Customer case study: The Invisible Studios

The challenge

Marjorie Gilberg opened The Invisible Studios in 2008 with her partner and co-owner. Being a CEO at a previous large non-profit for over 20 years, she was committed to offering a health benefit package no matter what—not only because she wanted to do right by her employees, but also because she knew health benefits are an essential part of any recruiting strategy. Once they started preparing to hire employees, Marjorie immediately began researching health benefits options that would work for their small business.

She first looked into traditional group health insurance policies, but they were too costly and cumbersome to be a good fit. At the time, The Invisible Studios had younger employees that weren’t as experienced with health insurance, but still needed a benefit that would provide enough value for them should they need to use it in the future. Marjorie also knew that as a small business, they didn’t have a lot of time to maintain a complicated benefit, so excellent technical support and a responsive customer service team were top priorities for her when looking for a health benefits solution.

The solution

After a suggestion from a friend, Marjorie began to explore QSEHRAs. A QSEHRA is a tax-free health benefit used to reimburse employees for their individual health insurance premium and other out-of-pocket medical expenses. Employers set a budget-friendly monthly allowance of their choice making it completely customizable. Marjorie was unfamiliar with the health benefit, so there was a learning curve at first. However, after extensive research, it seemed like the right option for The Invisible Studios.

Marjorie selected an allowance based on gold level plans in the California individual health insurance market and was on her way with the QSEHRA. She discovered Take Command Health as a benefit administration software and signed up. However, it wasn’t long until she found out that they didn’t live up to expectations. Because she was new to the platform and the QSEHRA, she had many questions and felt there was a lack of attention and help from their customer service team. Questions weren’t answered in a timely manner and the onboarding process was clunky for the staff. She also thought the pricing wasn’t as competitive as other solution providers that offered the same product.

After cancelling their QSEHRA with Take Command Health, The Invisible Studios signed up with PeopleKeep. Marjorie immediately liked the user-friendly interface and responsive customer service. The Invisible Studios knew they finally came to the right place.

The results

Since joining PeopleKeep, the QSEHRA has been very successful for The Invisible Studios. They have a 100% participation rate and are saving roughly $600 per month over other options they considered. Employees are glad the flexible health benefit allows them to get reimbursed for the healthcare products and services they want—all they have to do is submit proof of their eligible expenses. It’s considered a welcomed addition to the benefits offered to employees during the hiring process.

What’s more, onboarding ran smoothly and was hassle-free. When employees received their introduction email from PeopleKeep, they were able to go into the software right away to accept and get set up with their dashboard. Options to shop for a policy and explore what expenses are eligible for reimbursement are easily visible on the main page at the click of a button so employees can find exactly what they need to get started.

As administrator, Marjorie likes the amount of control that she has over the benefit. Scheduling reimbursements is simple and fast and she arranges payments in as little as five minutes per month, which works for her busy lifestyle. With PeopleKeep’s customer support team available via phone, email and chat, questions are answered quickly for both Marjorie and The Invisible Studios’ staff, making benefit administration and user interface issues experienced with Take Command a thing of the past.