FLEXIBLE BENEFIT PLANS
Flexible Benefit Plans are employer sponsored plans that give employees the opportunity to choose the type of benefit and level of coverage that best meet their needs. These plans can be easy to administer and simple to use. The employer gives each plan member a fixed number of credits. Each benefit option is assigned a value which is a pre-specified number of credits. Plan members use their credits to purchase their benefits coverage allowing them to purchase only the benefits that they need at varying levels. In some plans left over credits can go into a Health Care Spending Account (HCSA). Once a plan member has used up his/her credits, the employee can either purchase additional coverage or pay directly for needed services. Flexible Benefit Plans are available as full-choice flexible plans or modular packages.
Full-choice Flexible Plans usually offer a set of core benefits and then allow plan members to use their credits to purchase benefits not on the list of core benefits and/or increase the coverage of benefits on or off the list of core benefits.
Modular Packages are pre-designed benefit packages. The plan member chooses the Modular Package which will best suit his/her needs but there is no flexibility within the package.
Flexible Benefit Plans are most effective in large or diverse companies with a wide range of ages. They give employers more control over their benefits plans and can make future costs more predictable in addition to giving plan members the option of selecting benefits and levels of coverage that best meet their individual requirements.
Contact the JDB Group for more information.
