telemedicine
Behavioral counseling
Back care
Dermatology
Group Wellness programs (provided by the Trust at no cost to you and your employees)
Core plan
Premier plan
Platinum plan (invitation only)
Our agency welcomes the opportunity to better understand your situation. If you’d like to learn more and evaluate your options, or if it’s been a couple of years since you last considered the ACEC Trust programs, now is a great time to revisit and compare against your current benefits package. Don’t hesitate to get in touch with us for a free consultation!
About The Author
Nitai Spiro is the founder and CEO of Efferent Solutions. With 15+ years of experience designing group employer benefit programs, Nitai brings a multi-national background to assist a diverse range of clients creating custom benefit solutions for all employer sizes in a variety of industries nationwide.
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