At my job we have a mix benefits managed directly by my employer and benefits managed by third parties. I can say without doubt that the employer-managed benefits are cheaper and of higher quality. This is why I shudder everyone some company gets a contract to manage a benefit that was previously managed internally. Our MER/DCA accounts and 401k have recently been outsourced, and I'm not happy about it. (MER claims now takes months instead of hours to process. I have to fax the paperwork instead of inter-office mailing it, which means making copies of receipts so that I can run the copies through the fax machine. Submittins a MER claim now takes me an hour instead of 10 minutes--which must be faxed from my work fax.
)
Anyway, I just got an e-mail regarding one of our internally-managed benefits, specifically the Long Term Disability insurance. This year, claims have been much lower than in years past, so the fund is enjoying a large surplus. They have declared a premium holiday for the next four months.
I don't think we'd ever see a premium holiday on our externally-managed health insurance.
