Current Headlines
BRG's Beyond Wellness Program Featured in CBC Magazine
What keeps small and large business owners awake at night? For many, it is rising healthcare costs and the need to keep those expenses in check. The Beyond Wellness program developed by Benefits Resource Group gives employers more control over their healthcare costs while providing employees with education and incentives that improve their health and well-being. The program is built around key elements that are considered central to any wellness program and focuses on the lifestyle factors, which statistics show leads to 85 percent of medical expenses: smoking, drinking, lack of exercise, obesity, poor diet, and driving habits. The CBC Magazine article titled "Dollar Sense" can be viewed here.
BRG’s Commitment to Continuing Education
At BRG,
we encourage our associates to pursue highly-respected industry designations that will enhance their ability to help our clients. We are proud to announce that Cindy LaQuatra recently earned her Certified Self Funded Specialist (CSFS®) designation.
In addition, Ross and Jason Farro are making significant progress toward their Chartered Health Care Consultant (ChHC™) designation, while Dan Gut has passed the sixth of eight courses required to obtain his Chartered Life Underwriter (CLU) designation.
Scott G. Fischer Joins Benefits Resource Group
Scott comes to BRG with 15 years of experience in the retirement industry. Prior to joining BRG, Scott held a senior level consulting position with a national retirement consulting firm. Throughout his career Scott has developed creative cutting edge tools such as designing a wealth management and 401(k) platform utilizing Exchange Traded Funds. Scott holds his B.B.A. in Finance from Kent State University and has the Qualified 401(k) Administrator (QKA) designation.
Linda Cahill Talks Audits
Linda Cahill shared insights on benefit audits at two events this October.
She addressed the October 19th meeting of the Akron chapter of the Institute of Management Accountants (IMA) as well as being a featured speaker on October 27th at the
Cleveland Accounting
Show at the IX Center.
Cindy LaQuatra Shares Her Healthcare Expertise
Cindy LaQuatra was recently featured in a benefitspro.com article about wellness programs flourishing in the age of health care reform. She also participated on the panel of a Healthcare Performance Management (HPM) Institute live webcast about the use of cloud computing in the cost-effective delivery of healthcare benefits.
HPM Institute Webcast Highlights How Cloud Computing Can Cut Health Costs
Cloud computing is revolutionizing the way that private-sector interests are managing and delivering their healthcare benefits, according to several experts who spoke during a webcast hosted by the Healthcare Performance Management Institute.
"In the employee benefits arena, cloud computing is now more than a promise," said George Pantos, Executive Director of the HPM Institute. "It's helping create a new business model as companies abandon their own more expensive in-house platforms and turn to this new computing method in order to provide better care at lower cost."
Cindy LaQuatra, a senior consultant at Benefits Resource Group in Independence, Ohio, spoke at the webcast. "The days of managing your group health plan by making plan design changes and shifting health costs to employees are over," said LaQuatra."New technology can help employers save money while still providing comprehensive benefit programs to employees. Firms manage liabilities and workers' compensation very well. They must be proactive and do the same with their health plans."
Updated Assessment of Policyholder Protections Following Passage
of
Budget Control Act
The U.S.’s economic recovery continues to be slowed by debt and deficits. Following the passage of the Budget Control Act of 2011,
and Standard & Poor’s Rating Services (S&P) downgrade of the long-term credit rating of the United States to ‘AA+’ from ‘AAA’, clients may once again express concerns regarding the stability of life insurance companies, both in terms of policies they own and policies they may be considering for purchase.
As part of our commitment to convey the most recent and up to date information regarding Insurance Carriers and the current economic crisis, we would like to share with you M Financials updated “Who’s Watching Your Back?” The piece reviews the proven policyholder protections the life insurance industry continues to provide, including regulatory and third party oversight, as well as mechanisms to support policyholders of troubled companies.
To access the piece, please click here.
BRG is Diamond Sponsor at The 45th Annual Northern Ohio Human
Resource
Conference (NOHRC) being held on March 11, 2011
The 45th Annual Northern Ohio Human Resource Conference (NOHRC) is being held at the IX Center - Cleveland on Friday,
March 11, 2011.
Benefits Resource Group is a Diamond Sponsor for this years event and will be located in Booth # 501.
We hope to see you there!
Smart Business along with Benefits Resource Group, Nationwide, Skoda Minotti, Akron General Health System and Calfee, Halter & Griswold tackle the topic of Healthcare Reform
Ross Farro, Principal, Benefits Resource Group, discusses how your company's health care benefits will be affected and what you'll need to do to prepare for the changes.
BRG Launches a New Website!
As part of our ongoing efforts to deliver service that goes Beyond Benefits, Benefits Resource Group is proud to debut this brand new website. This user-friendly tool was designed to be a valuable resource to site visitors, allowing them instant access to service descriptions, glossaries, value-added HR research and compliance information, links, calculators and more in one convenient place...
BRG Profiled in Inside Business Magazine
Where most benefits companies provide one or two specialty products for their clients, Benefits Resource Group (BRG) furnishes a full range of services, from health and retirement to voluntary and executive benefits...
