AMERIND Risk and TWG Partner to Help Tribes Maximize Employee Benefits, Cut Costs
Santa Ana Pueblo, NM-June 18, 2015—
A recent acquisition by AMERIND Risk,
the only 100 percent Tribally-owned
insurance solutions provider in Indian
Country, is opening doors for Tribal
governments and businesses to increase
employee benefits while cutting costs.
In February 2015, AMERIND acquired
TWG Insurance and Financial Services,
a brokerage firm with a decade of success
serving the minority market space in
New Mexico and the Southwest. Since
the companies joined forces, several
AMERIND Risk clients have reaped the
rewards of the new company, minted
AMERIND Benefits, which designs
customized employee benefits packages,
streamlines benefits enrollment and
implementation, and takes a holistic
approach to wellness by promoting
prevention and health education.
AMERIND Risk can attest to TWG’s
personalized service first-hand. The
Tribal-owned nonprofit hired TWG
as its broker in December 2013. TWG
designed a robust benefits package for
AMERIND Risk, earning the companies
the 2014 carrier recognition award for
“Most Innovative Benefits Design.”
“We want tribes to be consumers
of healthcare and not just users of
healthcare. As the consumer, you have
control,” said AMERIND Risk CEO
Derek Valdo, who is also a council
member at Acoma Pueblo.
Now in addition to the property,
liability and workers’ compensation
insurance coverage that AMERIND
Risk has provided Indian Country for
nearly 30 years, AMERIND is a
one-stop shopping resource for
all insurance needs including
employee benefits. TWG brings a
wide range of core and voluntary
products to the table through
proprietary plans with numerous
carriers,
including
health
insurance, dental plans, vision
coverage, short- and long-term
disability insurance, accident
plans, cancer insurance, critical
illness coverage, and much more.
AMERIND Benefits offers clients tailormade, affordable solutions, as opposed
to cookie-cutter benefit options. And at
no extra cost, they assist with benefits
implementation
and
management
long after open enrollment. Beyond
its customized plans, what really
sets AMERIND Benefits apart is its
continuum of care. They ensure tribes
meet the constantly changing Affordable
Care Act standards for compliance, and
that they understand how their benefits
coordinate with Indian Health Services
(IHS).
Providing hassle-free enrollment through
one-on-one consultations, web-based and
laptop enrollment methods, or call center
enrollments at no cost to employers.
Rather than doing business with
multiple brokers and agents, AMERIND
Benefits consolidates communication.
Customers deal with one certified, welltrained benefits manager and claims
advocate for all their benefits questions.
In addition, they implemented green,
paperless technology, thus reducing costs
and empowering employees by putting
policy information at their fingertips.
AMERIND Benefits is continually
striving to raise the industry benchmark
by engaging employers and employees
in preventative healthcare education.
“Wellness education and preventative
medicine are the true cornerstones
of healthcare reform and long-term
healthy outcomes in communities,” said
Angela Rodgers-Hesch, the founder and
agency director of TWG Insurance and
Financial Services, which now comprises
AMERIND
Benefits.
“Healthcare
education helps people understand
how their lifestyles and habits are really
driving the costs of healthcare and the
costs of claims.”
Based on the Santa Ana Pueblo in
Bernalillo, New Mexico, AMERIND
Risk was designed by over 400 tribes for
tribes. AMERIND knows the importance
of providing culturally sensitive care
to employees. Roughly 80 percent of
employees in tribal companies are Native
American. AMERIND Benefits makes it
a point to include traditional medicine
men in its workers’ compensation and
employee benefits programs, and to offer
reimbursement for tribal healers.
It’s common knowledge that high
claims cause health plan rates to
skyrocket. AMERIND Benefits works
to lower premiums through risk
management and prevention, as well as
tax savings programs to reduce overall
payroll expenses. Health and wellness
programs provide employers advantages
including reduced absenteeism, lower
turnover rates, and increased employee
recruitment
potential—significant
feats considering employee absence can
account for as much as 36 percent of a
company’s payroll. Meanwhile, diabetes,
hypertension and cardiovascular disease
are prevalent in Indian Country, and
chronic diseases like these account for
nearly 75 percent of total healthcare
expenditures.
AMERIND’s goal truly extends
beyond the workplace and into tribal
communities. “If we can influence
workers to adopt healthy behaviors,
hopefully that will flow over into
families. We have a higher mission—
tribes helping tribes—that’s our cause
and calling,” Valdo said. “We care about
those greater benefits—the golden rule
of taking care of the community.”
Tribes Protecting Tribes.com
4