SMI Member Health Insurance
| SMI is one of five metalworking associations that are cooperating in the development of a health insurance program with the Trustmark Insurance Company. These five associations represent about 1,800 individual companies and close to 125,000 individual employees. Those numbers spark interest with insurance companies. As this program takes form, SMI member companies will have a new option for cost containment in one of the most difficult expense line items on each company’s budget. Identified as the “MMC Trust Insurance,” the program will be a PPO with several different options for deductibles and coverages. Trustmark will monitor the program and handle all claims, details and administration. Membership in SMI or any of the other metalworking organizations would be required for participation but would not be an automatic acceptance into the insurance program. However, preliminary rates are expected to be extremely favorable to participating companies. All quotes will originate at Trustmark by contacting Christy Johnson, client manager. The program offers five PPO plans, and two Health Savings Account (HSA) plans. PPO options include different deductibles and percentages of co-pay. Regardless of which plan is selected, each will offer benefits covering:
As the program evolves, each SMI member company would have to apply and go through the underwriting process, with individual rate development based on each company’s history and health status. Interested springmaking companies would be enrolled via telephone with eligible employees submitting health history to the insurance company by phone. Employees submitting applications that include special cases would be contacted directly by the insurance company, and rates would be established based on the overall status of each company’s employee pool. The program will be rolled out in stages depending on company size and location. In addition, several states mandate specific requirements that make it difficult to offer the program universally during startup. Initially, the program will be quoted to every springmaking company with 51 or more eligible employees, regardless of location. Companies with 50 or fewer employees in Maryland, Vermont, Hawaii, Alaska, New Jersey, Montana, Washington, Nevada, New York, New Hampshire, Connecticut, Maine and Colorado, cannot be offered the program because of underwriting or state-mandated regulations that make compliance infeasible. For more information, click here for a PDF brochure about the MMC Trust Insurance program. |