Featured Resources

Fiduciary Committee Charter Sample

As a plan sponsor and plan fiduciary, ensuring your health and prescription drug plans are running effectively and complying with federal and state law is a top priority. Establishing a fiduciary committee tasked with reviewing and evaluating your plans will allow you to successfully monitor your plans and mitigate risk....

CAA Medical Fiduciary Checklist

The Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2021 created a number of reporting requirements for plan sponsors and plan fiduciaries. Have you considered your obligations as a fiduciary and created a plan to comply? Download your FREE checklist to prepare.

Quarterly Compliance Webinar 12.18.24

On March 31st, 2022, our Director of Compliance, Tamalyn Wandler, discussed updates from the discussions she had with legislators, lobbyists, and industry leaders at this year’s NAHU Conference about future provisions which affect Employer Health Plans, Retirement Plans, and compensation structures. She also discussed what mid and large size employers...

The Importance of Eye Exams

Glaucoma Awareness Month 2025: Protect Your Vision with Regular Eye Exams As we welcome January 2025, it’s time to focus on Glaucoma Awareness Month, a crucial period dedicated to raising awareness about glaucoma, a group of eye diseases that can lead to irreversible vision loss. Often called the “silent thief...

Compliance Calendar 2025

Stay compliant during 2025. Download our compliance calendar here!

Sample HIPAA Notice of Privacy Practices

Are you prepared to comply with the changes resulting from the HIPAA Privacy Rule to Support Reproductive Health Care Privacy? An updated HIPAA Notice of Privacy Practices should be distributed by February 16, 2026.

HIPAA Privacy Policy Template

Are you prepared to comply with the changes resulting from the HIPAA Privacy Rule to Support Reproductive Health Care Privacy? Covered entities and business associates will need to update their policies and procedures by December 23, 2024 to remain in compliance.

HHS Model Attestation

Employer Action Items: December 23, 2024: By December 23, 2024, HIPAA-covered entities and business associates must be prepared to comply with the new restrictions by doing the following: Update HIPAA Policies and Procedures and Business Associate Agreements to address the new requirements. Review and amend Business Associate Agreements to ensure...

What To Do When Your Retirement Vendor Is Sold

As a plan sponsor, when your record keeper changes, you have a fiduciary obligation to research how it affects both your organization and your participants. While this may be a good move for your plan, accepting an automatic conversion remains a fiduciary decision. Plan sponsors should initiate a process to...

Wellness Compliance 8 Essential Questions

In designing and implementing a wellness plan, employers must navigate a complex web of intersecting laws and regulations. Employers must be aware of HIPAA requirements, the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act (GINA), as well as the regulations applied to wellness programs by the Equal Employment...

Vaccine Mandate ETS: What Does This Mean for Employers?

On Friday, November 19th, 2022, Innovative Benefit Planning provided a 45* minute webinar featuring critical updates on OSHA’s Emergency Temporary Standard. Download the recording below to hear our Director of Compliance, Tamalyn Wandler, JD provide an informative legal update, discuss how this impacts employers, and answer many employer questions. Discussion...

How Transitioning to an Employers Sponsored Health Plan Saved $2.3M in Paid Claims

Is your employee benefits plan right for you? Fully insured health plan models are not always the right fit for every employer. Find out now if self-funding strategies could help your organization save in paid claims.

Transitioning Back to the Workplace Guide

This complimentary 8-page guide provides checklists and best practices on your “Return to Work” questions such as: When to Reopen Workplace Cleaning and Modifications Transitioning Employees Back to Work Communication and Posting Requirements Sample Policy/Procedures and Model Notices What We Can Take Away From COVID-19

Their Employment Has Ended, Make Sure They Know Their Options

Terminated employees may not know their options to continue medical coverage post-employment, so we have put together various medical coverage options and a retirement plan checklist that they can use as a tool.

The Secrets to Successfully Leveraging Benefits to Drive Recruiting & Retention

On Thursday, October 28th, 2021, Innovative’s CEO, Terriann Procida, Managing Partner of Employee Benefits, Dan Jordon, and Vice President of Marketing & Engagement, Jamie Bratton, discussed the importance of having a solid benefits package to help companies recruit and retain employees. Download our recent webinar below to learn more about...

The Secrets to Successfully Leveraging Benefits Part 1: Optimizing Benefits Plan Performance

How We Resolved One Clients Self-Funding Worries Through Proprietary Confidence Projection

Our client had considered transitioning from fully insured to self-funding for several years. Although we projected the change would bring considerable savings, they remained concerned by the risk that the model might not perform as expected. Find out now how we resolved their worries and reduced expenditures by 16%!

Retirement Myth: When Transferring Service Providers, There are no Pitfalls. Part 2 - Market Value Adjustments and Fixed Accounts

A new client engaged Innovative to help them transfer their current retirement plan to a new service provider. By recognizing the fund was subject to a market value adjustment (MVA), we devised a plan that eliminated any chance a participant could lose money in their stable value investment during the...

Retirement Myth: When Transferring Service Providers, There Are No Pitfalls. Part 1 - Protected Benefits

A new client engaged Innovative to transfer their current plan to a new service provider. During the course of our detailed review, we discovered that certain employees had annuity contracts with death benefits that exceeded the value of their plan investments. See how Innovative helped our client navigate their retirement...

Retirement Myth: The Only Benefit to a Retirement Plan is Retirement Savings

See how Innovative helped our client add a pension plan to their existing 401(k) and profit-sharing plan offerings to tackle their recruiting and retention challenges. In addition, we’re able to generate significant tax benefits for the owner.

Retirement Myth: Plans With No Financial Consultant Receive The Best Fees and Fiduciary Protection From Their Qualified Plan Provider

See how Innovative’s experience in conducting plan relationship reviews reduced one client’s fees by more than 40% and streamlined the management of their plan.

Retirement Myth: Once I Sell A Company, I Don't Have To Worry About It Impacting My Current Retirement Plan

See how Innovative helped our client from running afoul of the Affiliated Service group rules and saved the client from potential serious regulation issues.

Retirement Myth: Mergers and Acquisitions are Simple

Innovative’s merger and divestiture of plans expertise enabled us to provide complete end-to-end service for our client during their multi-state, aggressive acquisition strategy. In the end, we were able to consolidate the plans, reduce overall fees by more than 40%, add fiduciary oversight, and ease their administrative burden.

Retirement Myth: I Can't Offer a Student Loan Benefit in my Retirement Plan

While current student loan repayment programs can relieve financial stress, they do not offer tax benefits to employees. However, a recent IRS Private Letter Ruling allowing a major pharmaceutical company to add loan repayment benefits to its 401(k) plan has sparked interest in this approach.

Retirement Myth: I Can Rely on my Recordkeeper to Manage Terminated Employees

When Innovative performed an analysis during the on-boarding of a new client, we revealed a significant number of terminated employees. After digger more, we discovered their recordkeeper never instituted the auto rollover feature. After Innovative removed the 138 eligible participants, we saved the client $13,000 per year.

Retirement Myth: Funding a Profit Sharing Plan for a Company with More Than 100 Employees Will Only Benefit My Employees

There is a common misconception that as a company owner of over 100 employees, increasing funds for a profit-sharing plan would mainly benefit employees rather than the owners and executives. See how Innovative helped one client generate significant tax savings for the owners as well as substantially increasing their share...

Retirement Myth: Employer Profit-Sharing Deductions Must Be Recognized in the Year the Contribution is Made

See how Innovative’s strategic planning and Profit-Sharing experience helped our client maximize tax benefits, coordinate tax benefits of the profit sharing plan with corporate objectives, and fund significant plan contributions for their key employees.

Retirement Myth: As a Plan Sponsor, I Shouldn’t Consider Adding a 3(16) Service to My Plan

An existing client had experienced problems with their 401(k) plan audit for several consecutive years due to internal operational issues. The client requested our help in determining whether they should spend the money for a 3(16) service. See how Innovative helped the client determine if it was the right strategy,...

Retirement Myth: All Highly Compensated Employees are Defined by Salary Alone

See how Innovative helped our client to be compliant with ADP testing, correct a misclassification, and prevent the need to refund contributions to highly compensated employees.

Prescription Drug Carveout - Fastest Way to Reduce Benefit Costs

Prescription Drugs typically makes up 20% of an employer’s overall spend, and with the rise in specialty drugs, industry experts expect that number to encroach 50% by 2020. What many employers do not realize is, they may be able to “carve out” this coverage from their medical plan, resulting in...

Navigating the Employee Life Cycle Part 2: Developing & Upskilling

Navigating the Employee Lifecycle Part 2: Developing & Upskilling On March 15th, 2022, Innovative’s COO, Eileen Green, and Human Resource Business Partner, Kim Matus, presented Part 2 of our webinar series, “Navigating the Employee Life Cycle”. The employee lifecycle covers each step in the employer-employee relationship, from the time perspective...

Navigating the Employee Life Cycle Part 1: Recruiting & Onboarding

Navigating the Employee Lifecycle Part 1: Recruiting & Onboarding On February 24th, 2022, Innovative’s CEO, Terriann Procida, and Human Resource Business Partner, Kim Matus, presented Part 1 of our webinar series, “Navigating the Employee Life Cycle”. The employee lifecycle covers each step in the employer-employee relationship, from the time perspective...

Mental Health: What a Stigma Free Workplace Looks Like

Mental health is top of mind everywhere these days as about 20% of adult Americans report symptoms of mental illness according to the Centers for Disease Control. On April 12th, our speakers, CEO Terriann Procida and Nurse Advocate Erica Polaneczky, MSN, APRN, ANP-C, discussed workplace mental health concerns such as...

Innovative Ways Employers Can Deal with Employee Student Loan Debt

Student debt has increased dramatically in recent years, creating a financial burden on employees’ ability to save for retirement. Many employers have begun implementing programs to help employees manage student loan debt.

Innovative Saves Company From a $440,000 Renewal Increase 45 Days Till Renewal

A construction company with 100 employees was facing a 29 percent renewal increase for its employee benefits package. The additional cost, which was over $440,000, was much more than the company could absorb. Find out how Innovative was able to save this company from a $440,000 increase 45 days prior...

How Working With a Qualified Plan Advisor Can Improve Your Audit Experience

Hiring a quality qualified plan advisor provides many advantages to employers that sponsor a retirement plan. Specifically, one of those advantages is improving your annual qualified plan audit. As each audit season begins, employers often dread having to coordinate with their accounting firm while juggling their day-to-day tasks. The good...

How to Reduce Health Claims Cost 10-25%

When we onboarded our client, they had been self-funded with their previous broker for the preceding two years. However, due to two years of poor plan performance and now fearful of self-funding, the client returned to a fully-insured platform the year before partnering with Innovative. As their cost and risk...

Guide to Developing a Workplace Wellness Program

Innovative Workplace Wellness is here to help you. This manual is part two of a “starter kit” and provides an outline of how to create a wellness program and build a culture of health and well-being for your organization. If you’re just starting out in wellness or have been providing...

Guide to Developing a Workplace Wellness Committee

Innovative Workplace Wellness is here to help you get started. This manual is part one of a “starter kit” and provides an outline of how to create a Wellness Committee and build a culture of health and well-being for your organization. If you’re just starting out in wellness or have...

Free or Low Cost Mental Health Resources

13 Free or Low Cost Mental Health Resources Mental health is so important today and it is something we want to ensure we are discussing and addressing in the workplace. Innovative is determined to ensure you have access to tools and resources to encourage positive mental health. Download some free...

Socially Responsible Investing & ESG Analysis

For more information on socially responsible investing and an analysis of ESG funds for your plan, contact Innovative Investment Fiduciaries for a 30 minute phone consultation.

Employer Vaccination Strategies & Requirements

On Thursday, October 21st, 2021, Innovative’s Vice President of Marketing & Engagement, Jamie Bratton, Director of Compliance, Tamalyn Wandler, and HR Service’s Rhonda Hollier provided critical updates on President Biden’s new vaccination requirements, employer vaccination strategies, and best practices for handling the mandate and benefit surcharge issues. Discussion includes: New...

See How Our Employee Advocacy Saved One Member Over $22K

Employees truly need an advocate to navigate the complex healthcare system today, which is why Innovative provides our clients with a dedicated as their single point of contact for help with anything benefits related. See how our benefit guardian helped save one client over $22,000!

Do's and Don'ts When Creating an Employee Handbook

The employee handbook is an important communication resource for your employees that also limits your company’s legal liability. It can be tough to decide what does and does not belong in the employee handbook, but these tips can help you along the way.

Cybersecurity Due Diligence Assessment for Plan Service Providers

9 Questions to Fulfill Your Due Diligence Requirements As a plan fiduciary, you need to establish a prudent process to understand the cybersecurity standards and practices of your service providers. Download this questionnaire to help you fulfill your due diligence requirements to document such practices. Send each of your service...

How One Client Put $500 Per Month Back in Employees' Pockets

Facing a tight job market, our client was finding it difficult to find and retain skilled workers. The company was losing employees and candidates to companies that offered similar benefits at significantly lower rates. The company wanted to continue providing a comprehensive benefit program but needed their rates to be...

Client Saved $1.13M in 2 Years with Prescription Drug Carve Out

There has been a 34.5% YOY growth rate in the northeast for middle market employers choosing self-funding. With this growth, employers are evaluating self-funding as an option. Find out now if self-funding may be right for your organization!

Best Practices Surrounding ESG Funds

Socially responsible investing has grown in popularity as investors become more aware of how organizations operate from an environmental, social and governance perspective. As a result, plan sponsors are considering Environmental, Social and Governmental (ESG) fund options as employee’s interest in ensuring their money has a positive impact on society...

A Breakthrough Way to Take Control of Healthcare Cost

Employers are turning to Reference-Based Pricing as a tool to control their healthcare cost. Learn what RBP is, the benefits and obstacles, and Innovative’s unique 6 step process.

5 Tips For Anti-Harassment Policies and Training

New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy presented a new bill to the State Legislature that would require all public and private employers in the state to develop anti-harassment policies and training. The establishment of the proposed bill would make compliance easier and would also require that employers with more than 50...

5 Steps to Creating a Financial Wellness Program

Many employers incorporate a health wellness program into their organization, but financial wellness is just as important. Studies show that 47% of all employees are stressed about finances and 54% of those employees say they will likely use their retirement funds for expenses other than retirement.

5 Critical Questions to Put Your Advisor to the Test

A knowledgeable plan advisor is an important component in the successful operation of your qualified plan. However, selecting the right candidate requires more than simply reviewing typical Request for Proposal (RFP) responses. You should make sure the potential advisor possesses broad industry experience and expertise that applies to your unique...

4 Steps Plan Sponsors and Retirement Plan Committee Members Take to Protect Themselves?

When managing a qualified retirement plan, there are certain duties the plan sponsor and committee members have to the plan and participants as named fiduciaries. These duties create liability for the plan sponsor and committee members for decisions made regarding the plan. How can plan sponsors and committee members ensure...

2024 Employer Compliance Calendar

17 Page Calendar to Help Employers Ensure They’re Meeting Deadlines to Remain Compliant in the Workplace Sometimes it may be difficult to keep up with the constant changes in the compliance landscape, especially when HR professionals have other important items on their plate. To help alleviate this pain, we have...

2022 Update From the Hill

Important 2022 Employer Compliance Reminders & Action Items

On Tuesday, January 25th, 2022, Innovative Benefit Planning provided a 45-minute webinar featuring important compliance reminders and action items for 2022. Download the recording below to hear our Director of Compliance, Tamalyn Wandler, JD provide a few updates that are top of mind for employers. Discussion included: Employer Responsibilities under...

MENTAL HEALTH TOOL KIT

12 Page Guide to Assist Employers in Addressing Mental Health in the Workplace Mental health is top of mind everywhere these days as about 20% of adult Americans report symptoms of mental illness. It’s no secret that work-related factors, especially during the pandemic, are impacting employee’s mental health. Employers are...

Learn How we Helped One Qualified Plan Provider Reduce Fees by 30%

See how we helped one client reduce their plan sponsor administrative fees by 30% and streamlined their services by analyzing, negotiating, and consolidating vendors.