ALA Healthcare Plan Launched Jan. 1

Members Report Significant Savings

The year 2024 will be an unprecedented one for the American Lighting Association (ALA) with the arrival of several new programs and benefits that were developed in direct response to member feedback. The debut of ALA Reimagined was widely well-received among attendees at Lightovation.

Most notably, Jan. 1 was the kickoff of the national group healthcare plan the association just launched to its membership. The ALA Members Health Plan features unlimited major medical coverage for individuals and companies — with plans available for single-person businesses to companies with more than 1,000 employees.

During Lightovation, ALA’s designated health insurance agent, Danny O’Connell at Next Level Insurance Agency, was present at the ALA booth on the fourth floor of the Trade Mart to meet with the lighting industry and answer questions about the new benefit. 

The comprehensive ALA Members Health Plan – developed in collaboration with Next Level Insurance Agency and Health Cooperative Strategies – covers physician and hospital visits, prescription medications, laboratory services, and diagnostic tests.  By leveraging the purchasing power of the association, members can enjoy healthcare benefits at competitive and affordable rates, with premiums as low as $306 per month.

The reaction to the new ALA Members Health Plan has been phenomenal. “We are getting contacted by two to three people a week on average,” notes O’Connell, who adds that most individuals or groups can change their plan at any time unless they are a large self-funded group.

According to O’Connell, approximately 70% of the ALA members who have contacted his agency for a quote have received a competitive offer.

“We have seen groups getting better options compared to their PEOs, limited medical plans, level funded plans, fully insured plans, and individual plans,” O’Connell remarks. “For example, I recently was working with a lighting couple who were paying $1,500 a month for an HMO and was able to get them a PPO for around $800 a month with a much larger network and similar plan.”  

The Charlotte, N.C.-based lighting rep agency Spectrum Hulett Group has also seen significant savings. “As a result of restructuring our offering and switching over to the ALA plan, we were able to save a little over $20,000 versus our 2023 plan,” remarks Ryan Berlin of Spectrum Hulett Group. “Overall changes include being able to offer an HSA plan for those who wish to participate, and we were also able to double our vision benefits for about the same pricing. Danny and his team have been amazing to work with and the experience has been a much-needed improvement over our previous broker.”

De Motte, Indiana-based The Midwest Lighting Group is equally enthusiastic about this new ALA member benefit. 

“As an independent contractor, we are responsible for securing our own health insurance. It is very expensive for individuals unless you have a group policy,” states Todd Tuchfarber. “We were excited to hear at the ALA Conference about ALA’s plan to offer insurance as a group. We were thrilled to discover we were eligible for several plans at different levels of deductibles and costs. With the guidance of the group that ALA is working with, we selected a plan that is much more comprehensive. Our premiums dropped by 15% and, more importantly, our deductibles dropped by 25%. Also with the new Cigna plan, we now have a prescription benefit that we did not have with our old plan.” 

For more information about the ALA Members Health Plan, ALA members can contact Danny O’Connell at Next Level Insurance Agency at doconnell@nextlevel.agency or (469) 329-0777. Additional information about ALA and membership is available online at ALAMembers.com.