In the fiercely competitive North Texas market for quality employees, your company's benefits program can give you the edge you need to recruit and retain the best people.

Woodard Insurance provides a wide range of employee benefit services for our corporate clients, most of whom have between 50 and 500 employees. We help you design your employee benefits program so that it is compatible with both your company's human resource and budgetary goals.

Benefits planning is a time-intensive process and is laden with landmines. More important than picking the right insurer is picking the right insurance consultant. Woodard Insurance works with our clients on an exclusive basis, which means that when you hire us, you agree to designate us as your only consultants for the particular benefits programs you want us to handle.

Our planning services fall into five categories:

Welfare benefit plans. We design traditional welfare plans, such as health, dental, life, and disability insurance plans. We negotiate your initial and renewal rates from the leading insurers in each market. In the challenging health insurance market, we work with all the major group health insurance companies to bring you the best value for your corporate dollar.

Retirement plans. Some employers begin retirement plans as purely voluntary employee-paid programs, whereas other employers use their plans as profit-sharing tools to increase productivity. These plans are governed under ERISA, a complex federal law passed in 1974 and amended repeatedly since then.  We can establish your 401(k), SEP, and SIMPLE IRA plans. If you ask Woodard to establish or take over servicing of your 401(k) plan, we will bring to your company a professional 401(k) recordkeeper and investment manager, which is not affiliated with Woodard but which works closely with us on the daily operations of your plan. 

Woodard will guide you through much of the substantial fiduciary obligations you take on when you start an ERISA retirement plan.  And if your company retirement plan is audited by the IRS or Department of Labor, Woodard will help you throughout the often frightening process.  Woodard was praised by a local DOL auditor for our outstanding service to an employer during a 2007 401(k) audit.  The level of service we provide to our clients during difficult times is a Woodard hallmark.

Cafeteria plans. A Sec. 125 Cafeteria Plan is perhaps the greatest tax break the federal government offers. Unlike most other tax breaks, Cafeteria Plans do not discriminate against the high-income business owner. We implement Cafeteria Plans for our employers so that both they and their employees can share in the huge tax-savings these plans offer. We help you make sure your corporate and employee files are properly documented to meet the rigorous IRS requirements.  We remove much of the administrative burden of Sec. 125 flexible spending accounts (FSAs) by bringing to your company a professional Sec. 125 administration firm (which is not affiliated with Woodard).

Employee communications. Communicating your benefits program to your employees is as critical to your program's success as designing the right plans. We hold employee benefits meetings for your employees whenever you implement a new plan and at least annually thereafter. We are available throughout the year for telephone or in-person conferences for your employees. We develop quality presentation materials for you to use in providing new employees with an overview of your benefits program.

Compliance. The employee benefits world is burdened with excessive laws and regulations on the state and federal level. We remove much of that burden from you by bringing to your company a professional COBRA and HIPAA administration firm (which is not affiliated with Woodard). We are available throughout the year to help you with any questions about COBRA, HIPAA, ERISA, Medicare Part D, or other state and federal benefits laws. We will provide signature-ready IRS Forms 5500 for your welfare benefit plans.  Your 401(k) recordkeeper and Sec. 125 administrator (which usually are recommended by Woodard) will provide the 5500s for your 401(k) and Sec. 125 plans. We do not provide legal advice.