One City Built to Last

division, however, primarily targets individual consumers,
representing a welcome expansion into this new area
for the firm.
When Weinstein came on board as a temporary summer
hire in 2002, the Northrim Benefits Group consisted
of three employees. He was in between teaching positions
and took the job “not just to kill some time” in the summer
months, but to use his time and skills wisely while school
was out. He found himself enjoying the industry enough
to stay.
“I am a numbers person,” Weinstein said. “I enjoy helping
a client establish what their need is and then putting
together a solution to fill that need.”
At first, his policy writing work focused on responding
to the care needs associated with an illness or injury. Then
the insurance policy tide turned, and Weinstein saw
opportunities to help people stay healthy by emphasizing
preventative care and wellness. That evolved
into helping companies purchase group plans at
lower than usual cost.
“Health care spending has become such a significant
part of the financial picture for business
owners, that if they do not get a handle
on the rising cost of
their health care
plan, they lose
their competitive
edge,” he stressed.
Weinstein put
his love of num-
bers to work, analyzing budgets and spreadsheets for
the firms Northrim serviced. The benefits group began to
grow. Today, the firm employs 12 to 20, with renewal season
requiring more staff.
As Obamacare began to be implemented, it became clear
to Weinstein that the firm’s clients needed plain English
guidance as to how this would impact them.
“The most significant consideration in the early part of
the law back in 2010, was just getting our arms around
this and figuring out what does it mean to us,” he noted.
“Now, further into its implementation – as employers we
work with are seeing the sticker shock associated with this
expansion of health care benefits and the compliance requirements
associated with it – a lot of concern has been
created in our office that employers may not, or likely are
not, doing everything they are supposed to be doing at
the right time or getting the right information to the right
people at the right time.”
Hence, Northrim’s focus regarding Affordable Care Act
education gave way to a focus on compliance and a new
set of services began to be offered to clients: Online communication
portals offering support for human resource
departments, document preparation services and a primer
on Obamacare titled “Healthcare Reform 101.” This was
written to get clients up to speed and comfortable with the
latest mandates they had to meet.
“Added to Obamacare are the continual announcements
from the Federal Department of Labor that the agency intends
to audit every employer sponsoring health and welfare
plans within the workplace,” Weinstein notes. This
only provides Weinstein and his staff with more reason
to focus on compliance in regards to health care insurance
policies.
“It has gotten a lot more technical – and we really have
had to roll up our sleeves,” Weinstein emphasized. “But
for us, being able to take all of that information and regurgitate
it back to the client in a way that is understandable
and meaningful to them, so that they know we are full
partners with them in this journey, is our goal.”
3111 C St, Suite 500
Anchorage, Alaska 99503
P: 907.263.1401 |TF: 888.910.6667
Email: info@northrimbenefits.com
www. northrimbenefits.com
THE SUIT MAGAZINE p.47