Furniture First Unveils New Health Insurance Program

August 28, 2017  by Larry Thomas in Business Strategy, Industry   

After a long period of research and testing, the buying cooperative chose an investment advisory group that serves as a third-party administrator to provide stop loss coverage for self-funded health insurance. The structure provides security and mitigates risk for self-insured programs while keeping overhead expenses to a minimum, the group said, which allows retailers to build a reserve fund for medical expenses.

Furniture First officials said the program has a proven lower cost of administration and transparent fee structure that can save retailers 14% to 50% per employee group while maintaining the same level of coverage as conventional health insurance plans.

Individual, spouse and family coverage will be offered for employer groups of five or more employees. Members will be able to start coverage at any time.

“We researched for an appropriate solution for a long time,” said Amanda Daubert, director of services at Furniture First. “We now have a program that offers substantial savings to our members and is available in all 50 states. We know that this is something they need to help their businesses now and in the future.”

Furniture First staff members are going through training and licensure to help administer the program for the group and remain HIPAA-compliant. A national network lowers the risk for employers and gives them more control over their plan design. A USA-based customer service department provides support.

“Our members think of their employees like family, and they want to take care of them,” said Andrew Kauffman, CEO of Furniture First. “But like any family, they have to budget and plan for the future. A big part of that is keeping expenses in line, and that is just what this program is designed to do.”