Associated Builders and Contractors Northern California (ABC NorCal) helps its members develop people, and win work.  We are proud to announce an opportunity for Northern California’s merit shop contractors that is sure to help save them save money.  This is possible through the ABC Northern California Benefit Trust Fund, a qualified ERISA Trust, sponsored by the ABC NorCal Chapter for the benefit of its members and governed under the direction of its designated Trustees, in partnership with HUB International and Blue Shield.

What makes this program so distinctive is that it was created specifically to support contractors providing competitive health insurance rates.  ABC NorCal is proud to have assembled a team of experts from the Health and Welfare Trust industry to provide the legal, administrative, and marketing experience necessary to deliver a viable and competitive service for the members’ of the ABC NorCal Chapter.

The ABC NorCal Benefit Trust Fund offers an array of benefits which includes medical, dental, and vision insurance plans through Blue Shield at a competitive rate. “The major advantage of this Trust goes well beyond competitive rates” said Kathryn McGuire, Brown Construction and Benefit Trust Chair, “the Benefit Trust allows contractors to be more competitive when bidding on prevailing wage jobs by lowering the contractor’s payroll burden.” This is what separates the benefit of participating in a bona fide Trust Plan to other health insurance options currently available in the market place.  The Benefit Trust also allows for a one-rate system, versus the typical and time-consuming age-banding method which greatly increases cost of the benefits for your employees, and the burden for your HR and payroll staff.

In addition to making our member contractors more competitive, the Benefit Trust provides the necessary key services to the contractor such as centralized administration for enrollment and billing, full COBRA administration, HIPAA, PPACA, regulatory notice compliance and fiduciary oversight. These consolidated services provide additional administrative savings unique to the ABC NorCal Benefit Trust Fund.

Contractors face many unique challenges, not the least is managing a seasonal workforce and taking proper credit for employee benefits. The Benefit Trust Fund is proud to offer the industry the unique tools known as employee hour banking, banking reduces accounting hassles by giving employers a per-hour rate for health coverage. This not only reduces the chance of overpayment of benefits, but also It also allows employees to “bank” hours during peak work periods, and then use this reserve to maintain benefits coverage during slow periods and work stoppages.

Members have a wide range of employee benefit needs. Your company may be small with limited financial resources, or you may be large with multi-state locations. ABC NorCal will work for you to find the right insurance plan designed to help you achieve your specific goals.