Houze Employee Benefits

• Who We Are Contact Us

Helpful, Knowledgeable and low-pressure enrollment periods.

Houze & Associates, Inc. provides open enrollment planning and employee education. We will work to provide an enrollment schedule where each location/department will have a dedicated enrollment period to meet with a Benefit Counselor.

Unlike other Broker/Agents, we also work during open enrollment to enroll the current and new benefits chosen. The enrollment process has an evolved methodology which alleviates the hassle of open enrollment for the employer and promotes employee understanding of current benefits and changes that may have arisen from Evaluation, Solicitation, Comparison and Plan Design with Houze & Associates, Inc.

Employee Education

Group meetings can be during or after work hours to educate employees on their current benefits and discuss any changes or any new benefits that will be offered during the Annual Open Enrollment period. Appropriate audio visual aids are used, with emphasis on making sure the employees understand the added value of the employers benefit package. In addition, Benefit Counselors will meet with each employee to go over their current benefits, answer any questions and assist them in making any changes or new elections.

Benefit Packages

We will send customized enrollment packets to every employee’s home that include a minimum of the following:

• Welcome Letter

  This is typically signed by the Human Resources Director/Employee Benefits Coordinator. Houze & Associates, Inc. will work with the employer or draft the letter for you. It will include an introduction for items in the Benefit Package and provide an explanation of benefit changes. Any information that the Employer would like to include can be added to the package.

• Schedule for Open Enrollment

  Many company employees are not located in one building or work the same hours. Houze & Associates, Inc. will have pre-designed an enrollment schedule that will work to achieve maximum convenience for your employees. We will work when your employees do, to ensure all of them have the opportunity to meet with a Benefit Counselor.

• Summary of Benefits

  Whether changing, enhancing or staying the same, most employees have simple questions about their benefits. We will provide a benefit summary to include in the Benefit Package. This will show key items such as eligibility, premium, elimination period, and a description of the benefit.

• Product Flyers

  Product flyers are included for new benefits to provide more detailed information than what is included in the Summary of Benefits.

• Personalized Benefit Statement

  Each employee will receive a Personalized Benefit Statement that includes all benefits currently elected, premium cost and total current deduction. Also included are benefits that have not previously been elected. Houze & Associates, Inc. can also include information on the “hidden paycheck” showing benefit costs paid for by the Employer. We can work to show total compensation that includes the employer cost for benefits/holiday, pay/vacation time, etc. We also assign PIN numbers on the benefit statement for those employees that need to utilize the Call Center.

  PIN number technology has been adopted by H&A for those employees that can’t meet with a Benefit Counselor during the Open Enrollment Period. This technology assigns unique and random PIN Numbers to each employee. When an employee contacts the Call Center, they must provide the PIN number before any benefits are discussed. The PIN Numbers are input as if the employee had signed the Benefit Election/Declination in person.

  See a Personalized Benefit Statement example

Open Enrollment

Houze & Associates, Inc. provides on site enrollment services. We utilize our own staff during the enrollment period. Whether an employer group is 250 or 7000, we can accommodate your needs. We DO NOT use an outside enrollment firm to work with our clients. All of our enrollers are Licensed Agents who are not commissioned sales people. We enroll your benefits in a highly professional manner. Our agents are not pushy sales people who will sell un-wanted products to your employees. As proof, of our employer groups and the benefits employees elect, over 92% have a 3 year persistency rate. What does this mean? Only 8 out of 100 employees make a change within 3 years of electing benefits that Houze & Associates, Inc. enrolls and administers. This means, there are minimal changes in post enrollments that have to be manually administered by the Employee Benefits/Human Resources Coordinator.

Laptop Enrollment

Houze & Associates, Inc. has developed our own laptop enrollment system to accommodate new and existing benefits, as well as ancillary benefits that are desired. Houze & Associates, Inc. works with each employee to elect or decline the benefits offered. Benefit Counselors are equipped with signature pads as well as printers, so Employees leave with a copy of their signed benefit election form. Signatures and elections are housed in the computer that allows for a Composite Enrollment Form for upload to the carriers and to the employers payroll/benefit system.

Call Center Services

The goal of any open enrollment period is to have employees that have questions or want to make changes to their benefits meet with Houze & Associates Benefit Counselors. It is anticipated that some employees cannot make it during the scheduled benefit periods. Houze & Associates, Inc. provides a toll free call center staffed with Licensed Agents to talk through any benefit question or changes with your employees. We provide PIN number certification (see benefit statements), so employees can elect/decline benefits through the call center.

Internet Enrolling/Website

Houze & Associates, Inc. will provide a dedicated website for employee benefits. Either the site can be hosted by Houze & Associates, Inc, or it can be linked from an internal employer intranet. The site will provide benefit summaries as well as Frequently Asked Questions about new and current benefits. There is a dedicated Forms section that includes online enrollment forms. These forms can be used for new employees and/or in conjunction with PIN Numbers during open enrollment. They can be electronically submitted to carriers as well as to Houze & Associates for input into the Composite Enrollment File.