Case Study: Great Falls Rescue Mission

The organization

Great Falls Rescue Mission opened its doors in 1963. Nearly 60 years later, the nonprofit Christian organization boasts three shelters in the Great Falls downtown area. The mission serves 17 counties, going north to the Canadian border and east to North Dakota. Among the three shelters, there’s one shelter for men, one for women, and one for families.  With lunch and dinner available to the public, around 400 total meals are served each day. 

In addition to offering free meals, the mission provides overnight emergency shelter, substance abuse assistance, and domestic violence assistance, as well as a volunteer medical clinic. This helps connect homeless individuals and families with a general practice doctor,  a chiropractor, eye care, and dental services.

The challenge

When Jeremy Trebas, Great Falls Rescue Mission Controller, first started with the organization, they were offering group health insurance to their full-time employees. Their current insurance had been a stable and substantial offering however, in 2016, while tracking changes in the health care sector, Jeremy grew concerned that group insurance premiums would increase.

“We had been pretty generous with the health benefit we offered and we wanted to continue to be generous. That was not possible for us as an organization when our rates jumped 54% in one year.”

That became a reality once their rates suddenly jumped by 54% in one year. Jeremy knew it was time to start looking for other options that would still allow them to offer a generous and flexible health benefit to their employees but would be more affordable for them in the long run as a nonprofit organization.

The solution

Jeremy found PeopleKeep after a quick online search. After going through the website, he quickly scheduled a call with a Personalized Benefits Advisor that was able to explain how a QSEHRA with PeopleKeep works.

A QSEHRA would allow employees to receive tax-free reimbursements for their insurance premiums and other out-of-pocket expenses. With the ability to set their own allowances, Jeremy would be able to stay within his budget—something especially important for a nonprofit where budgets rarely have any wiggle room. 

The results

Great Falls Rescue Mission is now saving over $91k in taxes a year with the QSEHRA. Since onboarding, employees have been extremely happy with the new benefit. Most are using their full allowance to pay for their entire premium and other medical costs. That was one of the biggest positives, according to Jeremy. With the group insurance plan, only certain medical expenses the insurance company decided on were covered by their plan. Now, some employees are able to get treatments they couldn’t before and those on their spouses’ health insurance policies could still get their copays and other expenses paid for with their allowances. The ability to take care of all of their employees and their families—regardless of their insurance situation sets the organization apart in their industry and has helped them retain their employees.

“Employees are really happy with the benefit and the flexibility it allows.” 

Not only has PeopleKeep helped Great Falls Rescue Mission provide an affordable and valuable benefit, but administering the benefit has been simple as well. It takes Jeremy about 5 minutes per month to make updates and process reimbursements on the platform. In Jeremy’s experience, other nonprofits struggle to offer valuable benefits. The ability to offer an impactful and flexible benefit to their diverse employees has been a huge selling point for their organization.

“The employee’s submit their requests online and all I have to do is click a button. I add the reimbursement to their paycheck and I’m done." 

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