Question: What is the most notable need your employees have expressed regarding healthcare and wellness since the implementation of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act?
Chad Falkenberg
Chairman and CEO
Soilworks
Sector: Manufacturing
At Soilworks, offering a choice in healthcare plans is very important to our employees. They appreciate having three quality healthcare choices available to them. Last year, we offered two different options.
We looked at many healthcare options prior to selecting the three current plans. We tried to select plans that would meet our employee needs, while trying to control the cost increase we would have to pay in order to provide them.
Most of our employees not only trust the healthcare plans we selected, but appreciate the due diligence we did in selecting them. The healthcare industry is such a complex landscape right now that many of them didn’t feel as confident in their ability to choose their best available plan if we had stopped providing coverage.
In addition, our employees are appreciative of the Employee Benefits Helpline available to them when they have specific health insurance questions. Having as much information as possible in front of you helps you make the best possible healthcare decision, whether you’re the employer or employee.
Soilworks provides engineered solutions to meet the broad needs of the dust control and soil stabilization industry. Whether the market is commercial, industrial or military, Soilworks has the innovative tools, unmatched technical support, and environmentally friendly technologies to fulfill specific requirements. Soilworks’ international sales network, global distribution centers and integrated customer service provide an ideal platform to satisfy all its customers’ needs.
Carson Holmquist
Co-Founder and CEO
Stream Logistics
Sector: Logistics and Transportation
The most prominent need expressed by employees of Stream Logistics is overall cost reduction, which is comprised of the employee’s individual premium contribution amount, deductibles and co-pays. When we designed our healthcare plan, we made sure all three factors were considered.
First, we focused on individual premium contributions, since these costs are recurring and predictable. As a company, we only ask our employees to contribute $80 per month toward their premium while we pay for the remainder of the premium costs. Although this is a significant cost to the company, we know the employee satisfaction outweighs the capital commitment.
After committing to the premium contribution structure, we carefully selected a plan that offers competitive deductibles and co-pays for access to a vast healthcare network. The cumulative result of these choices is a healthcare offering which is high-quality and low-cost to the employee.
Healthcare is a necessary but frustrating expense, which means cost reduction will remain the primary need for our employees.
Entrepreneur, co-founder and CEO Carson Holmquist is the business mastermind behind freight and transportation management firm Stream Logistics. With a background in operations management and process improvement, Holmquist has designed Stream Logistics to run efficiently and perform consistently. In a very competitive industry, Stream Logistics has created a differentiated experience for carriers and clients.
Nathan Perrins
Co-Owner
Zerorez of Phoenix
Sector: Cleaning Services
Our employees would love to have affordable health coverage for themselves and their families. Since the implementation of PPACA, it has been difficult to find programs that meet the needs of all employees. PPACA puts all companies and employees into a one-size-fits-all program.
The biggest need from our employees is to find coverage that meets the needs of their family. Unfortunately, those programs don’t exist through an employer-provided system. Employers are limited on what they can offer to groups, and our employees have found the Affordable Care Act not so affordable when they look on their own.
As an owner and a participant in this new program, I’ve seen their same issues. My new coverage under PPACA was nine times more than my previous insurance. Even with Zerorez covering a bulk of the cost for the employee, it is still an increase in monthly cost to the employee. I feel many still make the sacrifice of choosing no insurance at all, which defeats the whole purpose of PPACA.
Nathan Perrins co-owns Zerorez of Phoenix with his brother-in-law, Casey Ashdown. With two locations in Gilbert and Deer Valley, Zerorez has been Arizona’s environmentally friendly carpet cleaning business since 2004. Over the past decade-plus, the business has grown to more than 70 employees and has won the 2015 Better Business Bureau Ethics Award and its Spirit of Service Award.
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