Let's go ahead and cut to the chase. Yes, offering benefits cost money, but what are your employee turnover, lack of employee engagement, and competition who offer their workforce better benefits costing your company? $11 billion is lost annually due to employee turnover (Bloomberg BNA)

A company's primary motive is to grow and serve its clients well. For that to happen, you will need a dedicated workforce to move that vision forward. Having employee benefits will undoubtedly play a role in making sure you attract and retain key staff members. 79% of employers believe offering benefits to employees is a critical component of attracting talent (Burston Marsteller)

What Employee Benefits Should I Provide?

Top of the list of must-have benefits is medical insurance for current and potential employees. With unstable, drastic cost increases, and limited individual medical insurance choices, many small to medium size companies are turning to group medical plans. Every day we help companies start and manage lower cost and more benefit-rich group medical plans when compared to their current individual coverage. After medical coverage, employees are asking for disability, life, dental, and vision insurance. We offer all of those and even more. Such as telemedicine, which allows employees to use their smartphone to interact with a doctor.

Why Does My Current Advisor Ignore Me?

We hear this question often, and there are two simple reasons why. First, you may be considered "too small to manage." Yes, it's a money thing, and the smaller the group, the lower the commission. Employee benefit carriers have also disincentivized working with small businesses through reduced plan choices and commissions. UPstream offers many benefits administration services to help businesses of all sizes achieve their goals. 

Second, your agent is not focused on you as the insurance landscape has changed. Large agencies are buying up smaller ones and shifting the service model to a more hands-off managed approach. Agents are handling more clients as a result, and you need to be the squeaky wheel to get noticed. UPstream provides you with a dedicated advisor who is just that, dedicated. If you have a question, need something fixed, or just hired a new employee, you call the same advisor, and we won't let you get lost in an online portal. There is nothing wrong with a fancy enrollment portal, as we use one. Where the problem lies is not being available to help employees with their questions along the way. 73% of employees prefer to talk live with someone about their benefits rather than use an automated system (Health Advocate)

Just Starting	Growing	Leading
Where do you begin? All businesses must learn where to get trusted advice that is relevant and honest. UPstream advisors are experienced and cutting-edge, and we are excited about the opportunity to help your business become successful.	How do you grow wisely? As your business grows, so should your benefits plan. Have you planned for next year, or even five years from now, to be ready? UPstream offers insight into industry trends and cost changes as your company grows and prospers.	Have your benefits kept up? When you became an industry leader, you did so through hard work and making smart decisions. A second opinion costs you nothing! Maybe it's time for an UPstream advisor to show you what out-of-the-box thinking looks like.

How We Handle Our Service

Initial meeting
We start with lots of listening. We want to hear your goals, needs, and expectations, and then we will ask questions to understand the decisions behind your current or desired benefits. We will also need to gather a few pieces of information to provide you with an easy-to-understand employee benefits proposal. A great place to start is with a census of all your full-time eligible staff.

Full Proposal
An UPstream advisor will go to work designing the best benefits package and options for your business based on your goals and expectations. We compare your current benefits to the goals you told us you wanted to achieve, and we identify areas of opportunity for improvement. We clearly and transparently deliver your benefits proposal and solutions that we think are a good fit for you. We explain to you as a business owner how our service is different, discuss the pros and cons of each plan, and help you understand how we came to our decisions.

Employee Enrollment
Your dedicated advisor will walk you through the enrollment process one step at a time. We communicate to your staff clearly and remain available for any questions that come up along the way. 

Employee Transitions
All businesses experience employee changes and we are here to help with the transition. Whether you hire new folks or an employee is moving on it requires benefits communication and enrollment or benefit continuation options. We will be here to support you and your staff the whole way.

Benefits Renewal
Benefits change and so do costs. We will compare each year for the best benefits and the best rates to ensure you are getting what you pay for. When it makes sense we will provide you with alternate quotes and make sure your staff is coached through the renewal process.