The purpose of this course is to expose students to the design, financing, and structure of employer provided benefit plans. Virtually every employer offers some type of employee benefits in addition to salary as compensation for their employees. These have received increasing attention in recent years for several reasons including increased government regulation of employee benefit plans, increased cost of providing these benefits and increasing complexity of preserving favorable income tax treatment for these plans. We will primarily examine those benefits commonly known as Health and Welfare Benefits. These include the traditional benefits such as life, health and disability insurance in addition to dental, vision and prescription drug plans, HMOs, PPOs and other managed care systems. Emphasis will be on the design and structure of these plans, current problems and issues associated with the provision of these benefits.
Note: This course is required for all Risk Management & Insurance majors and must be completed with a minimum grade of C.