As part of 2019's new membership initiatives, pvmaAssure would like to formally introduce you to FocusHRO. This umbrella of responsibility will oversee all membership benefits, to include the services offered through FocusHRO's " Business in a Box." Most everything you need can be handled by one team:
  • Insurance
  • HR/Compliance
  • Accounting
  • Web/IT Services

Each month we will provide an overview for each pillar to help explain all that FocusHRO has to offer, plus keep you up to date on our new member initiatives.
Together, we give you the tools you need to "ASSURE" your practice is running smooth!
This Month's Topic: Insurance
Take advantage of association membership benefits!

Did you know that pvmaAssure and FocusHRO have developed a dental and vision association plan specifically for veterinary practices? Benefits of this plan include:
  • Lower rates, thanks to the large number of members in our association
  • Only one employee required to enroll in the product
  • 3 plans to meet your specific needs – Great Dane, Labrador, and Pug.
  • Rollover of unused maximum (this is a great benefit!)

To learn more, please follow the link, complete the form request, and our affiliate partners at FocusHRO will be in touch with more details.
Are you compliant?

Offering group benefits to your employees is rewarding, but it also comes with a big responsibility – benefit notices and filings. Do you know what benefit notices need to be supplied to your employees to stay in compliance?

When your practice allows FocusHRO and pvmaAssure to administer your insurances, we create and supply you with all of these documents and store them in a shared folder for easy access. No more being out of compliance. No more looking for your documents. We make it easy on you.

The link below allows you to download a PDF outlining the different benefit notices and filings that need to be performed for groups 1-19. If your group is larger than this, please email pvmaAssure@FocusHRO.com and request a copy for groups of 20-49 or 50+.

Compliance is a big deal – if you offer group benefits and aren’t making these available to your employees, please contact us right away so we can help guide you and ensure your practice is up to date on all notices and filings.
The “Oz” of employee benefits.

Don’t worry, even those of us in the insurance industry get these terms mixed up. The likelihood is most practices offer these benefits, and haven’t reviewed them in some time. We explain them here:

  • Supplemental – the term originated for policies that would complement the major medical insurance, but today most agents call them “voluntary.”
  • Voluntary – the most popular term today. This is any benefit where the employee pays 100% of the cost. The employer typically payroll deducts and pays the invoice.
  • Ancillary - these are typically designed as more “core” products such as dental, vision, life, and disability.  These can be paid 100% by the employer, share in the cost, or make it completely voluntary.

A case study:

We recently met with a practice in central PA who offers voluntary benefits, and when reviewing the benefits closely we found the following:

  1. They can’t remember the last time they saw their agent. They can’t even recall their name.
  2. More then 10 employees work at this company. Only 3 have policies. The rest never had the chance to learn about or purchase a policy.
  3. Policies are from 2005, and have never been reviewed or updated since.

This happens ALL THE TIME, and it drives us crazy. We are here to help! If you offer supplemental, voluntary, and/or ancillary and the above applies to you (no agent, old policies, employees haven’t been able to enroll) then please reach out to us. We will offer you a no cost consultation, and recommend ways to increase benefits, reduce cost, and streamline communication to your employees.