STD - Self Insuring

Balloonman · January 2004

Just wondering if anyone has a short term disability program that they manage themselves or use a 3rd party to manage for them as opposed to buying coverage.
I am looking into taking this inhouse as opposed to continuing to pay relatively high rates for STD. We would keep the LTD in place!

Just looking for thoughts, guidance, advice.
My $0.02 worth.
DJ The Balloonman

mushroomHR · January 2004

Balloonman,

We have a short-term disability plan that is managed by a third party. I used to do it myself but finally decided I'm not qualified to administer claims so I finally talked our Pres. into farming it out. We pay a small monthly admin. fee per employee of $2.50. I forward the claim form to the TPA and they process the claim. They then deduct the funds from our ASO account and pay the claimant. They also issue a W2 at the end of the year.

So far we haven't had any major problems over the past year that we've been doing this. It takes a great burden off me so I like it. Good luck.

Hunter1 · January 2004

[font size="1" color="#FF0000"]LAST EDITED ON 01-19-04 AT 07:50AM (CST)[/font][br][br]Be sure to check your state insurance requirements before you decide to do this. Some states would have you meet the requirements of an insurance company if you're going to 'walk like a duck'.

SMace · January 2004

Our health insurance TPA administered our STD plan until this year. We are now using Jefferson Pilot. They have an "advice to pay" system that looked really good on paper. We'll see.

AJ SPHR · January 2004

We self insure our plan and use a TPA to manage the disability claims. The TPA does not pay the employee, we pay them via regular payroll process (at the reduced 66 2/3 % of salary rate), and therefore it's a regular payroll expense (no 5500 needed). We definitely like how it's structured because the TPA is staffed with RN's who handle all the medical info and are knowledgeable enough to make determinations regarding disabilities and whether they're qualified, etc.

We also have an insured LTD plan that kicks in after 26 weeks of STD.

Carey · January 2004

We have a system just like AJ SPHR's where we pay via regular payroll after the TPA approves the disability. We are a very large company and had no problems until last year when we switched TPA's. Don't want to badmouth publicly, if you respond with your e-mail, I'll tell you the name of the company and share one or two horror stories. I'm Employee Relations, not part of Benefits, but employees call me with complaints or just a cry for help, so I've been more involved the last several months. Most of our employees who have had to go through the STD process are very unhappy.

Sue · January 2004

We administer our own plan because the are so few claims per year. I've looked at Jefferson-Pilot's advice to pay program and it seems like a great service.

hrinmi · February 2004

I can attest to Jefferson Pilot's ATP program.
We have utilized their service for 2 years now and they are wonderful.

It's also great having the control over the checks. We issues them as we would regular payroll checks.

Our previous provider cut the checks themselves and employees would go months before seeing a check. Now that it's in house our employees are happier and we are very happy with JP's ATP Program.

STD - Self Insuring

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