NEW Personal Lines Leader

We are pleased to announce that Sue Hong has agreed to join D&D as our new Personal Lines leader.

Sue will bring more than 25 years of insurance experience at both the Agency and Carrier level. We have worked closely with Sue over the years while she was at Travelers, Hartford and Kemper. Because of the breadth of her experience, Sue’s role will also involve overall Agency Operations.

She will be starting on Monday August 30 and will be working out of the Fresno Office. Her contact information is [email protected]., 559-437-6828.

We anticipate Sue will be reaching out to many of you in the coming weeks, but If you have the opportunity, please welcome Sue to the D&D family. Thank you!

– Matt and Mike DeFendis

Please welcome Sue to the D&D family, thank you!

Welcome, Phyllis Monge!

Phyllis is joining our Fresno Receptionist team.  Once Julie Johnson returns, Phyllis will be a co-receptionist with Julie. 

We’re so happy to have you a part of the D&D team.

If you see Phyllis in the office make sure to say hello!

OPEN ENROLLMENT REMINDER: APRIL 2020

As a reminder, all Open Enrollment will begin April 1st and go through April 15th. Please contact Katherine Sierze, Employee Benefits Account Manager for more information.

Here’s what’s been changed for the 2020/2021 year:

Anthem Blue Cross (previously UnitedHealthcare) We have made the decision to move our medical coverage to Anthem Blue Cross effective May 1, 2020 with no cost share increase unless you are covering dependents. While the new Anthem PPO and HSA plan designs are comparable to our current plans you will see some minor benefit changes, so please review the attached Medical Plan Comparison. The full Benefit Summaries and Summary of Benefits and Coverage will be available for your review in Ease. With the change to a new carrier, please keep in mind that your Prescription Prior Authorizations will need to be resubmitted to Anthem Blue Cross for approval. You should plan on speaking to your prescribing physicians before the end of April to let them know you will have new medical coverage beginning May 1, 2020. Anthem will provide you with 2020 deductible credit. So, if you have already met, or made progress towards, your UHC annual deductible and want that to carryover to Anthem Blue Cross, I will need a copy of your last Explanation of Benefits (EOB) to submit to Anthem. Please send those to me via email. 

Kaiser We will continue to offer the Kaiser LOW HMO with no benefit changes. The medical cost share for Employee Only coverage will remain the same and the dependent coverage cost share received a slight increase. 

Ameritas Voluntary Dental  The benefits for Plan 1 will remain the same. Remember, you should only be enrolled on Plan 1 if your dentist does NOT contract with Ameritas. To keep the increase in rates as minimal as possible, Plan 2 now has a $3,000 dental maximum (previously $5,000). Ameritas will continue to offer the FUSION benefit, which allows you reimbursement up to $100 for any covered eye care expense. 

Superior Voluntary Vision – There are no rate or benefit changes. 

MetLife Voluntary Life/AD&D – There are no rate or benefit changes. 

ASi Flexible Spending Arrangement ASi will continue to administer our FSA Medical and Dependent Care plans. We will continue having the convenience of the Benny Cards available to those who enroll. The FSA Medical limit for 2020 has increased to $2,750. The Dependent Care limit for 2020 will remain the same at $5,000.  

All of the benefits listed above will be available in Ease, our benefits enrollment system.  

AFLAC Voluntary Accident and Critical Illness We will continue to have our AFLAC Open Enrollment separate until they are able to integrate with the Ease, our benefits enrollment system. There will be separate correspondence for these benefits soon.   

D&D All Offices: COVID-19 Update

A message from Principal Matt DeFendis:

Good morning everyone.

As you know, D&D has implemented a work at home program that is allowing the vast majority of our staff and producers to work remotely. As an essential business in California, D&D remains open for business to assist our clients with their insurance needs. 

Effective at the end of business today, all phones for all offices outside Fresno will be forwarded to Fresno who will in turn forward to your direct dial numbers. Similarly, all mail will be forwarded to Fresno. Should you or a client need to mail anything to us, please send to PO Box 5479, Fresno, CA 93755. Signage will be placed at all offices and will state that due to COVID-19, we are temporarily closed to the public, but remain open for business to assist our clients remotely with their insurance needs. We will ask that they reach out to you by phone , email or our 800 number which is 800-248-8247. The Fresno office, however, will remain open with normal business hours, albeit with a skeleton staff, which will include some of our managers, IT, Accounting, MAID and our receptionist. 

This is a reminder that all people working remotely should send all printing requests to [email protected]. MAID will print and mail out everything that needs to be mailed. The email should include the document and any instruction for printing or mailing. Please do not mail anything  from your home as we want to maintain a record in our system. Faxes will also be forwarded to MAID and attached in EPIC in the normal course. 

I must impress on each of you, that while working remotely at this level is new to our office, maintaining the privacy of our clients is not. To that end, please do not put any Company data or information on any personal device. Lastly, at this time, communication is key. We will continue to provide you with relevant information as quickly as we can. Similarly, communicate with each other and our clients to ensure service in uninterrupted and remains at its highest level. 

Thanks for your cooperation and should you have any questions, please let me know.    

Matthew DeFendis
Principal

D&D’s response to Coronavirus: Town Hall Meeting 3/16/20

On behalf of D&D, Matt DeFendis will be attending the Town Hall meeting on March 16, 2020. He will be addressing our response in regards to the COVID-19 and the impact it has on us right now.

If you would like to attend please use this ext. #6890.

If you are outside the office you will need to dial into 559-437-6890 Bridge#1 Password 123456

*Reminder if you’re attending to please mute your phones and please contact Nora if you would like to be included in this call.

Happy Belated Birthday, Matt DeFendis!

As we continue celebrating the 60th Anniversary of D&D, we’d also like to acknowledge a very special birthday. 

Happy 60th, Matt DeFendis! We appreciate the continuous support and dedication you bring to the brokerage and value your leadership. Cheers to you! 

March Calendar 2020

Please take a look at the updated March 2020 Calendar. Thank you!