In short, Insurance Brokers play the “middle-man” for clients and their employees by: 1) Staying up to date with compliance regulations, 2) Finding the most competitive rates on the market, 3) Amending plan designs and funding mechanisms to reduce costs, and 4) Helping employers administer and effectively communicate employee benefit plans.

A General Agent’s primary function is to sell insurance to brokers, who then sell the policies to their clients. They offer many other important services and are often referred to as the “Broker’s Broker.” Not all brokers work with a General Agent, and generally their services are provided behind the scenes.

It can certainly be overwhelming to find an insurance broker that is the right fit for your business and unique set of needs. Most brokers offer a free consultation to go over their services and your goals. It’s helpful to ask for case studies, reviews, referrals, and something that shows proof of concept. DBA is happy to provide whatever you need to feel confident in your decision to work together!

Take the monthly premium, multiply by 12 months, and divide by the number of pay periods. For example, a monthly Dental Premium at $30 for bi-weekly pay periods would be – ($30 X 12 Months) / 26 Pay Periods = $13.85 Per Paycheck.

If you have 50 or more full-time employees, you must prepare 1095-C Forms for Employees, and also submit those forms along with a 1094-C Cover Sheet to the IRS.

You only need to complete a Form 5500 if you have an ERISA Plan that has 100+ Participants (not employees) on the first day of the plan year.

Employers must contribute to the insurance premiums if they have 50 or more full-time employees. This makes an employer subject to all regulations under the Affordable Care Act (ACA).

No, however, it is very important to ensure employees are “Classified” correctly. Dorado can ensure employee classification is correct, as well as offer benefit solutions catered to 1099 employees!

The deductible is the amount that must be paid out by the member before the plan will kick in. The deductible typically applies to major things like Surgery, Inpatient Stays, and Advanced Imaging, but varies by plan. Copays are in place on many plan structures to cover more common services like Doctors and Specialist Visits prior to the deductible being met.

In summary, a HDHP is a plan where the deductible must be met before any services are paid for by the plan. While there is a negotiated rate in place for members who stay in the contracted network, the member will pay a higher out of pocket amount, upfront, versus a plan that offers a copay structure (Like a PPO Plan).

In most cases, Employers can choose how they’d like to tax the Disability benefit. If an employer chooses to do post-tax, up front, the benefit will not be taxed when the employee goes on Disability. If the employer chooses to do pre-tax, up front, the benefit will be taxed when the employee goes on Disability.

While an employer can offer an FSA and HSA at the same time, an employee cannot have both an HSA and FSA for the purpose of pre-tax usage. If an employee switches from an FSA to an HSA, they forfeit the funds for claims incurred after the new effective date.

No. When an employee goes on COBRA, you will still receive a bill that shows them on the plan; however, the employee will be paying the entire cost of coverage (Plus a 2% admin fee) to the COBRA Administrator who will then remit the payment back to the employer.