Blog

June 11, 2021

Don’t Lose Your Workforce Over Employee Health Insurance Benefits

A few years ago, companies that relied on their employees to find health insurance through the Affordable Care Act’s individual marketplace found the landscape in complete disarray. While things have finally stabilized for the moment, the practice of grossing up wages to pay for those plans is still not always the best option for mid-sized employers. The onus is on the employee and affordability is out of the company’s hands. But perhaps most importantly, businesses with a 20+ person workforce […]
June 2, 2021

How Two Indianapolis Small Employers Offer Employee Health Benefits

Insurance brokers can say all they want about the many ways small businesses can offer quality health benefits, but “the proof in in the pudding” as they say. Two of our clients were gracious enough to tell their stories, offering solid examples of how and why small employers offer employee health benefits.  Gettum Associates, Inc According to Jason Gettum, owner of Gettum Associates design & remodeling contractors located in Greewood, offering health insurance to his 13+ employees is important for […]
May 18, 2021

Small Employers Have Options for Employee Health Benefits

If you employ under 20 people, you may have found that offering employee health benefits to be cumbersome both in implementation and in cost. This does not have to be the case. The Wharton & Power Insurance Team has been helping local small employers offer high-quality health benefits for over 30 years. The health insurance industry has been all over the place since the passage of the Affordable Care Act. We have been here through it all, advising our clients […]
April 1, 2021

What to Do When You Suspect Storm Damage

What a crazy couple of months we have had! From 10 inches of snow in a few hours, to 70-degree days to a huge hailstorm all within a few weeks. Indiana weather has never been predictable, but 2021 has been especially unreliable. With two incidents that could have created significant storm damage to your home, we thought it would be helpful to share some advice from a home improvement expert, Rob Yeary of Universal Roofing. “You never know when A […]
March 17, 2021

BAGI Member Carrington Homes on Offering Employee Health Insurance

Many BAGI members come to us when they feel they can begin offering employee health insurance. Carl McIntyre of Carrington Homes reached out in 2019 for two reasons: “To attract and retain good employees, you have to offer a competitive package that includes health insurance. And I wanted good health insurance for myself and my family.” Carrington Homes has been around since 1992 and now has 16 employees. We took him through the many options available through his BAGI membership, […]
February 8, 2021

BAGI Member Jason Gettum Talks About Offering Employee Health Insurance

The Wharton & Power Insurance Team has been partnered with BAGI for over 10 years to help provide members with access to employee health insurance options. With three programs available to small businesses, we work with BAGI members to choose the plan that best suits their situation. Jason Gettum of Gettum Associate Inc offered a reflection on his decision to offer health benefits to his employees and the Wharton process. “We wanted to provide a health insurance plan to our […]
January 18, 2021

Higher Deductibles on Your Home and Auto Insurance Can Help You Save

It’s an unfortunate fact that as Americans we are getting used to managing higher deductibles on our health care. While these large limits help keep premiums down, they also require some financial planning to help ensure you can pay for your yearly medical needs. Home and auto insurance is a bit different in that claims are not as prevalent – we have insurance in case of an unexpected issue, not as a form of maintenance. Increasing the deductible on these […]
November 20, 2020

Managing Employee Open Enrollment During COVID

At Wharton & Power Insurance, open enrollment is usually a time when we meet with our clients’ employees as a group and one-on-one to review the group health plan. The remote nature of work these days is making that essential communication challenging. Our firm is recording the content so it can be delivered digitally by the employers. However, for employees who are new to the plan, have a new medical diagnosis or medication, or have claim questions, this one-size-fits-all communication […]
October 29, 2020

Small Businesses Have A New Affordable Option for Employee Health Insurance

A ruling by the US Departments of Health & Human Services and the Treasury in mid-2019 changed the game for small businesses looking to compete with large organizations when hiring high-quality employees. The ICHRA program allows employers to contribute pre-tax dollars for employee health insurance which employees can use to purchase a plan. This affordable avenue toward offering sought-after benefits gives small businesses a real chance at attracting and retaining a talented workforce. How We Helped a Local Business Offer […]
September 17, 2020

Promote Employee Wellness Through a Telemedicine Plan

Sometimes it takes a world-wide crisis for people to embrace a new way of doing things. Since COVID-19 disrupted our nation’s healthcare system, the use of telemedicine has seen a dramatic rise. Although the technology has been around for a while, patients and providers alike have more fully embraced it in 2020. Now employers are recognizing the benefits of offering a telemedicine plan within their employee health plans. And soon employees will begin to expect it. Benefits of a Telemedicine […]
September 2, 2020

Spoken to Your Life Insurance Broker Lately? If Not, You Should.

You may think of life insurance as a “one and done” type of deal. You meet with a broker to discuss your goals and beneficiaries, attain coverage and pack the policy away in your fire safe. However, life insurance is actually something that should evolve along with what it covers – your life! Too often we have clients who come to us with old policies that have not been serviced by their original broker. This lack of communication over the […]
August 19, 2020

How PEOs Help Small Businesses Weather the Pandemic

Professional Employer Organizations, or PEOs, have traditionally been driven by group health insurance. Their co-employee model allows small to mid-size businesses to tap into employee benefit packages typically offered by large organizations. However, the coronavirus pandemic has brought into focus the additional value PEOs bring to their members – human resources expertise and payroll services. PEOs offer Pandemic- Related HR Policies Few organizations anticipated needing to completely shift their business model in a matter of days. Policies and procedures covering […]