About Higginbotham
Higginbotham is a single-source solution for insurance, risk management, financial, and HR/employee benefits services. The employee-owned firm was established in 1948 and today ranks by revenue as the nation’s 20th-largest independent insurance brokerage.
Based in Fort Worth, Texas, Higginbotham serves businesses and individuals through locations across the nation. The firm specializes in tailoring programs to meet each client’s unique needs, and it stands by those programs with its Day Two Services®, which provide proactive customer support through the life of each policy.
About Higginbotham Public Sector
Higginbotham Public Sector (HPS), a specialty practice within Higginbotham, provides comprehensive insurance and employee benefits support that's specifically tailored for education and government institutional clients.
For more than 30 years, the firm that joined forces with Higginbotham to take on the HPS mantle — Financial Benefit Services of Richardson, Texas — advised such institutional clients in every aspect of employee benefits while developing innovative, proprietary enrollment, education, engagement, and administration solutions to help those clients attract and retain valuable public sector employees.
Now as part of Higginbotham, HPS stands ready to provide the full Higginbotham range of single-source solutions and support for institutional clients and their public sector employees in Texas and beyond — anywhere the Higginbotham name can be found.
What sets HPS apart?
Choosing the right broker to navigate the complexities of employee benefits is crucial. While many brokers seem to offer similar services, Higginbotham Public Sector stands out with in-house services customized to support you in several unique ways.
Layered Service Approach
• Licensed Consultants who advocate for you throughout the RFP process and renewals
• An Account Manager dedicated to your questions and annual enrollment
• Client Service Representatives to assist your employees with their benefits needs
• A dedicated Billing Representative to handle reconciliation and carrier invoices
Enrollment Support
• Proprietary enrollment platform provides you with full control and flexibility to customize your enrollment experience
• Smartphone app built by HPS developers, offering employees 24/7 benefits information at their fingertips
• In-house billing services take care of invoices, reconciliation, and common remitter premiums so you don’t have to
Governmental Entity Expertise
For decades, HPS has distinguished itself as an expert in creating benefits solutions for governmental entities. Our team of benefits and medical consultants has a deep understanding of the unique needs of public sector clients. We craft custom healthcare, retirement, and voluntary benefits soluions tailored to the diverse needs of local government employees.
In addition, we guide our public sector clients through complex compliance issues — leveraging our extensive experience in designing and managing benefits programs that adhere to legal standards and address specific demands of government workforces.
We provide specialized solutions that stay ahead of trends and enhance the satisfaction and retention of public sector employees. Our team’s goal is to optimize your benefits, maintain fiscal responsibility, and support you every step of the way.
Our layered service approach ensures you get superior service from dedicated HPS team members who are singularly focused on certain tasks.
• Safety/loss control
• Contract review
• Claims advocacy
• Risk management
• Information systems
• Employee benefits communications
Licensed Benefits Consultant
Strategic insights and consulting
Account Manager
Implementation, plan development, and enrollment coordination
• Health risk management
• HR technology
• Employee call center
• Section 125 administration
• COBRA administration
• Compliance Year-Round Support
Client Service Representative
Hands-on customer service for your plan and your people
Billing Representative
End-to-end billing aspects, including reconciliation and payment processing
Day One Services: Benefits & Medical Consulting
Identifying opportunities to develop the best solutions for you from day one
From day one with your HPS team, we design programs based on the diverse needs of your employees and your budget. Thanks to established relationships with industry-leading carriers, we deliver the best and most affordable plan options for clients. We call these our Day One services, and they include everything you get from HPS from the very beginning:
• Health insurance
• Supplemental health products
• Population health management
• Financial protection products
• Retirement savings programs
• Benefits cooperatives
• Property & Casualty insurance
• Executive benefits
Our 5-Step Approach
Our systematic Request for Proposal (RFP) process maximizes efficiencies to obtain the best products and prices available for you. You get a customized and thorough benefits analysis that makes decision-making more straightforward.
To meet your specific needs, Higginbotham Public Sector follows a comprehensive process that enables us to review, compare, and decide on appropriate plan designs. This model builds the foundation for the long-term success of your medical and healthcare programs.
Benefits Consulting
Finding the right benefits
Our layered service approach ensures you get superior service from dedicated HPS team members who are singularly focused on certain tasks.
Benefits Practice Overview
You need expertise and insights to best understand which benefits are right for your employees. We take you through the results of our comprehensive five-step approach to outline your current plan offering and discuss how we can tailor your benefits solutions to:
• Meet your employees’ needs
• Attract and retain employees
• Reduce your direct insurance costs
Develop Benefits Strategy
Based on a comprehensive plan review, you’ll get personalized recommendations to help move your team closer to its goals and develop an effective strategy. Depending on your specific needs, your focus areas may include:
• Plan performance
• Consumer-driven healthcare plans
• Compliance requirements
• Healthcare reform requirements
• Pharmacy consulting (Rx)
• Benefits communications and education
• Enrollment technology and benefits administration
Supplemental Products
In addition to standard health benefits, we use our expertise to meet your supplemental health needs. Rely on HPS to help you select the right coverages for your workforce — which may include:
Medical Consulting
Affordable, comprehensive benefits solutions
The HPS medical consulting team is dedicated to developing benefits solutions that fit your budget and your employees’ needs. Our health division has established relationships with major health insurance carriers and providers, allowing us to present you with choices that reduce premiums, offer out-of-pocket savings, and enhance plan options. You get programs designed around the diverse needs of your employees and your budget. Group medical plan funding mechanisms vary based on employer size and risk tolerance.
Product Evaluation
Saving for Retirement with RISE
HPS created the RISE Program to give public sector employers a better path to retirement, providing robust education and tools to meet long-term financial goals.
RISE offers a cost-effective, service-focused savings program created specifically for your group. By providing a real-time view of the implementation process of your plan — as well as an array of investment options including mutual funds, target-date and risk-based funds, fixed income alternatives, and more — a quality savings program for your employees is within reach.
Day Two Services®
Immediately after you become our client, our Day Two Services activate to handle all the details — from enrollment to communications to billing.
Your HPS team will always go the extra mile to maximize your time and minimize hassle, even creating innovative solutions in response to your unique needs.
Built for the Public Sector
At HPS, our experience has shown us that our public sector clients face unique challenges that are not shared by the private sector. That's why we never take a one-size-fits-all approach.
We go a step further than traditional brokers because we develop proprietary tools and customize third-party solutions based on your particular circumstances — and provide all of these services in-house.
Section 125 Administration
• Flexible Spending Account (FSA)
• Dependent Care FSA
• Premium-Only Plans
• FSA Debit Card
HSA / HRA
• Eligibility and Contribution Tracking
• Regulatory Compliance
• HSA Debit Card
Affordable Care Act Compliance
• Identify Benefits Eligibility
• Coverage Tracking and Reporting
• Multiple Service Options Available
Family Medical Leave Act Services
• Regulatory Compliance
• Eligibility Determination
• Job Protection and Benefits Continuation
Reconciliation/ Consolidated Billing
Proprietary reconciliation software and an in-house team reduce your billing workload by handling invoices, reconciliation, and common remitter premiums.
COBRA Administration
• HR Outsourcing
• HR Technology
• HR Consulting
• Payroll Services HR Services
• Customized Programs
• Vendor Coordination
• Tools and Education
• Program Assessment Population Health Management
HPS offers a fully integrated, web-based system that gives you and your employees realtime access to COBRA benefit information while also ensuring compliance.
HPS Standout Services
Benefits Education
Helping your people utilize their benefits
Having comprehensive benefits is one thing, but encouraging your employees to use them requires clear communication, easyto-use educational tools, and helpful customer service. HPS has created a suite of benefits education resources to keep your team aligned and provide the support they need.
Mobile App
Navigate online enrollment and employee benefits easily with our Benefits App. The user-friendly interface helps employees quickly find what they’re looking for and make their selections.
App features include:
• 24/7 benefits access
• Push notifications
• Digital ID card storage
Educational Tools
• A benefits website with plan information
• Educational videos
• Provider searches
• Forms
• Convenient links to your carrier websites
• Online training
• Interactive enrollment guides
• Email campaign templates to encourage employee enrollment
Ready To Help
Benefits CareLine
During Open Enrollment, your employees will receive live support from our bilingual call center representatives.
Personalized help and support are just a phone call away to help with specific benefits questions and concerns.
Additional Resources
• Proprietary enrollment platform allows full control and flexibility to customize your enrollment experience
• Smartphone app built by HPS developers offering employees 24/7 benefits information at their fingertips
• In-house billing services take care of invoices, reconciliation, and common remitter premiums so you don’t have to
Benefits Administration
Simplifying the process of change
Relationships are a foundational pillar of HPS. Your experienced and dedicated account team will be by your side to guide you through the complexities of employee benefits administration.
System Capabilities
• Carrier Evidence of Insurability (EOI)
• Payroll imports
• Enhanced reporting
• LEARNsynx user training
• Enroll and manage core and supplemental benefits
• Benefits website accessible 24/7/365
• Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) to insurance carriers
• Data upload to your payroll system
• Robust reporting tools
AICPA SOC Secure System
Data security and the protection of employees’ private health information is a constant battle. Our system is independently audited to carefully protect your people and help ensure secure data transmissions to insurance carriers and payroll systems.
Online Enrollment
Streamline employee benefits selections with our proprietary enrollment technology. Whether you’d like to increase benefits awareness, simplify enrollment, or improve administration productivity, HPS provides a comprehensive enrollment program focused on employee engagement and education.
THEbenefits HUB
Our exclusive benefits administration platform gives your employees a simple and easy way to navigate the benefits election process. Because we own and operate THEbenefits HUB source codes, and we have a team of programmers, as well as EDI import and export personnel, we can create customized content for you.
Employees can enroll at their own pace with 24/7 access and support. Detailed plan information, rates, and informational product videos are just a few of the many tools available to help your employees make educated benefits selections.
Commercial Insurance & Value-Adds
Additional services designed to meet your various needs
You receive support far beyond medical and benefits administration. We continue to expand our offerings to support your needs and desires to offer comprehensive coverage.
Property & Casualty
• Workers’ compensation
• General liability
• Cyber liability
• Errors & Omissions (E&O)
• Student accident
• Commercial property
• Automobile liability
• Special events liability
• Sexual misconduct liability
• Law enforcement professional liability
• Directors & Officers (D&O)
• Emergency events
• International operations
Risk Management
• Safety and loss prevention
• Risk management information systems
• Contract review
• Claims advocacy
• Certificate validation
• 24/7 catastrophe support
HR Services
• HR consulting
• HR outsourcing
• Payroll services
• Onboarding services
• Compensation analysis
