Attracting and retaining top talent requires a strong employer brand and a competitive benefits package. The past decade has seen soaring healthcare costs, legislative complexities and renewal pitfalls. This market puts immense pressure on dealerships to manage benefits costs without sacrificing employee satisfaction. Having the right partner alongside you is a must — you do not need to navigate this alone.

Healthcare inflation impact is inevitable. Utilization and increased unit costs will likely impact your renewal, whether your plan is fully insured or self-funded. A good broker can work with your dealership to navigate this challenging benefits landscape and design a cutting-edge benefits strategy that is:

• Competitive: Attract and retain top talent with a plan that offers value through benchmarking, innovative offers and plan designs that align with your dealership’s goals and objectives.
• Sustainable: Manage costs effectively to achieve your long-term goals. Review underwriting workups, enrollment strategy, utilization patterns, cost drivers and targeted investments.

One size does NOT fit all. One way to lower costs is by providing targeted benefits to specific employee populations. While you may offer certain perks to leaders and hard-to-recruit groups, some strategies could help lower costs for lower-wage employees. Implementing tiered employee contributions based on salary levels, with lower contribution rates is one option.

Sometimes, one-off solutions seem easy but drain resources and cause disengagement. Point solutions intended to help manage specific chronic health conditions or address modifiable lifestyle factors may not be worth their anticipated value. Some tips to consider:

• Analyze your claims data to validate whether the solutions improve outcomes and reduce costs through increased engagement.
• Ongoing data validation is required to ensure point solutions continue delivering value. 
• Less is sometimes more. Too many point solutions can dilute engagement and add to administrative costs. Consolidating vendors may help improve coordination and communication.
• Effective employee communication is critical when making changes to point solutions to ensure members understand available programs and how to participate.

As you plan your 2025 benefits strategy, your broker is an indispensable partner. An approach to integrated benefits, tailored to your specific needs, can help you bridge gaps in your current offerings and align with your broader dealership and financial goals. EPIC’s tools and strategies can help you evaluate the value you’re getting from your plan and your vendors, delivering efficiencies and effectiveness that are well worth the effort. 

If you would like more information, or a benefit strategy and cost review, EPIC will provide details to GLANCDA members at no cost.

EPIC ranks among the top 15 retail insurance brokers in the United States and is the largest insurer of auto dealers in the state. Alison McCallum has been in the employee benefits industry for over 20 years and personally works with more than 80 California dealerships. She is a principal with EPIC Insurance Brokers and Consultants. With this partnership EPIC offers unique dealership expertise and services available to GLANCDA dealer members at no cost. If you have questions or would like further information, please feel free to contact her at (949) 417-9136 or alison.mccallum@epicbrokers.com.