Group Medicare Supplements

We help retirees and other eligible employees tackle the challenges of ever increasing premiums and health care costs by purchasing a quality Medicare Supplement.  While there are many options, the best coverage is a plan that leaves you with the least expenses, and has the lowest premium.

How Medicare Supplements Work:

Medicare Supplement Insurance policies complement your Original Medicare Parts A and B. They cover some, if not all, of the expenses that Part A and B do not cover, like co-pays, deductibles and other charges.

There are many different types of Medicare Supplement policies available, however they are regulated so the benefits for these various policies (known as Plan A through N), are all the same regardless of the carrier. However, premiums can vary greatly among carriers.

Call us for more details or request a FREE consultation today.

Long Term Care Plans

Group Long-Term Care plans are becoming an increasingly common voluntary benefit offered by employers today. The prospect of long-term care is one of the most important issues your employees may have to face. The cost of long-term care is expensive and generally not covered by other employee benefits, disability or even Medicare.

If someone requires long-term care, it is not just an emotional strain but a financial one as well. Savvy employers know that access to additional resources can increase employee productivity when confronted with managing long-term care situations. Long-Term Care plans demonstrate to your current and prospective employees that your company cares about them. This will increase the ability to attract and retain the very best talent.

Here’s How It Works:

• Most LTC plans are designed to provide benefits for care through nursing homes or assisted living centers. This also includes home health care and adult day care.
• Employers can provide a base benefit while giving the employees the opportunity to “buy up” and obtain the level of coverage that they need for their families.

Call us for more details or request a FREE consultation today.

Group Life Insurance

A good life insurance policy provides for an employee’s final expenses, taxes, mortgage and more. Additionally, it may even pay for their children’s education. Also, employees are more productive when they feel secure that their loved ones will be taken care of, in the event of illness or an untimely death. Smart employers consider life insurance a key part of the benefit package, and a valuable tool in attracting top talent.

Permanent Life Insurance

This type of life insurance builds cash value which is sometimes used as collateral for loans, if needed. However, most employers only offer basic term life insurance (see below), but also offer permanent life insurance on a voluntary basis. Even so, employees appreciate the opportunity to widen their safety net.

Term Life Insurance

This type of life insurance does not build cash value. However, it will pay a set amount to the named beneficiary upon the death of insured within the stated term. Additionally, some policies may also make payments upon terminal or critical illness.

Call us for more details or request a FREE consultation today.

Group Disability Plans

National surveys have shown that Short Term Disability and Long Term Disability remain of high importance for most employees. Thus, savvy employers attract and retain top talent by offering both STD and LTD insurance as part of the employer paid benefit package or as a voluntary (worksite) benefit.

Short Term Disability

During the time an employee is unable to work due to a qualifying disability (illness or injury), STD generally allows for income payments to the employee to begin after about a two-week waiting period and will continue to pay the employee until he/she recovers or maxes out the benefits–usually anywhere between one month to two years, depending on the policy.

Long Term Disability

During the time an employee is unable to work due to a qualifying disability (illness or injury), LTD generally allows for income payments to the employee to begin after about a 90-day waiting period. However, it could be much longer depending on the policy. The policy will pay the employee far longer than STD–for a few years, up to age 65, or even for life.

Call us for more details or request a FREE consultation today.

Dental and Vision Coverage

Group Dental Plans

Employees always appreciate dental coverage as part of the basic benefit package. Studies have shown that regular dental exams help employees to stay healthier and more productive in the work place. Additionally, you can detect serious underlying conditions such as heart disease and diabetes, through regular dental exams. In fact, the National Association of Dental Plans and the Centers for Disease Control have performed studies that show that employees with dental insurance have better attitudes and are less likely to suffer from depression, a common condition in today’s fast-paced world.

Dental insurance offers a variety of diagnostic, preventative care and corrective services. This includes cleanings, exams, x-rays, fillings, root canals, orthodontia for children, and emergency care while traveling.

Group Vision Plans

Similar to dental policies, vision plans are inexpensive and save employees money on routine eye care. Examples of care include exams, eyeglass frames and lenses, contacts, and even discounts on procedures like LASIK. Additionally, monitoring your eye health with regular exams helps to prevent serious eye diseases like glaucoma and cataracts. In addition, regular eye exams help to detect early stages of diabetes, high blood pressure, and high cholesterol.

Call us for more details or request a FREE consultation today.

Should you consider Fully Funded or Self-Funded Health Plans?

Here are a few more details on how these employee benefits work.

Fully-Funded Health Plans are those where services, claims and administration is handled fully by the carrier in exchange for a monthly premium.

Self-Funded Health Plans are those where employers self-fund their own group health plan.  They will partner with an HMO or PPO to provide services for the plan, and a third party administrator (a TPA) is engaged to handle claims and processing. Stop loss-insurance is also needed to protect against large catastrophic claims.  Even with the additional expense of stop-loss insurance, employers can save a significant amount of money on premiums, and benefit from many other advantages of self-funded plans.

Partially-Funded (Level-Funded) Plans are those where employers share the risk with one of our top national carriers. The premiums for shared funding plans are generally much lower than fully insured plans.

Various types of health coverage for employees:

A Health Maintenance Organization (HMO)

An HMO group health plan requires employees to appoint a primary care physician who directs treatment utilizing service providers affiliated with the HMO. HMOs offer access to a comprehensive package of health care for a low monthly premium. A small co-payment is often required for services, depending upon the type provided.

Preferred Provider Organization

PPO group health plans offer a vast network of quality healthcare providers and facilities. Employees save the most money on healthcare if they use providers within the network, as some services may be only partially covered or not even covered at all when outside providers are used. Also, many services may not be covered if deductibles are not first met, however, the plan includes important wellness and preventative services provided outside of the deductible with a small co-pay.

Point of Service Plans (POS)

POS plans combine features of HMOs and PPOs. Most POS plans require members to choose a primary care physician from within the POS network, but allow them to use out-of-network specialists with a referral from a primary care physician. Co-payments will be higher for out-of-network services.

Call us for more details or request a FREE consultation today.

Supplemental Health Insurance (up to age 84 for some plans)

Supplemental health insurance provides a financial safety-net should you experience an accident or serious or long illness, which the costs of are never fully covered by today’s traditional health insurance.  These policies are very affordable and will cover things like deductibles, co-pays and even pay cash benefits directly to you for everyday expenses and bills when you can’t work.

Following are the various types of supplemental health insurance available:

• Accident Plans – Helps to protect you from  financial hardship due to a great deal of medical and out-of-pocket expenses that follow accidental injuries.
• Disability Plans – Protects and replaces your income should you become disabled.
• Critical Illness Plans – Helps to protect you from financial hardship due to a great deal of medical and out-of-pocket expenses that follow critical illnesses.
• Hospital Indemnity Plans – Covers hospital bill and services following a hospital stay, above and beyond what traditional health insurance covers.  BUY POLICY ONLINE
• Long Term Care Plans – Covers the costs of LTC which, according to statistics*, is needed at some point by over half of the population, but generally not covered by health insurance or Medicare.
• Gap Plans – Provides benefits that supplement a comprehensive health coverage, covering deductibles and co-pays that are not covered by major medical.
• Medicare Supplement Plans – very affordable and complements your Original Medicare Parts A and B and covers more of your out-of-pocket expenses (co-pays, deductibles, etc).

*According to the Alzheimer’s Association, 52% of people turning 65 will need LTC at some point, and end-of-life care costs run into the hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Life Insurance

Life insurance helps protect your family and loved ones in the event you pass away too soon, and also serves other useful purposes.

• Pay your final expenses
• Pay off your mortgage & debts
• Pay for your child’s education
• Save for life’s milestones
• Build financial wealth
• Leave a lasting legacy

We offer different types of  life insurance to help meet a wide range of needs:

Term Life Insurance

This policy does not build a cash value, but pays a death benefit upon your death. It covers you for a set period of time provided you pay the monthly premium, or in some instances, a lump sum in advance. The policy will pay to the named beneficiary the face amount of the policy (set benefit and/or lump sum) upon death of the insured within the stated term. Depending on the policy, it may also make payments upon terminal or critical illness.

Permanent Life Insurance

This type of life insurance policy helps you save for the future by building a cash value that has many benefits to the insured, such as borrowing against the policy or building a tax deferred investment income, in addition to paying a death benefit. Whole life, variable life and universal life are all types of cash value life insurance. Cash value insurance is also known as permanent life insurance because it provides coverage for the policyholder’s entire life.

Final Expense

Final expense insurance is designed to help protect your loved ones from the financial burden of funeral costs related to your passing. Unlike life insurance, final expense policies have a much lower face value because they are intended to only cover costs related to a person’s final expenses. Therefore, these policies can often be purchased at low premiums that do not change. The policy pays a guaranteed set amount as long as you pay your premiums.

Individual Dental & Vision Plans

Individual dental and vision plans or policies are relatively inexpensive and can be purchased anytime of the year.  Please review the different types of plans available and then click on the button to the right or below for a quote.

Dental Plans

Vision Plans

Health Plans(for under 65)

Please review the different types of health plans available and then click on the button to the right or below for a quote.

Traditional Health Plans

Health Maintenance Organization Or HMO

An HMO offers lower premiums and a significant savings on routine and preventative healthcare. However, this type of health plan requires you to appoint a primary care physician and to use doctors and facilities that are affiliated with the HMO. Thus, if you use healthcare service providers outside of the HMO, there is a good chance those charges won’t be covered by your policy. But, the great thing about an HMO is that the only charges you incur, outside of your premiums, are co-pays for doctor’s visits and other services such as procedures and prescriptions.

Preferred Provider Organization Or PPO

A PPO will save you money on services if you use the preferred providers within the network. Keep in mind that deductibles must be met on this plan before some services will be covered. The good thing about a PPO is they generally will allow a certain amount of services annually outside of the deductible with a small co-pay, and most often the PPO has a large network with quality care providers and excellent prescription drug coverage.

Health Savings Account (HSA)

An HSA is a tax-advantaged bank account tied to certain high-deductible health plans. It allows you to use tax free dollars to pay for allowable health expenses, such as copays, prescription drug costs and more.

Short Term Health Plans

Temporary or Short Term Medical Plans are health plans designed for times of transition and help to bridge gaps in coverage for individuals and families.  In the past, short term plans have been available for up to three months, but new federal guidelines allow for plans up to one year, and are renewable for up to two, and somtimes three years.  The great thing about short term plans are they are generally less expensive than traditional health insurance, however, they do not provide full coverage and they typically do not cover pre-existing conditions.

Travel Health Plans

While traveling, your regular health plan only  covers a fraction of medical costs, if the need should arise to seek medical attention. Don’t go without coverage. Medical travel insurance is typically very affordable and provides valuable medical coverage when traveling in the US or abroad, much like a regular health insurance policy. Most often these types of policies will cover care and services that are not typically covered by your regular health policy or Medicare.

Protection Beyond Traditional Health Insurance

Voluntary benefits have become a must have in the benefit offering.*   For little or no cost to employers, they are an affordable strategy that helps your employees focus more on work and stay productive by providing a financial safety net i.e., the ability to pay bills, have savings and emergency funds set up, etc. in case of a major life event. Voluntary benefits are designed for everyday living and augment employer-paid health insurance. For example, most policies pay cash benefits directly to the insured to help pay for expenses that health insurance doesn’t cover, like travel, childcare and other unexpected bills related to illness.

Key Advantages:

• Increases the overall wellness of your employees
• Paid by employees at a discounted group rate, and can be set up at little or no cost to the employer
• Lower’s payroll taxes for both employer and employee
• Increases job satisfaction, productivity and overall bottom line

Types of Voluntary Programs Available:

• Life Insurance – Term and Permanent Options
• Dental & Vision Plans – PPOs, Discount Plans and more that cover diagnostic, preventative and corrective services.
• Accident Plans – Helps to protect employees from financial hardship due to a great deal of medical and out-of-pocket expenses that follow accidental injuries.
• Disability Plans – Protects your employee’s income should they become disabled.
• Critical Illness Plans – Helps to protect employees from financial hardship due to a great deal of medical and out-of-pocket expenses that follow critical illnesses.
• Hospital Indemnity Plans – Covers hospital bill and services following a hospital stay, above and beyond what traditional health insurance covers.  Learn more.
• Long Term Care Plans – Covers the costs of LTC which, according to statistics**, is needed at some point by over half of the population, but generally not covered by health insurance or Medicare.
• Gap Plans – Provides benefits that supplement a major medical and comprehensive benefit package, covering deductibles and co-pays that are not covered by major medical.

Call us for more details or request a FREE consultation today.

*Based on recent benchmarking and current national surveys.
**According to the Alzheimer’s Association, 52% of people turning 65 will need LTC at some point, and end-of-life care costs run into the hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Veronica Luna, MBA, SGS, CHRS Owner/Founder

More About Us

Today’s Benefit Solutions Group was founded by Veronica Luna in 2010.  Prior to starting her own benefits business, Veronica worked for a larger national benefits firm while obtaining an Masters of Business, Strategy and Management at Western Governors University.

When Veronica started Today’s Benefit Solutions Group, her goal was to provide affordable employee benefits and excellent customer service. In fact, she was sure this is a goal that many businesses begin with, but then find themselves focused on everything except the reason why they went into business, serving people and making a difference.

With that in mind, Veronica and the entire staff at Today’s Benefit Solutions Group operate on the philosophy that clients can go almost anywhere for advice and quotes on health insurance and employee benefits.  They go above and beyond the standard by focusing on providing clients with not only the most competitive rates, but with expertise and services that assists employers in Engaging, Energizing & Rewarding their people with benefits that employees desire the most,* helping them live healthy, happy lives.

Bottom Line:  Today’s Benefit Solutions Group helps employers succeed by designing benefits that fit the needs of both their business and its employees.  As a result, clients develop a positive relationship with their workforce, which significantly increases employee engagement and performance, and also reduces absenteeism and employee turnover.  If you are looking for a different kind of broker that can help reduce your benefit costs and risk with a variety of innovative, proven strategies, we can help.

*based on benchmarking and other recent, reliable data.