Employee Benefits for Northeast Ohio Businesses
Your health insurance renewal should be a decision, not something that simply happens to you.
For many businesses, employee health insurance is one of their largest expenses outside of payroll. Yet the annual renewal can sometimes amount to little more than receiving new rates, making a few plan changes, and deciding how much of the increase the company and its employees can absorb.
We think employers deserve a broader conversation.
Insurance Navigators helps businesses throughout Warren, Youngstown, Boardman, and Northeast Ohio evaluate employee benefits with an eye toward both cost and the coverage employees actually receive.
Whether you have a handful of employees or a much larger workforce, the first step is understanding what you have, what is changing, and what other options may be available.
[Talk With an Employee Benefits Advisor]
Are you seeing the whole market?
Most Ohio employers recognize names like Anthem, Medical Mutual, Aetna, and UnitedHealthcare.
They're important companies, and any of them may ultimately provide the right solution.
But they're not the only options.
Insurance Navigators works with additional health insurance carriers and benefit arrangements that many employers may never have been shown. Depending on the size and circumstances of the business, that can include different fully insured options as well as alternative funding arrangements.
More choices don't automatically mean a better plan.
They do mean you can make the decision after seeing a broader picture.
A renewal is about more than the percentage increase
A 10%, 20%, or 30% increase certainly gets everyone's attention.
But simply finding a lower number doesn't necessarily solve the problem.
When reviewing an employee health plan, we also want to understand what is happening with:
Employee deductibles and out-of-pocket exposure
Provider networks and access to care
Prescription drug coverage
Employer and employee contributions
Plan design and benefit levels
The way the plan is funded
The other benefits employees rely upon
Sometimes the best decision is changing carriers or plan structure. Sometimes it isn't.
The goal is to understand the tradeoffs before making that decision.
Benefits don't end with health insurance
Health insurance may be the largest piece of the benefits package, but it isn't the only one.
We also help employers evaluate and coordinate benefits such as dental, vision, life, disability, and voluntary coverage.
Just as importantly, we help communicate those benefits to employees and support the enrollment process.
A benefit only has value if employees understand what they have and know how to use it.
Your broker should still be there after renewal
Selecting coverage isn't the end of our job.
Throughout the year, employers and employees encounter questions about benefits, claims, eligibility, enrollment changes, provider issues and other situations that don't fit neatly into renewal season.
That's why our approach is built around ongoing local service.
You have people you can call when something doesn't make sense.
Wondering whether you're getting the full picture?
You don't have to change brokers or health plans simply because you want another perspective.
Insurance Navigators offers employers a health plan second opinion to review their current coverage, renewal and available alternatives.
Sometimes we find meaningful opportunities.
Sometimes the review confirms that the employer already has a good solution.
Either outcome is useful because the decision is being made with more information.
[Get a Health Plan Second Opinion]
Local employee benefits guidance
Insurance Navigators works with employers throughout the Youngstown-Warren area, Trumbull and Mahoning Counties, and surrounding Northeast Ohio communities.
If you're approaching a renewal, questioning an increase, or simply wondering whether there are options your business hasn't been shown, we're happy to have the conversation.
Call 330-394-7400 or schedule a time to talk with our employee benefits team.