NSCA, Crestron Team to Cut Health Insurance Costs

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.