Health   Dental   Vision   Life   AD&D   Short-Term Disability   Long-Term Disability   Long-Term Care   401(k)   403(b)   Cash Balance   529 College Savings   Key-Man   Buy-Sell Agreement   Non-Qualified Retirement   Group VUL   Flexible Spending Accounts   Dependent Care   Transit Plans   State Continuation   COBRA Administration   Payroll   Online Enrollment   HRIS  Wellness   Predictive Modeling

ABOUT US

Bridgeport Benefit Advisors is a boutique employee benefits consulting firm located in Bethesda, MD.  We provide group benefits and supporting services to our clients located all over the United States including Alaska and Hawaii.  Our value added goes beyond helping our clients decide on what plans are appropriate and cost efficient.  We focus on providing service, education, and compliance for all of our clients throughout the plan year.  And we are available to all employees to answer questions about specific plans and problems.


Service

Our service platform is created to provide the assistance our clients require including support for:

  •   Enrollments (current and retroactive)
  •   Implementation of ancillary plans such as Flexible Spending Accounts
  •   Participation Audit (to minimize incorrect invoices due to terms)
  •   We check for child dependents who are aging out
  •   State Continuation/COBRA administration
  •   Billing Issues
  •   Claims Problems

We track all service phone calls, faxes, and emails from each group and provide a communication report to each of our clients at renewal.  For larger groups, we will verify that each renewal pricing change is substantiated (i.e., make sure the pricing corresponds to the medical loss ratio) and a good claim year is reflected in the renewal pricing.


Education
We put a priority on education so everyone, owners and employees, have sufficient information to make informed decisions.  From the beginning of a new engagement and throughout the year, our consultants educate the owners and benefit administrators on the various plan options and carrier (insurance companies) differences to find the best suited plan for each company.  At renewal, and on demand, our staff will educate participants on how their plans work and raise awareness for potential issues an enrollee may encounter when utilizing his/her benefits.  


Compliance

Our last focus is on compliance.  The following is a sample of questions we ask our new groups:

  • If you are an S Corp or LLC, are the owners including the premiums paid by the company towards their benefits as imputed income?

  • If you deduct employee contributions pre-tax from payroll do you have plan documents for your Section 125 plan?

  • Are you performing the appropriate non-discrimination testing for your Section 125 plans?

  • Have you created Summary Plan Descriptions (SPDs) for all of your ERISA plans and distributed these to each employee?

  • Do you distribute a HIPAA statement to all new hires to inform them of their HIPAA rights?

  • Do you send out State Continuation/COBRA letters to your employees who separate from the company?

  • If you have a group disability policy and an employee received disability benefits, did you prepare W-2s to include his/her benefit as income?

  • If you have over 100 people, or utilize a dedicated bank account to fund a tax-advantaged plan (e.g., FSA) are you filing a 5500 annually?

  • If you have a 401(k) plan, do you have an Investment Policy Statement (IPS) to provide fiduciary protection afforded to you by ERISA 404(c)?

For more information, please contact Bridgeport Benefit Advisors.
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The material on this page is intended as general descriptions of the concepts presented.  It is for educational purposes only and it not intended to provide specific financial or tax advice.  These descriptions cannot take into account your specific conditions and situation including the data required for underwriting purposes, financial circumstances, risk tolerance, and other factors.