Search CE Pro






Print  |  Email  |  Comments (1)  |  Share  |  News  |  Follow on Twitter, Facebook or RSS

Visit Arlington Industries
CE Pro Blogs

NSCA, Crestron Team to Cut Health Insurance Costs

Crestron enrolls employees into NSCA health insurance program, reducing premium costs for participating members.


Lots of companies pay lip service to the dealer community. Others don't. That's why some recent news from the National Systems Contractors Association (NSCA) is noteworthy.

The 2,500-member association, which serves primarily small commercial systems contractors, recently announced it is offering a new low-cost health insurance program for its members.

The "story behind the story" is that the NSCA Health Solutions insurance program would not have happened unless Crestron had stepped in and enrolled its own 2,400 employees into the program. That enrollment gave the program its critical mass to help the program be more affordable. According to NSCA, the program is one of the first of its kind in the nation, and the rates for these small contractors is on par with rates for companies with hundreds of employees.

The program itself is a component of SystemsPlus Insurance Solutions. It provides a variety of insurance coverage, including Property & Casualty, Surety and Stop Loss. The health insurance program launched in January 2009.

“Crestron has enabled small integrators, CE professionals and dealers to buy healthcare at costs as if they were a large organization,” says Chuck Wilson, NSCA executive director. “Our industry can get so inundated with the technology, but set all of that aside for a minute. This is about helping small businesses in America survive and grow. This is about helping people.”

Randy Klein, Crestron executive vice president, says the company was excited to team up with NSCA. “One of the largest expenses for a small business - and the often first to be cut - is health benefits. This program means more companies staying in business and more people at work, which is good for the economy and good for our industry on all levels.”

“You’d be shocked at the number of companies that can’t afford to offer their employees health insurance,” says Wilson. “It’s hard to run a business today, but we all worked together to see how we could pool our resources to help these smaller companies provide affordable healthcare, and Crestron stepped up with us.”

As everyone knows, there are a lot of unknowns surround health care reform right now.

You can count Ron Pusey, president/CEO of Communications Specialists Inc. in Mechanicsville, Va., as a big fan. “SystemsPlus Health has been, by far, the best received plan we’ve ever participated in. Our employees and their spouses are happier now. Our participation in SystemsPlus has provided us a savings of $6,630/month or $79,560 annually!”

Likewise for Max Curry of Infinity Sound in Dallas/Ft. Worth. He says it's the first time in five years that the company has not faced a premium increase and employee deductibles were cut in half.

Kudos to Crestron for this level of industry support.

Subscribe to the CE Pro Newsletter

Article Topics

Blogs · Business Resources · Crestron · All topics

About the Author

Jason Knott, Editor, CE Pro
Jason has covered low-voltage electronics as an editor since 1990. He joined EH Publishing in 2000, and before that served as publisher and editor of Security Sales, a leading magazine for the security industry. He served as chairman of the Security Industry Association’s Education Committee from 2000-2004 and sat on the board of that association from 1998-2002. He is also a former board member of the Alarm Industry Research and Educational Foundation. He is currently a member of the CEDIA Education Action Team for Electronic Systems Business. Jason graduated from the University of Southern California.

1 Comments (displayed in order by date/time)

Posted by jammydoug  on  11/13  at  02:40 AM

Hi
We used to have individual health insurance, and I would pay for it out of my own company (an S Corp). When we got insurance through my husband’s employer, I stopped reimbursing myself.
Insurance review

Page 1 of 1 comment pages
Post a comment
Name:
Email:
Choose smileys | View comment guidelines
Remember my personal information
Notify me of follow-up comments?

Please answer the question below:


Sponsored Links

  About Us Customer Service Privacy Policy Contact Us Advertise With Us Dealer Services Subscribe ©2012 CE Pro
  EH Network: Electronic House Electronic House Ideas Commercial Integrator ChannelPro ProSoundWeb Church Production Worship Facilities Electronic House Expo Worship Facilities Expo