Experience the Benefit with Trustmark Voluntary Benefit Solutions

Since many employers find it increasingly difficult to provide employees with a complete benefit package, and employees need new ways to supplement their core benefits, voluntary benefits have become an ideal solution. In this article, Janet Buzil of Trustmark Voluntary Benefit Solutions, walks through the advantages of voluntary benefit solutions as well as what employers should look for in a voluntary benefits carrier.

Voluntary Benefits on the Rise

Voluntary benefits — benefits where employees pay 100 percent of the premiums through payroll deduction — are more popular than ever. Sixty-four percent of employers offer at least one voluntary benefit, according to Eastbridge Consulting Group Inc., a financial services consulting firm. Eastbridge, which tracks insurance sales, said voluntary products sales have more than doubled since 1997.

Advantages of Voluntary Benefits

The drivers to the increasing popularity of voluntary benefit solutions are their unique advantages. One of these advantages is the absence of direct costs to the employer. With voluntary benefits from Trustmark Voluntary Benefit Solutions employers can provide their employees access to the additional benefits they need – without taking on additional premium charges for the company.

Voluntary benefit solutions will enhance your existing benefits program. You can offer coverage options that complement your employer-paid benefits and give your employees access to benefits the company could not otherwise afford. A broader array of benefits, provided on a voluntary basis, enables employees to choose coverage that meets their individual needs, and strengthens your overall benefits package. A stronger employee benefits package that can help attract and retain valuable employees is another key advantage.

By offering voluntary benefits to your employees, you are doing more than providing them access to additional coverage. You are giving your employees access to benefits at group rates, which are traditionally much less expensive than individual rates. In addition to helping your employees take advantage of lower premiums, with voluntary benefits your employees can also take advantage of simpler underwriting requirements, compared to individual insurance plans. And in many cases voluntary benefits are offered guaranteed issue, meaning there are no health questions at all.

Adding Up the Benefits

Voluntary benefits appeal to both employer and employee needs.

Employers benefit from:

• Increased expense control in the face of rising benefit costs;
• Additional benefits for employees at no extra cost; and
• An important tools for attracting and retaining valued employees.

Employees enjoy:

• Opportunity to access a broader array of benefits
• Freedom to choose benefits that best suit their needs
• Affordable premiums
• Portable coverage
• Easy enrollment process
• Convenient payroll-deducted premiums

Choosing the Right Carrier

Because the voluntary benefits market is growing and evolving, it is important to be aligned with an industry leader. Employers should insist on documented service measurements before they choose a carrier for their voluntary benefit package. As an example, our quarterly Service Report Card demonstrates how Trustmark leads the industry in meeting service goals vital to our customers.

“Trustmark’s Service Report Card provides a record of how well we are performing – where we excel and areas in need of improvement,” said Joe Pray, Senior Vice President, Trustmark Voluntary Benefit Solutions. “Our intent is to provide data that backs up our value proposition and to make sure we’re focused on services that are vital to our customers. If results should indicate an area is falling short of its goals, Trustmark’s management team will enact measures to correct the situation.”

With more than 90 years of experience in voluntary benefits, Trustmark is extremely well positioned to provide the information employers need to make knowledgeable decisions about enhancing their voluntary benefit plan.

Choosing the Right Voluntary Benefits Program

When you’ve made the decision to implement a voluntary benefits program, you’ll need to evaluate which voluntary benefit plans are most beneficial to your employees. For example, you and your employees may be concerned about their need for permanent life insurance and the difficulty of funding long term care. Trustmark’s Universal Life can help employees prepare for the future by providing financial security for their family, and helping to protect them against the high costs of long term care.

Another example to consider is the growing trend and movement toward implementing HSA medical plans with high deductibles. In these instances, introducing a Critical Illness plan can be an ideal solution to bridge the gap in coverage. Critical Illness plans pay a lump sum benefit upon the first diagnosis of a covered condition. Covered conditions vary by carrier, but nearly all carriers include heart attack, cancer, and stroke in their plans. At Trustmark, we also cover renal failure, major organ transplant, paralysis, coronary artery bypass surgery, ALS, and blindness. Our newest covered condition is Occupational HIV, specifically for employees such as healthcare workers, police, and firefighters who face the occupational hazard of contracting HIV daily.

Critical Illness benefits are intended to provide security for many expenses not covered by basic medical insurance, such as:

• Family income replacement during recuperation
• Medical insurance deductibles and co-pays
• Childcare and housekeeping expenses
  
• Out-of-network and experimental medical treatment

If you have implemented an HSA plan, you may be interested in offering a voluntary Critical Illness plan. Trustmark introduced lump sum plans for critical illness in the voluntary benefits market in the late ‘90s and other carriers soon began offering this benefit as well. Trustmark’s newest Critical Illness plan includes an employer-funded base benefit, with a voluntary employee-paid buy-up. In this scenario, for a minimal charge, the employer can contribute a base benefit, such as $5000 benefit to help employees fund the high deductibles in their HSA plans. Employees can then voluntarily buy-up another $5,000 to $95,000 in benefits. Providing a base benefit is at the complete discretion of the employer.

Voluntary benefit programs can easily be customized for your company. At Trustmark, we use a collaborative approach to help employers make the benefit selection process easier and more productive. Carriers offer several voluntary benefits. Trustmark is committed to providing quality voluntary benefits including Universal Life with Living Benefits for LTC, Critical Illness, Disability, and Dental for employers with 100 or more employees. And although we consider our products as good, if not better, than those of other carriers, we believe the key to implementing a successful voluntary benefits plan lies in reliable administration.

Experience Matters—Check For Administrative Reliability

Finding partners with decades of experience in providing quality voluntary employee benefits is key. Due diligence is of the utmost importance. You’ll want to be sure to look for exceptional front-to-back product and service delivery. Key components include complete enrollment support through professional enrollment firms and trained benefit counselors, toll-free number supporting services for employees; focused, proven case implementation/management process; and online access to post-enrollment case data and billing information. At Trustmark, professional enrollment, comprehensive case management, consolidated, Internet billing, and our Service Report Card are cornerstones of our success.

Enrollment Solutions

A supportive, professional approach with one-on-one and group meeting options is key to the success of a voluntary products enrollment. At Trustmark, for example, we offer an electronic system specifically designed for enrolling Universal Life, Critical Illness and Disability Income benefits in a one-on-one environment. Convenient group enrollment meetings are an option for Group Critical Illness, Short Term Disability and Dental. Look for an Internet enrollment system that allows Human Resources staff or employees to enroll new hires and provides post-enrollment support to employees who are in remote or small locations.

With Trustmark, employers can expect a smooth professional enrollment mainly via long-standing enrollment firm relationships. In addition, to help the implementation run efficiently, each case goes through a streamlined process with specialized representatives who work with clients to ensure accurate account set up. We offer both electronic and group enrollment options.

Our NOTEPAD system provides a convenient electronic enrollment process for our Life, Critical Illness, Disability and Dental products. Our NOTEPAD staff is dedicated to electronic enrollments and provides case setup, case-specific training for every enrollment, and ongoing field support. On the back end, our NOTEPAD system offers a variety of management and re-enrollment reports.

Our Trustmark Internet Enrollment System (TIES) answers the market demand for innovative enrollment solutions. To support group products, TIES can supplement group
meetings, by allowing employees who have not enrolled in person, or who cannot attend a group meeting to enroll online during open enrollment. Post enrollment, Human
Resources staff, and employees directly, can access TIES for ongoing enrollment of new hires.

With the complexity involved in setting up and managing a case, employers should seek a provider who will assure them the process will run smoothly. Trustmark offers a comprehensive online Case Tracking System with several components to ensure accurate, efficient and timely management of accounts. The system was designed to highlight critical elements of the case implementation process. Enrollment, product, underwriting and other key account information can be accessed quickly by simply clicking on the appropriate section in the case management process.

Consolidated, Internet Billing

Excellence in billing is essential for a voluntary benefits program. Unfortunately, billing is a common stumbling block for carriers. Billing errors are one of the top employer complaints related to voluntary benefit programs. Therefore, it is critical to perform the due diligence necessary to assure that the carrier or third party-administrator you choose for your voluntary benefit billing has the flexibility to handle the unique requirements of payroll-deducted products. Consider Trustmark’s expertise in billing as a benchmark, when making your evaluation, and you will be fine.

A major benefit of the consolidated billing process offered by Trustmark is our ability to combine multiple products from multiple insurance carriers in one or more payroll deduction slots. This eliminates the need for employers to reconcile and pay multiple voluntary program billings that appear at different times each month. It is also beneficial for employers who have a limited number of deduction slots with only one available for voluntary benefits. Trustmark offer employers convenient access to this system through Internet-based Inquiry and e-Bill Systems.

The e-Bill System is very flexible and accommodating to employer needs, offering several options for premium reconciliation. Employers can easily pay and reconcile bills via the Internet or email. This enhances accuracy as the online list bill reflects the most current employee information.

For those clients who would prefer Trustmark to take care of premium reconciliation, an automated data interface is available. Traditional paper list bills are also available and can be sent out monthly or each pay period.

Data customization is another accommodating feature of the e-Bill System. List bills and reconciliation reports are based on the employer’s actual payroll cycle and data is provided in a format compatible with the employer’s payroll system.

Getting Started

It’s always a good time to improve your employee benefit package without any direct employer costs. For more information on voluntary benefit programs, you can contact your employee benefit broker, your Trustmark Sales Representative, or call 1 (800) 840-4692.

About Trustmark Voluntary Benefit Solutions

Specializing in voluntary benefits including Life, Critical Illness, Dental and Disability, Trustmark Voluntary Benefit Solutions answers coverage needs for employees nationwide, backed by more than 90 years serving this market.

Trustmark Voluntary Benefit Solutions is a division of Trustmark Insurance Company, a leading insurer and benefits administrator which is licensed nationwide to offer medical, managed care, dental, disability and life insurance products and benefits administration services to employer groups and the voluntary market.