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Hello,

Our museum currently does not offer health benefits beyond a reimbursement that is currently embedded into our paycheck along with our wages. Therefore the reimbursement is taxed.

The board may be considering offering benefits and the staff would like to present a proposal. We currently have four employees.

Does the AAM have any sort of group health plan?
What policies or programs does your museum offer? Any good contacts or leads?

Thank you,
Jodi

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Jodi Gonzales
Deputy Executive Director
390th Memorial Museum Foundation
Tucson AZ
------------------------------

Has your museum considered outsourcing its HR?  You can typically find HR firms that also include the option to take part in a benefits program that is more affordable because it is sort of like a CoOp of all of the companies that work with the HR firm.  Plus, membership to a firms typically also includes a host of other HR services like hiring and training support, payroll, compliance, etc.  That frees up your staff to do more of the work that they should be doing, like fundraising, collections care, etc.  Employer Associations of America provides a list of firms, https://www.eaahub.org/, but they do not have an affiliate in Arizona.  It does, however, look like there are firms in your state.  Firms offer different services, and some are more affordable than others, so some research is needed to make sure you get a firm that meets your needs.

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Kristy Griffin
Museum Registrar
Wyoming State Museum
Cheyenne WY
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Original Message:
Sent: 06-07-2018 01:47 PM
From: Jodi Gonzales
Subject: Health Benefits for Small Museums

Hello,

Our museum currently does not offer health benefits beyond a reimbursement that is currently embedded into our paycheck along with our wages. Therefore the reimbursement is taxed.

The board may be considering offering benefits and the staff would like to present a proposal. We currently have four employees.

Does the AAM have any sort of group health plan?
What policies or programs does your museum offer? Any good contacts or leads?

Thank you,
Jodi

------------------------------
Jodi Gonzales
Deputy Executive Director
390th Memorial Museum Foundation
Tucson AZ
------------------------------

​Our staff is larger than yours, but years ago, when we were smaller we secured a group policy, and the museum paid 100% of the premiums.  Our health insurance was paid with pre-tax $, and the museum saved on what it had to pay for social security and other payroll taxes.  Our individual tax burdens were also reduced.  If our families were covered, we paid that from after tax $ out of our paychecks.  We still follow this process, and it works well for us, although the insurance market is WAY more expensive.  I believe one of the things that President Trump wants to do with health care is to permit associations to create a large pool of its affiliates to be insured, and thus reduce the rates by spreading the risk over many people.  i.e. your rates would significantly decline if you could move from a group policy for 4 to a group policy for 4,000.  That would be a big help to our museum as well.

------------------------------
[Shan] Rankin
Executive Director
Museum of South Texas History
Edinburg TX
------------------------------

Original Message:
Sent: 06-07-2018 01:47 PM
From: Jodi Gonzales
Subject: Health Benefits for Small Museums

Hello,

Our museum currently does not offer health benefits beyond a reimbursement that is currently embedded into our paycheck along with our wages. Therefore the reimbursement is taxed.

The board may be considering offering benefits and the staff would like to present a proposal. We currently have four employees.

Does the AAM have any sort of group health plan?
What policies or programs does your museum offer? Any good contacts or leads?

Thank you,
Jodi

------------------------------
Jodi Gonzales
Deputy Executive Director
390th Memorial Museum Foundation
Tucson AZ
------------------------------

​In addition to what the previous posters have suggested, your institution might also consider setting up a Section 125 Cafeteria Plan for its employees.  Such a plan would allow employees to elect to have pre-tax dollars deducted from their paychecks and placed into an account for that employee"s use for one or more eligible purposes.  Payment of health care premiums can be one of the eligible purposes, as can payment of health care or dependent care costs not covered by insurance, and a variety of other purposes (just Google "Section 125 Cafeteria Plan" for a list of options).  Because the payroll deduction is pre-tax, the institution saves on the FICA payment it would otherwise have made for the wages deducted, and the employee avoids taxes on the deduction in order to pay for needed benefits. 

Such a Cafeteria Plan could be used under for a variety of purposes under different conditions.  It could augment an employer-paid health insurance plan, provide a more cost effective way for payment of the employee portion of a health insurance plan that has a employer/employee cost share, help pay for various additional benefits beyond any health insurance plan, or - if your institution fails to take action on establishment of an employer-provided health insurance plan - would at least allow employees to pay for any individual coverage they may obtain with pre-tax dollars.

------------------------------
John Coraor, PhD
Director of Cultural Affairs
Town of Huntington
Huntington NY
------------------------------

Original Message:
Sent: 06-08-2018 10:38 AM
From: Shan Rankin
Subject: Health Benefits for Small Museums

​Our staff is larger than yours, but years ago, when we were smaller we secured a group policy, and the museum paid 100% of the premiums.  Our health insurance was paid with pre-tax $, and the museum saved on what it had to pay for social security and other payroll taxes.  Our individual tax burdens were also reduced.  If our families were covered, we paid that from after tax $ out of our paychecks.  We still follow this process, and it works well for us, although the insurance market is WAY more expensive.  I believe one of the things that President Trump wants to do with health care is to permit associations to create a large pool of its affiliates to be insured, and thus reduce the rates by spreading the risk over many people.  i.e. your rates would significantly decline if you could move from a group policy for 4 to a group policy for 4,000.  That would be a big help to our museum as well.

------------------------------
[Shan] Rankin
Executive Director
Museum of South Texas History
Edinburg TX

Original Message:
Sent: 06-07-2018 01:47 PM
From: Jodi Gonzales
Subject: Health Benefits for Small Museums

Hello,

Our museum currently does not offer health benefits beyond a reimbursement that is currently embedded into our paycheck along with our wages. Therefore the reimbursement is taxed.

The board may be considering offering benefits and the staff would like to present a proposal. We currently have four employees.

Does the AAM have any sort of group health plan?
What policies or programs does your museum offer? Any good contacts or leads?

Thank you,
Jodi

------------------------------
Jodi Gonzales
Deputy Executive Director
390th Memorial Museum Foundation
Tucson AZ
------------------------------

Hi Jodi,

AAM does not currently offer a group health insurance program. We've explored some options in the past, but don't have anything in place at this time. 

We know that robust benefits are important for attracting and retaining employees, so we're happy that we recently introduced the Transamerica Museum Retirement Program. This is a professionally managed solution that reduces administrative burden, can transfer certain risks and reduces the overall plan cost. Here's a link with more detail: https://www.alliancepurchasingcoop.org/transamerica

Janet

------------------------------
Janet Vaughan
Vice President, Membership & Excellence
American Alliance of Museums
Arlington VA
------------------------------

Original Message:
Sent: 06-07-2018 01:47 PM
From: Jodi Gonzales
Subject: Health Benefits for Small Museums

Hello,

Our museum currently does not offer health benefits beyond a reimbursement that is currently embedded into our paycheck along with our wages. Therefore the reimbursement is taxed.

The board may be considering offering benefits and the staff would like to present a proposal. We currently have four employees.

Does the AAM have any sort of group health plan?
What policies or programs does your museum offer? Any good contacts or leads?

Thank you,
Jodi

------------------------------
Jodi Gonzales
Deputy Executive Director
390th Memorial Museum Foundation
Tucson AZ
------------------------------