Prescott Pailet Benefits

Heating and Air Conditioning

Challenge: Client had absorbed 30 – 40% increases over the past several years and couldn’t continue to offer benefits to their employees if they didn’t find a solution to the rising costs. They didn’t want to decrease the level of benefits nor did they want to discontinue offering.

Solution: We implemented an innovative solution where they were able to keep the same level of benefits while actually reducing their costs.

Result: Not only were they able to keep their comprehensive coverage, they were able to give their employees several options while saving the company $48,000 in the first year.

Marketing Firm

Challenge: Client acquired a company where the majority of the employees lived in a remote area where there were few choices in terms of carriers. Finding a network that would satisfy both the new entity as well as the Texas based employees was what PPB was challenged to do.

Solution: PPB researched all of the available options and personally looked up every employee’s doctor and/or hospital, to make sure that they had adequate access. We then did a side-by-side comparison to make sure that the benefits were comparable.

Result: We were able to find a carrier that enabled employees to access 99% of their providers. PPB conducted numerous conference calls and webinars with employees and their spouses to make them comfortable with the transition. Employees had direct access to their PPB CSM for any questions or concerns.

Retiree

Challenge: Employee retired and the cost of COBRA was going to be around $600/month to maintain their coverage. In addition to the expensive premium, the member was responsible for a $2,000 deductible and coinsurance of up to $6,000.

Solution: Since the employee was Medicare eligible, PPB showed them that by enrolling in Medicare Part A & B and purchasing a Medicare Supplement plan along with a Medicare drug plan, they reduced their premium to less than $300/month and had coverage at 100% with NO deductible. Their only cost beyond the reduced premium was their copays for prescriptions.

Result: Employee improved their coverage and lowered their premium costs and out of pocket expenses.

Medical Practice

Challenge: Medical practice had a 401K with $2 million in assets that had not been evaluated from its original inception. The funds were costly and not properly diversified, thus creating a liability issue for the employer. They also only had individual funds available and didn’t offer managed portfolios that appropriately met the needs of all of their employees.

Solution: PPB gathered proposals from several vendors and selected a plan that offered them greater fund diversification.

Result: Plans were enhanced and the client lowered their expenses by about $10,000.

Owner of Company

Challenge: Owner of a company was uninsurable for individual LTC insurance and they couldn’t be underwritten for any substantial benefit.

Solution: PPB was able to find comprehensive group coverage that could be offered to him and all of his employees on a modified guarantee issue basis. We were able to provide the owner with over $400,000 of coverage, which he subsequently used, saving him and his family hundreds of thousands of dollars in expenses. In addition, 9 other employees were able to get affordable LTC coverage.

Results: PPB came up with a creative solution that provided the owner with the coverage he was seeking and enabled other employees within the company to obtain affordable LTC coverage as well.

Medical Practice 2

Challenge: Medical practice with four doctors needing to save more money for their retirement. The problem was that the 401K plan failed testing due to low contributions/participation among the non-highly compensated employees. The plan would not allow the doctors to contribute any significant amount to the plan.

Solution: PPB converted the plan to a Safe Harbor design so that it would pass testing and allowed the doctors to defer the full amount of $16,500. In addition, we implemented a profit sharing plan to allow the doctors to contribute up to a total of $49,000 each towards their retirement plan. This also improved the employee’s retirement plans as they participated in the profit sharing as well.

Results: The doctors got the retirement vehicle they were looking for and the employees benefitted as well with an enhanced retirement plan.

Law Firm

Challenge: Growing law firm wanted to enhance their benefit package so that it could be used as a recruiting tool for new attorneys.

Solution: After PPB did a thorough review of their disability coverage, we found that the carrier they were using offered excellent coverage for the general workforce, but some of the language was not favorable for their attorneys. In fact, while the contract appeared to give them 60% of their income in the event of a disability, we discovered some holes in their contract that that could cost the attorneys tens to hundreds of thousands of dollars in income if they were to become disabled and need to shorten their work week.

Results: PPB understood the nuances and unique compensation models of law firms and was able to find and recommend a policy that would provide the proper protection without the typical restrictions and limitations that may apply in general policies.

Law Firm 2

Challenge: one of the largest law firms in Dallas had been using the same insurance agent and insurance company for their disability coverage for over 25 years. They were told that their policy was so old that many of the provisions in their contract could not be replicated in today’s market so they never considered changing policies and thus absorbed an average rate increase of 6% year over year.

Solution: PPB stepped in and did a thorough review of their current contract and found significant opportunities to enhance their coverage to meet the needs of today’s attorneys.

Results: While they couldn’t replicate the one provision that was holding them back from moving over the past 25 years, they were able to improve their contract by adding additional provisions that were deemed to be of more value by the client and the attorneys. In addition to getting them more coverage, there was a substantial premium savings of $300,000.

Accounting Firm

Challenge: An accounting firm with limited HR resources made a critical mistake, leaving an employee without life insurance coverage. The employee handling HR had a new hire who completed all of her benefits paperwork, including her life insurance form, which included voluntary life insurance for her spouse. Money had been deducted from the employee’s payroll, however the employer never submitted the form to the carrier, so she and her family were not covered. Unfortunately, her spouse passed away and she found out she had no benefit when she went to file the claim with the insurance company. The insurance company was not required to pay the claim and the employer would have been responsible for paying the claim.

Solution: The employer contacted PPB in a panic, realizing her mistake. PPB contacted the insurance company to see if they would make an exception.

Results: Because we are a trusted partner and on the carrier’s Advisory Board, they agreed to pay the $50,000 claim.

Professional Services Firm

Challenge:

A new professional services firm was at a significant recruiting and retention disadvantage with their current benefit package. They only offered one medical plan and a voluntary dental plan to their employees. They had just received a 2.5% renewal increase, which is great by today's standard.

Solution:

After PPB completed our study, we were able to add two newer, more comprehensive medical plans, empowering the employees with choices, as well as life, LTD, employer paid dental, voluntary vision and Teladoc. All of this for a total monthly premium equal to 1.5% more than the expiring premiums.

Result:

By using PPB's resources and innovation, we could create a significantly more robust benefits portfolio without increasing their costs. In fact, it was achieved with a small savings!

Case Studies