ES & ITG: An Exclusive Healthcare Offering for Independent Contractors
Expediter Services and ITG (Independent Truckers Group) have teamed up to bring Independent Contractors operating under ES’s umbrella, a new, affordable health insurance offering, designed to provide minimum essential coverage, as well as options for additional coverage that can be tailored to your level of choice. Spotlight News talks with David Brown, President ITG, to learn more about this exclusive program.
Affordable, Attainable & Sustainable Health Insurance
SLN: How did ITG’s healthcare offering come about?
From an insurance standpoint, independent contractors have not had coverage as a “group”, because they are self employed, as opposed to drivers who may work for an employer. This has made it difficult for contractors to purchase insurance that’s affordable and ACA (Affordable Care Act) compliant.
Through ITG’s insurance arm, we’ve been able to develop a plan providing coverage that’s affordable, attainable and sustainable by pooling contractors through our association. This effort was monumental in many respects as our offerings have had to improve and adjust based upon healthcare regulations passed down legislatively.
SLN: Tell us more about how the coverage is affordable, attainable and sustainable?
Our insurance arm provides minimum essential coverage. This is what the ACA states: an individual must be compliant in order to AVOID paying the PENALTY, based upon their current tax year. The plan we developed meets these requirements.
As most everyone is aware, in the individual healthcare market, prices for coverage have sky rocketed as many carriers have gotten out of the market. We’ve wrapped this offering with a limited benefit program which makes this a budgetable item from the insurance company’s standpoint, as well as the independent contractor. When you put these two components together, you get a program that contains doctor and prescription coverage. But more importantly, it’s affordable, it’s attainable because it’s a guarantee issue program, and it’s sustainable because it won’t have the rate increases we’ve seen over the past couple of years.
Brand New and Exclusive Benefits to the Expediter Services community
SLN: Tell us how it works?
We’re proud to announce that ITG’s insurance plan and member benefits are available exclusively to Independent Contractor’s affiliated with Expediter Services.
Members will receive a Rewards Card that can be used at approved vendors (Chili’s, TGI Friday’s, Dunkin Donuts, McDonalds, Subway and thousands more) in order to get real discounts. These are actual dollars that they’ll be spending anyway. $250 will be applied to each member’s card monthly that rolls up. The Rewards Card is a perfect trade off that’s real and tangible, allowing the card holder to apply money toward benefits they must have, such as insurance.
SLN: Are there costs to be a member of ITG?
To be a member of the Independent Truckers Group there’s a monthly fee of only $10. This small amount is a “ticket of entry” that allows members to be eligible for a number of member benefits, regardless if they take any other actions within the group. It also gives members access to products offered by our Insurance arm. In addition to providing ACA minimum coverage, we provide insurance plans for dental, vision, disability and life insurance. Our insurance services are a “one-stop-shop”, where our agents can walk members through our different offerings, in order to choose the coverage that’s right for them, saving both time and money.
Expediter Services will provide its affiliated contractors with settlement deductions that will be automatically paid to ITG. This makes the process easy, avoiding potential lapses in coverage.
A History of Working Together
SLN: Can you give us some background about ITG?
We created ITG (Independent Truckers Group), a professional trade association back in the 90’s, to help independent contractors from a working environment standpoint. This also includes an insurance division, which is a hot topic these days as it relates to healthcare.
SLN: ES and ITG have a history of working together, can you tell us about that?
Expediter Services has a reputation for always being on the cutting edge of services and benefits when it comes to independent contractors. Several years ago, ES and ITG worked together to provide additional benefits, including insurance services for contractors under ES’s umbrella. This arrangement worked out initially, but challenges and changes in the market proved to be a deterring factor to the offering under the program. Today, enhanced offerings and technology have overcome these issues. ITG and ES have once again brought to the forefront these benefits and services exclusively to contractors under ES’s umbrella.
Going Forward
SLN: Is there any risk to ITG’s healthcare insurance plan from the results of the recent presidential election?
We feel our experience with the changes in the ACA mandates over the years have prepared us for future changes that may occur within the market. Our ability to develop insurance groups to spread risk will allow us to adapt to future market conditions, helping our products to remain stable and competitive, even if the ACA is repealed. ES and ITG are already in conversations and making preparations for future healthcare requirements for Independent Contractors.
Sign up today!
For more information about signing up for ITG’s healthcare insurance, call 877-349-9303.
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