As your group insurance agent it is our job to have the knowledge, training and understanding of how to apply all the options that are available to your company. Therefore you the client, have the understanding to make an educated decision on the benefits you provide for your company.

IBS has more than just a professional relationship with the insurance companies. Due to our longstanding track record of integrity, this allows us and you as our client preferred treatment from the carriers.

Each year when your plan renews, we will present you with all the available options and alternate quotes to help you make the most informed and financially sound decision for your next policy year.

IBS offers a full array of employee benefits:

• Health Insurance
• Dental
• Life
  • Humana’s Memorial Fund
  • Humana’s Junior Estate Builder
• STD/LTD
• Long Term Care Plans
• Flexible Spending Accouunt (FSA Programs)
• Cobra Serv
• 401K
• Key-Man Life Products/Cross Purchase Agreements/Disability Buyouts

List of Preferred Health Carriers:

• Aetna
• United HealthCare
• Blue Cross and Blue Shield
• Cigna
• Avmed
• Humana

List of Preferred Non-Medical Carriers:

• Guardian
• Met Life
• Principle
• Delta Dental
• Sun Life
• Standard
• Assurant
• Mutual of Omaha
• Reliance Standard

List of Preferred 401K Carriers

• The Hartford
• Principle

Cafeteria plans by Colonial:

• No cost to the employer
• Pre-tax benefits
• Employee chooses benefits of their choice

A better understanding of Group Insurance

One of the many incentives most employers offer their employees is a group health plan. With this type of a health plan, all the employees of a company are provided coverage from a single, master policy that the employer owns. The benefit of this plan is that as there are numerous contributors to this health plan, its coverage is offered at a much lower cost for each participant.

Churches and other service groups provide group insurance for its recognized members and sometimes, also to their dependants or family members. As proof for their eligibility to the coverage offered by the policy, each member of this policy receives insurance cards.

Consequently, if the master policy that the employer holds states that the policy is part of an HMO, then all the members of the policy are registered  members of HMO too. According to this feature, all the members of the policy can use the services only of doctors in their network. Even if they need to consult a specialist, it should be done on the approval of one of the doctors in the network.

Some companies pay for the entire policy

There are however some group insurance plans offering PPO where you can consult your own doctors. However because of this feature, these plans have more expensive premiums to be paid. This comes to the part of the financing of the group health plan. While a flexible payroll deduction is used to finance the plan, some companies are willing to pay the entire cost of the policy for the benefit of their employees.

However, like most insurance policies, there may be sudden but significant rises in the cost of the premium amount. It is usually if and when some members of the plan receive expensive treatment for some medical condition that the rest of the group has to pay higher premium costs over time.

The benefit of this health plan is that unlike other plans, it is not necessary for all its members to go through physical examinations before being issued the master policy. It is because of this that many members of the plan may benefit by using the policy to pay for treating their existing conditions.

Prescription drugs may be part of co-pay

In addition to this, these plans usually cover emergency and routine medical procedures like treatments for accidents and regular doctor’s appointments. Some also provide coverage for extended care in hospitals, mental health care and rehabilitation centers. Though some plans may provide assistance for vision care and dental work, this coverage is usually limited to only specific procedures.

While prescription drug expenses are also a part of the plan’s benefits, they are usually regarded as a co-pay provision. With this provision, members of the plan have to pay a fixed price for some branded and generic medications.

Though this group insurance is better than individual policies for members of an organization, some people feel that the plan offers a limited choice of doctors in their network in the HMO plan. Moreover, some employers may also take too much of interest in their employees’ lives to reduce insurance costs, and consequently implement preventative health care programs or no smoking policies in the company.