Employees First

Employees First is reshaping the voluntary benefits landscape, empowering employers to best support the financial health of their workforce.

“The passing of ACA prompted employers to evaluate benefit offerings, as the ‘exchanges’ reinforced a shopping or marketplace approach. Employers became more proactive in offering broader benefit options, so employees could personalize their selection, increasing the financial strength of an individualized benefits portfolio for a diverse workforce. The primary aim of our solution is to empower employers with an enhanced ability to elevate the financial health and wellbeing of their workforce,” says Amy Hollis, founder and CEO, Employees First.

The Employees First model has optimized one popular employer strategy of offering supplemental health plans, which help employees pay for out-of-pocket medical or personal expenses that often accompany certain medical events. These plans pay cash directly to employees for specified events, like serious illnesses, hospitalizations, or accidents.

However, a major shortcoming of these plans is the low value related to premium. Unlike medical plans, which are mandated by ACA to ensure 80 to 85 cents of every dollar goes towards claims, supplemental plan claim payments are well under 50 cents of each dollar. Now, employers have full transparency and ultimate control over the dollars that remain. A captive construct creates a model that mirrors self-funding, but the plan retains the ACA-required, fully insured status.

Now, employers have the choice of how to best reinvest those dollars back into benefits. They can direct more dollars towards paying claims, make the plans more affordable through reduced plan costs, or they can use those dollars to fund value-add benefits for employees, like fertility benefits, mental health services and more.

Employees First recognizes the value of reducing or eliminating disruption to employers’ current ecosystem, including their carriers, their benefits administration, or their valued partnerships with consultants. Employers can incorporate the financial control of the plans, without changing relationships. In many cases, there’s no need to change the carrier or the current policies.

“Employers currently offering supplemental health plans can seamlessly transition to our model with no disruption, if their carrier is an affiliate of Employees First – as many of the top-rated carriers are. If not, we can convert the current policies to an affiliate carrier, matching or increasing the plan value with no cost increase,” says Hollis.

The passing of ACA prompted employers to evaluate benefit offerings, as the ‘exchanges’ reinforced a shopping or market-place approach. Employers became more proactive in offering broader benefit options, so employees could personalize their selection, increasing the financial strength of an individualized benefits portfolio for a diverse workforce. The primary aim of our solution is to empower employers with an enhanced ability to elevate the financial health and wellbeing of their workforce,” says Amy Hollis, founder and CEO, Employees First

In a case involving a Fortune 100 employer, Employees First literally tripled the plan value, without disruption to current policies, the carrier, the broker or benefits administration. Excess plan dollars, which were previously going to profit margins, were unlocked and made available to reinvest in benefits. The employer will now have direct control over millions of untapped savings, to use towards increasing the financial wellbeing of their workforce.

Beyond transparency and control of the plans, Employees First proprietary analytics provide actuarial based, data-driven insights, so employers can now prescriptively curate the plan designs to further increase value, as plans can be customized around each employer’s most frequent claim events. Finally, Employees First does not charge the employer. In reality, plan expenses are reduced, as the program requires all administrative expenses to be capped, including Employees First’s.

So, whether the goal is to increase the plan value, or finally feel confident of the value of offering these plans, employers have welcomed Employees First’s innovative market solution. Led by a team of market- renowned experts, Employees First is working to transform an industry and live out their mission, which is also the company name – by putting Employees First, above all.