Cypress

In today’s competitive landscape, securing top talent is paramount for any organization. Recognizing this, Higginbotham offers health insurance solutions that can stand as a cornerstone of your benefits package, helping your team to attract and retain your industry’s best and brightest.

Our suite of group health insurance options is designed to meet the diverse needs of Texas businesses and their employees, and includes plans like:

• Preferred Provider Organization (PPO) Plans: PPOs can offer a balance of flexibility and cost-effectiveness. Employees can benefit from a wide array of in-network health care providers, helping them receive the quality care they need.
• Health Maintenance Organization (HMO) Plans: HMO plans emphasize in-network care, fostering strong patient-provider relationships while optimizing costs. This option allows employees to select a primary care provider that serves as their portal of care for referrals to specialists.
• Point of Service (POS) Plans: Marrying the structure of HMOs with the flexibility of PPOs, POS plans can allow employees to choose their primary care physician within the network, with greater freedom to seek services outside the network when necessary.
• Health Savings Account (HSA) Plans: HSAs can provide a tax-advantaged way for employees to save for medical expenses, promoting a more proactive approach to healthcare. Contributions are made pre-tax and funds generally roll over from year to year.
• Gap Health Insurance: Gap insurance policies are designed to bridge the gap left by major medical or comprehensive health plans by covering out-of-pocket expenses such as coinsurance, co-pays and deductibles for inpatient and outpatient services.
• Limited Medical Plans (Mini-Med Plans): As a cost-effective alternative to major medical insurance, these plans feature capped benefits, offering coverage up to a specific limit. This approach can allow for lower premiums and minimal rate increases.

At Higginbotham, our employee benefits specialists share your goal: to secure an affordable group health insurance plan that not only meets the financial criteria of your business but also supports the health and wellness of your valued team members. As a national insurance brokerage with deep local roots, we are committed to delivering exceptional group health insurance benefits to businesses throughout Houston, TX, and the surrounding regions.

Why offer health benefits to your employees?

Offering health insurance to your team can play a key role in creating an attractive workplace that can draw and retain top talent. Health insurance is a core component of employee benefits and can signal an employer’s investment in the health and well-being of their workforce. This commitment has the potential to significantly enhance employee satisfaction, engagement, morale and productivity, along with recruitment efforts.

Our benefits specialists know that health encompasses more than physical wellbeing; it also includes maintaining your teeth and vision. Our team can help your organization determine which group dental and vision policies you need to make your employees’ health coverage complete. This might include:

• Dental Maintenance Organization (DMO): Under a DMO plan, you’ll select a primary care dentist and stick to your plan’s network for all dental services, ensuring streamlined care and optimal cost management.
• Preferred Provider Organization (PPO) or Participating Dental Network (PDN): These plans offer the flexibility to choose within or outside your network of dentists, similar to our health insurance options. Opting for in-network dentists can translate to lower out-of-pocket costs, but out-of-network dentists can also be used for dental care.
• Dental Indemnity: For those valuing flexibility above all, dental indemnity plans allow you to visit a dentist without a referral. Generally, these plans do not require copays, but coverage is up to a specified limit.
• Vision Care Insurance: As vision problems are a common disability in the United States, most employees would likely benefit from having eye care insurance as part of their core benefit package. Most group vision insurance plans cover items like prescription glasses, contact lenses and general eye exams.

The health of your team is a priority, and that should extend to every aspect of their wellbeing, including vision and dental care. Our vision and dental insurance options are designed to provide your employees with the support needed to maintain optimal health.

The impact of a disability on an individual and their loved ones can be profound, bringing with it significant emotional and financial strain. It’s a common oversight to underestimate the likelihood of experiencing a disability or to misjudge the extent of coverage provided by workers’ compensation insurance, which may fall short of providing adequate support. This makes short-term and long-term disability insurance essential for helping to safeguard your employees during their most challenging times. That’s why Higginbotham’s approach involves a detailed analysis of your organization’s needs and financial capabilities to recommend disability insurance solutions that align with your employees’ welfare.

Short-term disability insurance is designed to help employees who are unable to work due to illness, childbirth or injury. Generally, short-term disability payments only cover a portion of the income an employee would make while working, but they can help employees to cover their living expenses while out of work for a total duration ranging between 90 and 180 days.

Long-term disability insurance is critical for covering conditions that cause prolonged work absences, such as musculoskeletal disorders, back issues and serious illnesses like cancer. These policies are designed to provide financial stability over extended periods, reflecting our commitment to your employees’ health and financial security.

As an employer, offering retirement plans can be a valuable tool in attracting the best possible team members, but navigating the many options and potential compliance issues can be difficult. Our benefit specialists can help your organization implement cost-effective 401(k) and retirement plans designed to help you stand out from the crowd.

A 401(k) plan is more than a recruitment incentive; it’s an essential tool for your employees’ financial wellness, allowing them to allocate a portion of their salary to a retirement fund on a pre-tax basis. This arrangement can not only defer taxes until funds are withdrawn in retirement, but can also enable your employees to grow their savings more effectively over time. As an employer, you have the option to match their contributions up to a certain percentage, further enhancing the attractiveness of your benefits package and incentivizing prospective and current employees to build their careers with your organization. And, with a variety of investment options, such as stocks, bonds and mutual funds, your employees can tailor their retirement planning strategy according to their risk tolerance and goals.

The Internal Revenue Code offers many avenues for both employers and employees to reduce their annual tax liabilities. On such option is a Section 125 Plan, commonly referred to as a Cafeteria Plan. Employees can withhold contributions to their Section 125 plan on a pretax basis, which can reduce their taxable income (and, consequently, the amount they pay in taxes). For employers, offering a Cafeteria Plan benefit could reduce the amount paid in Federal Insurance Contribution Act (FICA) and unemployment taxes. Cafeteria benefits may include options like Premium Only Plans (POPs), Flexible Savings Accounts (FSAs), Health Reimbursement Arrangements (HRAs) and Transportation Reimbursement Programs.

Choosing the right voluntary benefits offerings can help enhance your recruiting efforts, increase employee retention and promote workplace productivity. Higginbotham’s employee benefits team in Cypress takes the time to understand your organization’s needs, wants and budget, helping us to offer recommendations for voluntary benefits programs that help promote the personal health and financial wellbeing of your employees.

As an employer, life insurance is the cornerstone of your employees’ financial security. That’s why Higginbotham offers a range of life insurance plans tailored to meet your team’s unique needs, helping to protect them and their loved ones from life’s uncertainties. Our life insurance policy offerings include, but aren’t limited to:

• Term Life Insurance: Term life is one of the most straightforward types of life insurance available, offering protection for a predetermined period. Should you pass away within the policy’s term, your beneficiary will receive a death benefit. After the term ends, coverage can be renewed, though potentially at a different rate.
• Whole Life Insurance: Offering lifelong coverage, whole life insurance can eliminate the need for renewal. It can provide greater peace of mind through a fixed premium, albeit often at a higher cost than term life insurance.
• Universal Life Insurance: Similar to whole life, universal life insurance covers you for life, but with the added benefit of adjustable premiums and death benefits, allowing for greater flexibility.
• Variable Universal Life (VUL) Insurance: Variable life policies combine the flexibility of universal life insurance with investment opportunities, aiming to increase the value of your benefits over time.
• Accidental Death & Dismemberment (AD&D) Insurance: This supplemental coverage can provide an employee’s loved ones with financial support in the event of a fatal accident or qualifying dismemberment. It can be a cost-effective solution that offers additional peace of mind, helping to alleviate financial stress for your family in times of unexpected tragedy.