How much does it cost to lose a physician in your practice? According to HR experts G&A Partners, the cost of replacing a skilled professional employee amounts to 125% of that employee’s annual salary. Consider the cost of severance pay, recruitment costs, lower productivity while other employees pick up the slack, lost time while training, and lower productivity while the new employee becomes acclimated. The expense adds up quickly, and the financial impact adversely affects your bottom line.
Be Proactive: Provide Attractive Benefits
Indeed, as a partner in a medical group, you want to keep professional staff turnover as low as possible, so you have a vested interest in keeping your skilled employees committed to the practice. Your staff puts a high value on a good benefits package. The challenge for you is balancing your employees’ desire for benefits with the practice’s ability to provide them. TMA Insurance Trust is here to help. We have partnered with The Hartford to help you find options that make for a very attractive benefits package, while mediating the costs of providing such.
We can provide a full suite of benefits that can be tailored to the unique needs of your medical group, and have negotiated exclusive rates for TMA members.
Long-Term Disability Benefits that Set Your Practice Apart
Many employers offer Long-Term Disability insurance to their staff, but through TMA Insurance Trust and The Hartford, these enhanced features and options can set your benefits package apart:
- Own Specialty and Sub-specialty Protection: Coverage is based on how a physician performs his or her specialty at your group practice; not based on how it is performed in the general labor market.
- The Infectious and Contagious Disease Benefit is provided when the insured employee is not disabled, but has lost income due to the disclosure of an infectious or contagious disease. This benefit protects both your practice and your employee.
- The Extended Earnings Protection Benefit provides a benefit for an insured who is no longer disabled, but continues to suffer an earnings loss.
- The Return-to-Work Incentive is designed for claimants who are not able to return to work fully during a period of disability. It allows the payment of the LTD benefit for 12 to 24 months without reduction - as long as the total income from all sources does not exceed 100% of the claimant’s pre-disability earnings.
- No Musculoskeletal Limitations: Approximately 30% of physicians’ claims are musculoskeletal in nature. Some insurers may terminate such claims after two years, but The Hartford does not apply this limit to an approved claim.
- Less Restrictions: Many insurers place numerous restrictions on their Long-Term Disability policies, such as maximum capacity, self-reported conditions, mandatory return to work, and mandatory rehabilitation. They may reduce benefits if the claimant receives individual disability or association benefits, and may require that the claimant continue to reside in the US or Canada to receive benefits. Long-term disability benefits through TMA Insurance Trust and The Hartford carry none of these requirements, reductions, and restrictions.
Life Insurance Benefits Can Make the Difference
Most employers also provide basic life insurance to their employees. Can you attract and retain employees better with these life insurance benefits that go beyond the minimum?
- Life Continuation with premium payment allows a disabled claimant to continue their basic and supplemental life coverage while they are disabled and working.
- Living Benefit Option accelerates the benefits of terminally ill employees or dependents up to $500,000.
- Portability Option and Conversion Option allows employees who leave the practice (or are under other qualifying conditions) to take all or a portion of their coverage with them.
Flexible Funding Options for Your Practice
It may not be feasible for your practice to cover the entire cost of certain benefits for your employees. The good news is that you are not required to pay the entire cost; you can choose to fund part of the cost for your employees or opt to have them pay for it themselves. Even if your employees pay the full cost of the benefit, group benefits will likely cost much less than purchasing an individual policy.
Helpful Solutions From TMA Insurance Trust
TMA Insurance Trust is committed to helping TMA members in private practice provide a well-rounded benefits package. This will help them to recruit and happily retain quality physicians and other medical staff. For more information about the many advantages and features of a group benefits program from The Hartford, reach out to TMA Insurance Trust. One of our experienced, trustworthy advisors will give you the time and attention it takes to craft a quality benefits package that meets the needs of both your employees and your bottom line. We’re ready to help your practice prosper; give us a call today.
For over 60 years, TMA Insurance Trust advisors have been serving Texas physicians, their families and staff. TMA Insurance Trust prides itself on offering unbiased information and strategies to members, along with exclusive group rates on a range of the highest-rated plans in the industry.