Private Exchanges & Shopping for Benefits

Private Benefits Exchanges help employers to control their budgets while offering a more robust array of benefits to their staff. What makes this approach possible is sophisticated software, like Maxwell Health, and a benefits consultant that can help strategically position employers to adopt this structure while effectively communicating the improvements to their staff. Of course, with any major change to benefits programs, educating the staff is critical. Oftentimes, the adoption of a private benefits exchange strategy allows employees to invest employer dollars where it makes most sense to them, meaning it is a positive change. For example, let's say an employer is used to sponsoring employee only dental, vision, core life, and both long and short-term disability to their staff, or even a combination of partially paid dependent coverage on some of the coverage lines. Some staff may prefer to have dental through their spouse, or perhaps they don't need short-term disability because they have robust savings. This employee, however, may have a need for benefits like accident or critical illness. With the private exchange strategy, this employee can choose to divert more employer dollars towards these other products to more effectively complete their personal risk management profile. Because each employee's needs are different, the private exchange model makes a great deal of sense. Employers benefit because they are able to maintain their budget easily from year to year while not stripping benefits for staff. With a diligent broker negotiating on the employer's behalf and recommending carrier changes when appropriate, it is possible for companies to adopt this approach as a long-term cost control strategy while also enriching the benefits program for the workforce. Win-win.