Click headers for detailed case studies:
Behavioral Healthcare Services
As a result of growth through acquisition, the company was faced with the challenge of integrating operations and unifying the employee benefits offerings and administration across their facilities. In addition, its previous benefits broker did not have the marketing capabilities to explore all options and present a plan of action in a timely manner. As a result, upper management was given last minute renewals with very few options. Open enrollment was mishandled and employees openly complained about the benefits offered through their employer.
Client Description: The company offers a variety of behavioral health and chemical dependency services for seniors, adults, adolescents and children. The company currently has 1000+ employees and operates several locations in the United States.
SCM's Solutions: An SCM Employee Benefits team consisting of two vice presidents and two account managers met with the client's senior management and the human resource directors from the company's various locations. After a thorough review, SCM's team developed a uniform benefits administration guide for the company and reviewed and updated its ERISA compliance, including the correction of 5500 filings, which were brought up to date.
Pursuant to SCM's standard operating procedures, the team produced a comprehensive analysis of the client's benefits renewal and marketing options 120 days prior to its renewal date, enabling senior management time to make an informed decision. SCM then provided a professional enrollment process, including counselors who met one-on-one with all eligible employees to explain the benefits and scrub employee personal information. A clean open enrollment data base was then transferred to payroll and the carriers to ensure compliance.
Client Benefits: Consistent human resource policies throughout the company have simplified the jobs of senior management and the hospitals' on-site human resource directors. Senior management is able to focus on the company's continued growth through acquisitions, confident that its benefits administration is in compliance.
Surveyed employees gave the open enrollment process high marks, with 92% of employees commenting that they had a better understanding of their benefits and 98% of employees rating the enrollment experience "good" or "great," a far cry from previous years. HR had updated, concise enrollment forms, signed waivers and all employee records are up-to-date.
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Manufacturer of High-pressure Cylinders
During our ten-year relationship with the company, SCM has been providing a comprehensive Employee Benefits plan that fulfills the needs of the company's employees across multiple states. The plans, including medical, dental, vision, life and long term disability insurance, as well as voluntary products, consistently generate high employee satisfaction ratings. In its effort to reduce costs, the company requested that SCM revise its plans to meet its lower budget, without reducing employee satisfaction.
Client Description: The company is the parent of a manufacturer that specializes in the development, production and supply of seamless, extruded aluminum and composite high-pressure cylinders for the storage of gases. The company has manufacturing sites in both Europe and North America. Approximately 500 people are employed in their U.S. locations.
SCM's Solutions: Through a process of aggressive marketing and carrier negotiations, SCM presented the company with an option that consolidated benefits under one carrier, substantially reducing its premiums. Through a proactive open enrollment process, the new plans were introduced to the employees with positive results, for a successful implementation.
Client Benefits: The company accomplished its goal of maintaining positive employee moral during a challenging economic cycle, while saving $318,000 in premiums at renewal. The new plan designs continued to meet the needs of its multiple locations, and actually improved the benefits offered in some cases.
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Credit Union
During an eight year relationship with the company, SCM developed a comprehensive benefit program which included medical, dental, vision, life, short term disability and long term disability insurance and voluntary programs. The employees throughout the various locations were very satisfied with the plan choices. The challenge was to renew their Employee Benefit program within budget, while retaining as many of the benefits as possible.
Client Description: The company is one of the largest credit unions in the State, with over $500 million in assets. The company has approximately 220 employees working in 15 branches.
SCM's Solutions: SCM implemented a Strategic Planning Process, which included a review of the:
- Overall philosophy with regard to the Employee Benefits program
- Plan designs of each of the individual benefit programs
- Administrative needs and challenges of the H.R. Benefits department
- Current carrier and vendor relationships
Through a process of marketing and carrier negotiations, SCM provided an option to improve the medical benefit plans, maintained the benefit level of all other programs, and introduced a new Employee Assistance Program with wellness features. This option resulted in bringing the overall renewal cost within budget.
Client Benefits: The company maintained employee satisfaction with the benefit program, while saving $61,000 in premium.
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Family-owned Retail Chain
In anticipation of lower revenues resulting from changing economic times in 2008, the company was proactive in addressing ways to reduce its expenses. The company asked SCM to reduce its employee benefits costs by 15%, without putting additional financial strain on its employees or communicating that the company was having financial hardships. As a family-owned business, the owners have tremendous respect for their employees and take great pride in providing medical, dental, vision and life insurance plans.
Client Description: The company is a family-owned and operated retail chain which has been serving Southern California for over 60 years. The company has ten stores in the Greater Los Angeles area and 120 employees.
SCM's Solutions: With a quoted, bottom-line renewal increase of 10% in 2008, the cost of the employee benefits program needed to be reduced by 25% to achieve the company's goal to cut net costs by 15%. SCM re-created the employee benefits offerings, the plan designs and the funding mechanisms to achieve this goal.
Client Benefits: Employees were pleased to have more choices and options and the company was happy to have a program that will allow them to contain costs for the next three to five years.
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