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Most actuaries and benefit
advisors will tell you that
COBRA participants
represent a higher risk
than your active workforce.

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One of the first questions stop-loss underwriters ask is:

"How many COBRA participants do you have?"

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We have a track record of substantially reducing the impact
of high cost COBRA claims on your self-funded health plan.

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Our independent status allows us to give unbiased advice to COBRA
eligibles and most often find a solution that is truly

"better than COBRA"





Mission

Better Than COBRA was conceived to take advantage of the opportunities created by the enactment of the Affordable Care Act.


Better Than COBRA was founded with the idea of providing two valuable and complimentary services for displaced employees and the self-funded health plans where they were employed:

1. Our COBRA Counseling Initiative is intended to reach out to terminated employees in a compassionate manner and help them to determine the best healthcare solution for themselves and/or their dependents.

Health Insurance is difficult for the average person to understand in any event, let alone when dealing with the other issues surrounding a job loss. Left on their own, most terminated employees are simply not capable of understanding all of their options and tend to naturally gravitate to an easy and familiar COBRA election. Passive encouragement efforts have not worked.

2. Risk Mitigation for the Self-Funded Health Plan Actuaries and Benefit Consultants will tell you that high cost COBRA participants are dangerous to the well being of your health insurance program. Former employees willing to pay the "high" premiums for COBRA are likely to result in substantially higher claims than your active employee group.

By proactively counseling these folks about other options, including Federal Premium (and Coverage) subsidies, the Better Than COBRA service can significantly reduce your plan's exposure to high COBRA claims and shift this burden to Spousal Plans or the Public risk pools

Overview

The Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1984 (better known as COBRA) established employee rights to continued coverage for Employer Based medical, dental and vision plans. While this law provides valuable coverage continuation for separated employees, it also creates significant liability for Self-funded health plans. Actuaries will tell you that COBRA participants have substantially larger claims as a group than the active employee population.

With the implementation of the Affordable Care Act, for the first time, employees have the option to secure coverage in the individual markets with no limitations on pre-existing conditions, and often, with a Federal tax subsidy to offset a significant portion of the cost.

Better Than COBRA was created in recognition of the fact that insurance is complicated in itself and there was not a resource available to terminated employees to advise them of all of their options for health insurance; including spousal coverage, Medicare or Medicaid (if applicable), individual coverage, Christian cost sharing, etc.

Our Better Than COBRA counselors provide professional and compassionate guidance to separated employees. In the process, we substantially reduce the impact of COBRA claims for Self-Funded health plans. We truly offer a win-win solution for all parties. The employee will often find more cost effective health coverage and the Self-funded health plan will dramatically reduce their exposure to high cost COBRA claims.

About Us - History

The Principals of Lighthouse Benefit Resources, Inc. have a combined 70 years experience in the Insurance and Benefits Industry.

Having been separately successful in the more "traditional" benefit environments of the '70's, '80's, '90's and early 2,000's, They approached the advent of the Affordable Care Act with an eye to the latent opportunities presented amidst the chaos that was sure to come.

Having worked on joint projects since 2003, the principals came together in early 2013 to form Lighthouse Benefit Resources, Inc. in order to take advantage of the market disruption caused by the implementation of the Affordable Care Act.

In mid 2015, we turned our focus to our Better Than Cobra solution which was developed to utilize our infrastructure to address the universal problem of COBRA claims for Self-Funded Health Plans.

In a short time, we have been successful in partnering with several large TPA's and are in active discussions with multiple reinsurance carriers in regards to embedding our service in their renewal process.
Our service takes into account access issues (making certain the network chosen is adequate) and pharmacy issues (making certain the drug formulary chosen is appropriate to the individual's needs).

We also assist in the application process to make certain all available Federal assistance is in place to enhance the likelihood that a COBRA alternative makes better sense for the employee.

Our pool of COBRA Counselors is comprised of seasoned HR professionals who are uniquely qualified to provide professional, compassionate advice to your terminated employees

Once a month, our clients get a report of all call activity and the results of our efforts so that they can constantly evaluate our effectiveness on behalf of the Health Plan

Our Process

Once a week, we get a secure feed of COBRA eligible employees to our secure ShareFile web site

  1. We then process an employer letter to the employee to make them aware of the service we are providing (encourage them to take a call)
  2. Where we can, we also send text to the cellphone and email to further explain the purpose of our calls
  3. We support our process with our web site "www.betterthancobra.net"
  4. We then reach out telephonically (at least) 3 times to try and engage with the terminated employee. Using "gotomeeting" technology where we can, we engage in active counseling to make them aware of more cost effective options than COBRA, walking them through the process, including the availability Federal assistance and subsidies.
Why are we "Better Than Cobra?"

#1

Qualify for a tax credit to lower what you pay for private health insurance in just minutes

#2

Most people save money by enrolling in private health insurance instead of COBRA

#3

Compare numerous plans in seconds and get the best coverage at the lowest price

#4

Enjoy the power of choice - select your insurance company, your doctor, and your level of coverage (instead of being limited to only COBRA offerings)

#5

Private and confidential shopping experience on our secure marketplace

#6

Real-time quotes, anytime 24/7 - then compare, save, and enroll

#7

Unbiased advisors to answer your questions and help you enroll

#8

Year-round policy help so you avoid long wait times with your insurance company

Contact Us

Michael Maloy

 225 Marina Drive
St. Simons Island, GA 31522
 Use direct dial: (912) 638-8600

 mmaloy@betterthancobra.net

Barry M Murphy, CLU, ChFC

 225 Marina Drive
St. Simons Island, GA 31522
  678-575-6606

 bmmurphy@betterthancobra.net

Amber Kornegay

 225 Marina Drive
St. Simons Island, GA 31522
 Direct Dial: (912) 638 8600
Fax: 770.634.1819
 akornegay@betterthancobra.net