SITUATION

“Our corporate disability insurance coverage is out of control. What can you do for me?” 

Facing increased competition, an upstate manufacturing firm was looking for ways to contain expenses. Its goal was to trim employee benefit expenses while maintaining meaningful benefits for all employees, whether they were part of management or production.

SOLUTION

RJ Ahmann benefit specialists analyzed the company’s existing long-term and short-term disability plans. It was apparent the present plans provided overlapping benefits. Even worse, the plans did not distinguish between salaried, hourly, and commission based employees in terms of what constituted a disability.

Once the employee population was successfully segmented, the disability coverage could be streamlined and customized simultaneously. The employer chose to self-fund a portion of the company’s short-term disability plan to free it from a significant monthly expense.  Next, the elimination period for the long-term disability plan was modified for additional cost savings, which covered an increased monthly benefit for the company’s key employees.

Finally, the RJ Ahmann team redefined the term disability so it could accurately reflect the different needs of the diverse employee segments. The resulting benefits packages are less expensive and tailored to the employees who benefit from the coverage.