Feedback: October 2022

Q: As you prepare to offer healthcare benefits packages to your employees for 2023, what elements of coverage are you finding are most important?

Ashley Bowers

President
HomeSmart International

At HomeSmart, we offer four medical plans as well as dental and vision to meet the needs of our employees. Employees can enroll in all benefits as an employee only; employee and their children (no spouse or domestic partner coverage); employee and spouse or domestic partner; or a family plan, which includes the employee, their spouse or domestic partner and dependents.

Also, HomeSmart pays short-term disability as part of employment. HomeSmart offers optional coverage for long-term disability, voluntary life insurance, accident care and critical illness care for the employee, their spouse/domestic partner and their children.

Finally, HomeSmart offers an Employee Assistance Program, which is a resource to employees in their different times of need, be it counselling, legal aid, credit assistance or other services provided.

Between various insurance plans, disability and the Employee Assistance Program, which we will bring into 2023, HomeSmart supports employees as they navigate unexpected life circumstances. It is important to have all these programs in place, so employees can breathe easily if something comes up with their health, their family’s health, or any other difficult situation. We want to provide these safety nets to our amazing employees out of appreciation for all their hard work and time dedicated to our company.

With more than 20 years of experience in the talent management and organizational growth industries, Ashley Bowers thrives on empowering teams to achieve success and drive profits, and brings a unique approach to organizational leadership at HomeSmart International. Under Bowers’ leadership, all departments at the HomeSmart franchising company and its enterprise departments operate in sync to meet growth, retention and systematic goals. 

David Fenton

Managing Director
ECM Technologies

Finding the best-suited healthcare for one’s business can be a daunting task yet is a great opportunity to demonstrate our culture and belief in supporting our employees. Great healthcare shouldn’t be a challenge, which all too often it is.

For the past year, I’ve been recovering from a shoulder surgery that temporarily slowed me down. If not for the professional physical therapy and fitness training support, I know my recovery would have been greatly extended. I, personally, shopped around for top talent in my physical health care, nutrition and fitness training, and I want the same for our employees. 

For 2023, we are pursuing a flexible healthcare policy that affords the ability to find our own preferred healthcare providers; this is a personal experience. I expect we’ll decide on a PPO plan that also enables nutrition planning and fitness, and an umbrella policy that includes dental and eye care is imperative. We plan on providing a full healthcare benefits package with no monthly premium co-pays required by our employees.

David Fenton, managing director at ECM Technologies, is a creative, analytical and responsive entrepreneur and business executive with a proven history of success and leadership. A former residential real estate developer and founder and CEO of Twin Oaks Construction Company, Fenton is a persistent problem solver with a passion for green building and sustainable solutions that contribute to reducing a building’s carbon footprint.

Ryan Louis 

Partner
Stenson Tamaddon

As Stenson Tamaddon prepares to offer healthcare benefit packages to our employees in 2023, our employee feedback is at the top of our priorities list. These past few years have taught us the importance of health in the workplace, including the plans we choose for our team. Great coverage and affordability are two elements we find most important as we close out 2022.

Currently, we’re looking to expand our benefits and beginning to explore offering HSA plans. They’ll allow our team members to invest in their health and future by providing them with more options that fit their lifestyle. They’re tailored to each individual and won’t box employees into a one-size-fits-all proposal. 

Affordability and savings in the plans we offer our employees is extremely valuable as we enter 2023. It’s important that we remain fluid in our healthcare offerings — as the world changes, we must change, too. Sufficient healthcare benefits are a priority for almost anyone considering employment with a company, and as we begin hiring more in 2023, we hope prospective employees see our commitment to their well-being and health. 

Ryan Louis is a partner of Stenson Tamaddon, a Phoenix-based financial solutions company formed specifically to aid businesses as they navigate complicated processes that encompass securing economic stimulus benefits. 

Jackie Yoder

Chief Operating Officer
Wilde Wealth Management Group

Given inflation is permeating every aspect of life, we’ve been keenly aware of how that is affecting our team. We are paying a portion of employees’ health insurance costs and will take a hard look at the pricing moving forward, as there may be need to adjust. Beyond this, we are always — but especially post COVID-19 — reviewing and re-reviewing our coverage options for employees. 

Why now? Coverage needs to include virtual services and telemedicine. Another important must for us? Options that include coverage of at-home tests. We are also very focused on preventive medicine and wellness on our team, therefore need coverage options that keep this in mind. I hate to be cliché, but an ounce of prevention remains a pound of cure in so many cases and for many of the families on our team. 

Jackie Yoder is chief operating officer of Wilde Wealth Management Group, an award-winning financial services firm that provides comprehensive retirement, investment, real estate, insurance, legal and tax planning services all under one roof. Currently, Yoder oversees Wilde offices in Scottsdale, Glendale, Mesa, Sedona, Tempe, Tucson and Payson as well as affiliates and partners in Indiana, California and New Mexico.