Another Reason VTC Is Successful

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The following memo was recently sent to VTC.com employees:



Dear Fellow VTC Ninjas,


For the past decade, Mark Vernon and I have been in total agreement that the company should and will provide the highest quality employee health insurance available. Unlike a growing majority of small businesses nationwide, we've managed to continue to pay this benefit, despite soaring costs. From 1999 through 2008, the cost to VTC to pay for your health insurance increased by well over 100%. Every year around February, our insurance broker sends us a letter stating that our premiums will increase on April 1st.

Every year, without fail, our insurance rep comes in for a meeting. We go over the increased costs, and I usually get pretty testy. Sometimes, I'll throw something, but the rep is never impressed because they see this reaction all day long. Then, every year in March, the broker recommends that we consider dropping from Anthem's premium Key Care 10 coverage to Key Care 15, or 20 or something less. This would lower our costs, and place more of the burden on our employees, they explain. In our last such meeting, this was presented as a "good way to get employees to make more cost effective health care decisions". Every year, we consult with our CEO. Every year for the past decade, we have agreed to to keep Anthem Key Care 10 insurance.

Our thinking is not socialist. We do not do this because we are Bed Wetting Liberals, as I've been personally tagged right here in this office. Our rationale is based on cold calculation and hard realities. We reason that we can demand the very best from you on a daily basis, and no matter how much you complain about it, you're not going anywhere. I know that I can call you at any hour and tell you I need your help, and you'll be there - if not out of reciprocal loyalty, then out of a pressing sense that you owe us something. Yes, I know you complain. I know that from time to time you look around for other opportunities. I also know that each time you do, you only realize that you're getting a great deal here. When was the last time somebody quit VTC because there was a better job package waiting for them somewhere else? That is the reason we have continued to pay 100% of our employee's health insurance. We're in this together.

In the near future, we will provide you with a report of your 2008 insurance costs that were paid for by VTC. For now suffice to say that the cost was thousands and thousands of dollars. And thousands. Ask yourself honestly, if this were your company, would you pay those costs? Year after year, would you stare down those increases and still write those checks? If you're like most CEOs, you would not. But I would consider you short-sighted. You would continually lose employees to that better deal. Your recruiting and training costs would shoot up. Your employees would quietly not give a damn about your product or your customers.

It should be said here that we are actively seeking out alternatives to Anthem. We are talking to other brokers and exploring the possibility of joining a consortium of small businesses in order to pool employees and buy coverage at a lower, bulk rate. Make no mistake, the costs are hard and we feel it. I will not promise that we can continue to absorb these costs. My fiduciary responsibilities are not to the employees of VTC, but rather to VTC, Incorporated. If it doesn't benefit the company, we won't do it. Give me a call if you ever need help moving a sofa bed or a ride to the airport, but in matters of corporate spending, I am not your friend. While I love you all, these decisions are based on what's best for this company. If insurance costs continue to escalate at this rate, it's a real possibility that we will have to ask you to start picking up the additional costs, or even opt to take insurance with higher out-of-pocket costs and deductibles. The thought of this frustrates me - not because of the social injustice of it all, but rather for the reasons I've already cited.

Over the coming months, we might be telling you that your health insurance will be changing. We may or may not ask you to choose from a list of alternative coverage plans. Or, maybe nothing of the sort will happen. We may find that the best deal for the level of coverage we want, in order to keep our employees happy and productive and in our corner, is the deal we presently have. In the meantime, let's all agree to do whatever we can to continue to offer a learning experience that is attractive enough to cause customers to want to give us their money.

On April 1st, 2009, VTC will renew our contract with Anthem Blue Cross/Blue Shield. In so doing, we will absorb a 13% increase over 2008 costs.

Thanks for all you do,

Keith Provost
President VTC, Inc.
Creators of Quality Software Training
http://www.vtc.com
tweet - keithatvtc


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