Hello Big Sky Chamber members,
We’re excited to launch a new benefit for our membership. Over the years we know businesses have struggled to stay competitive in regard to employee benefits and that healthcare is one of the most expensive benefits for employers. Historically, Montana has seen higher insurance premiums for years.
On average a premium for a 40 year old employee is $449 a month in Montana and we continue to see an annual increase of 16% year over year. Another interesting stat is that 80% of the Montana workforce between 18 and 64 years of age get their insurance through their employer.
When I was hired by the Big Sky Chamber as the new CEO one of my first goals was to tackle the runaway healthcare costs affecting our business community. I’m happy to report we made some significant headway over the last year and we’re ready to launch a new partnership with United Healthcare. Consistently over the years, Montana has only been served by Blue Cross/Blue Shield and PacificSource Insurance. Due to only two players in the market we’ve seen higher than average premiums. With our relationship with United Healthcare, we’re adding a new player into the market and with this new competition we’ll start seeing lower rates. Our goal with United Healthcare is to lower your rates by 10-12% for employee monthly premiums as well as add more benefits to what is currently being offered.
I know this time of year businesses are renewing their employee benefits. I encourage you to look at www.uhc.com/BigSkyChamber for a quote for our new plan. You can also work directly with your benefit solutions agent that you currently use. We’ve opened this up to everyone and included every business in Montana. The quick advantage that you have is that you already have an existing membership with the Big Sky Chamber; there is no initiation fee for participating in our plan. The requirement is that you have 2 to 99 employees and have a current membership with the Big Sky Chamber.
Please contact myself or Anna Johnson in our office for more information.
Brad Niva Anna Johnson
CEO Big Sky Chamber Director of Business Development
Brad@bigskychamber.com Anna@bigskychamber.com