Benefit Plan Designs

Employers continually grapple with employee benefit costs that are increasing at a double-digit rate. Tax dollars to fund benefits are tight, yet public entities still need to retain valuable employees, as well as attract qualified new staff to fill openings.

In the past two decades, the workforce has undergone dramatic changes. More and more families have two full-time workers, both receiving similar packages of benefits from their employers. The traditional benefit plan design limits employees to participating in an employer determined medical and possibly dental, life and/or disability insurance plan, and generally provides nothing for the employee who, having coverage through his or her spouse, chooses not to participate. These traditional benefit packages often fall short of meeting today’s employees’ needs.

A solution to meeting budgetary constraints, employee needs, and future long range benefit planning is the creative use of a Section 125 Flexible Benefit Plans or Health Reimbursement Accounts. The design of the plans may range in complexity from a simple plan to a highly structured plan, offering choices from a wide menu of benefits.

For a description of these plans, view the Related Document to the right.