Priscilla Lynn Henley, CEOThis is where insurance services providers AccesseHR saves the day.
Since 1987, AccesseHR has been helping employers by managing their employee benefits portfolio and providing first-hand expertise in the employee benefits market.
In an interview with Manage HR magazine, Priscilla Lynn Henley, CEO of AccesseHR, talks about how the company has been helping organizations navigate the health insurance domain and curate the most promising and highyielding benefits for their employees. She also stresses how a competitive employee benefits portfolio can help employers attract and retain the best talent to ensure continuous organizational growth.
What makes AccesseHR unique when it comes to helping employers address the current employee benefits challenges?
Nowadays, HR personnel are struggling to strike the perfect balance between getting employees the benefits they desire and not letting employers feel the astronomical burden of the cost of providing these benefits. Employee benefits play a major role in helping recruiters retain their employees for the long run, giving the latter a sense of safety for themselves and their dependents. The complexities of the health insurance market, however, are affecting the retention strategy of most organizations, leaving employers vulnerable to losing or incapable of hiring the right-fit talent.
AccesseHR views itself as an extension of an employer’s HR department that focuses on helping businesses—large or small—implement effective employee benefits programs. We ensure employers do everything necessary to avoid legal and compliance issues when helping their employees live healthy lives. As an HRfocused employee benefits company, AccesseHR finds creative ways to help employers cut costs without cutting employee benefits. We have expertise in dealing with everything, from setting up Health Savings Accounts (HSA) plans to finding the best levelfunded insurances. We also help companies negotiate and implement the benefits and conduct open enrollment meetings. Throughout the year, we aid employers in saving costs and figuring out the best mechanisms to deliver employee benefits. We also provide direct call support for employees to help them understand and navigate their health insurance.
How does AccesseHR add value to its clients when managing employee benefits programs?
Currently, there is a lack of transparency and accountability between health insurance providers and employers. As a result, employers have a sense of distrust toward providers and are unwilling to invest capital based on the hollow assurances of a provider’s contracts. During this crucial time, a new alternative to traditional carrier-sponsored health plans, reference-based pricing (RBP) plans, has disrupted the market. It allows consumers to see the pricing before care is rendered and introduces provider accountability. It also allows employers to save a substantial amount on employee health plans. However, most employers are yet to understand and leverage this model in their employee benefits plans.
At AccesseHR, we are always eager to learn about the latest developments in the arena and, in turn, add value to employers by educating them. Unlike our competitors, who focus on offering standard insurance models, we go the extra mile to attend workshops or seminars and learn about the latest benefits in the market.
Could you share some instances where you empowered clients to succeed in revamping their employee benefits plans?
AccesseHR has garnered numerous success stories over the past three decades, and all are significantly different from each other. We helped a public trading company grow in business and headcount over 10 years. During our first meeting, the CFO expressed they would like to grow into a thousand employees over the next two years and have a stable and attractive employee benefits portfolio to attract suitable candidates. We fulfilled that objective, and today, the client has grown into a 5000-employee firm. AccesseHR proudly took the stance of a true HR business partner and provided a successful employee benefits program for the client’s company.
AccesseHR sees itself as an extension of an employer’s HR department that focuses on helping businesses—be it large or small—implement effective employee benefit programs
Does your previous experience play any role in building this intimacy between you and your clients?
Along with my business experience, the experience I’ve gathered over the years as an athlete has helped me understand the importance of team-playing. I believe collaboration is a must-have element in a business to ensure the best services possible. Similarly, my first job played a considerable role in nurturing my philosophy of keeping employees happy. In my previous company, my mentors and business owners gave me the freedom to attend different seminars to explore the market. They never micromanaged me. I ensure this culture of giving freedom and a safe space to every employee finds a place in AccesseHR. Matthew Lemen, the CFO of AccesseHR, harbors the same belief. He and I have built a non-hierarchical workplace setup that emphasizes the importance of respecting every team member and customer and giving them a safe platform to be vocal. We always encourage them to speak their mind about anything and everything that’s going well or notso- well in AccesseHR.
Success comes from the mutual respect we, as a team, have for each other. Our clients see how we manage and prioritize our employees’ well-being. This transparency allows them to put their faith in AccesseHR’s capabilities, intentions, and experience. When COVID-19 hit, we moved our employees to a remote setup to ensure everyone was safe and sound. We encouraged them to do what was deemed best for their family. This approach has brought AccesseHR to its present glory and successfully doubled our business in the last couple of years. content change
