Welcome to Steven Driss Insurance Agency, Inc.
We are a forward thinking, technology driven Benefits Agency servicing employers across multiple industries, with extensive experience in the Professional, Non-Profit and Food sectors.
Employee benefits are often one of the largest expenses a business owner incurs. With literally hundreds of plans available for small businesses in California today, and with a myriad of financing options, we understand that plan structure and regulatory compliance issues can be overwhelming. The experts at Steven Driss Insurance Agency, Inc. help business owners sort through the complexities of healthcare reform, employee benefit options and HR concerns. We specialize in outside-of-the-box solutions and cutting edge technology that save our clients money on robust benefit packages, while keeping them compliant and productive.
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BUSINESS INSURANCE
Protect your business and it's most valuable assets
-Product Liability
-General Liability
-Professional Liability (D&O, E&O, EPL)
-Bonds (Fiduciary, etc.)
-Workers Comp
-BOPs
-Property Coverage
-Umbrella and Excess
Commercial Insurance Quote Request
Commercial Insurance Plans
To request a quote please use the form a little further below.
Immediately following are general details on the types of commercial coverages we offer businesses and employers:
Product Liability
General Liability
Professional Liability
D&O
E&O
EPLI
Bonds
Workers Comp
BOPs
Property Coverage
Umbrella & Excess
Commercial Umbrella and Excess Liability insurance adds another layer of protection and acts as a gap between your existing coverage and any expenses, settlements, judgments or legal fees (claims) that go beyond the limits of those policies. Simply put, this extra coverage helps in the face of catastrophic settlement amounts that could cause severe losses to your income or future income. A simple example would be a settlement calling for $1.5 million but your General Liability only covers you for $1 million. Your Umbrella policy would provide you the additional $500,000 to successfully settle the claim, without touching your assets.
Many businesses, especially small businesses and start-ups, find an Umbrella policy to be more cost effective than raising the limits on their existing policies. Premiums are based on several risk factors as well as the underlying policies.
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Employee Benefits & Plan Design
Our staff of experts received their training from the most respected Health Insurance providers in America. We know the industry and take the time to fully understand your needs to support you across the entire spectrum of benefits programs, including:
- HR Consulting & Compliance
- Fully Insured & Self-Funded Group Health Insurance
- Section 125 Plans – POPs & FSAs
- Group Dental, Vision, Life, Disability & LTC
- Voluntary Benefits
- Wellness Plans
- Executive Benefits
- Group Travel Insurance
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Employee Benefit Services
Consultation: To design your ideal benefit package, we will perform a complete analysis of your needs and current benefits, plan designs and structure. We will also review your claims data to gain more insight and a full understanding of your needs.
Implementation & Support: We strive to help employees maximize the full value of their new benefits! We provide on-site enrollment with answer and question sessions and provide dedicated support for your employees helping with health issues, claims issues, and more. We’ll also assist HR with any new enrollments, terminations, billing, difficult claims, timely and proactive renewals, and more.
To request a quote please use the form a little further below or download our Census Form.
Immediately following are details on the types of benefits we offer employers:
Traditional Group Health
A Health Maintenance Organization (HMO) requires group members to obtain their health care services from doctors and hospitals affiliated with the HMO. Members are required to designate a primary care physician who treats and directs health care decisions and who coordinates referrals to specialties within the HMO network. HMOs offer access to a comprehensive package of covered health care services in return for a prepaid monthly amount (or “premium”). Most HMOs charge a small co-payment depending upon the type of service provided.
With a Preferred Provider Organization (PPO) members save the most money on healthcare, if they use providers within their network. If providers outside of the network are used, it is possible that those services may not be covered at all. Deductibles must be met on this plan before some services will be covered. PPOs require a co-pay for physician visits.
A Health Savings Account (HSA) combines a high deductible/lower premium health insurance plan (PPO) with a savings account. Both employer and employee can contribute, tax-free to the savings account, which can help fund the deductible and other qualified medical expenses. Once the deductible is met, the insurance starts paying.
A Health Reimbursement Account (HRA) combines high deductible/low premium health insurance with a tax favored savings account. Employers contribute to the savings account, which can be used for to fund co-pays and other qualified expenses prior to the deductible being met.
Single, Dual or Triple Option Plans offer eligible employees a choice between several different types of plans as described above.
Self-Funded Group Health
A self-funded health plan requires the employer to become the insurer. Most often, employers will partner with a PPO to provide services for the plan. A third party (a TPA) is engaged to handle claims and processing. Because self-insured employers run the risk of large catastrophic claims, they will purchase stop-loss insurance to protect them in such an event. Even with the additional expense of stop-loss insurance, employers can enjoy saving thousands in premiums and other advantages.
Flexible Spending Accounts (FSAs)
The average working employee in America spends thousands of dollars annually on certain types of medical benefits, daycare expenses and transportation services. By participating in an FSA, an employee’s taxable income is reduced, which increases the percentage of pay they take home and allows them to pay for these benefits and services with the pre-taxed dollars, in essence giving them a discount on these services. Here’s how they work.
This tax-favored savings account is funded solely by the employee through regular pre-tax payroll deductions. Employees elect how much they want withdrawn from each pay period, which can be changed annually or upon a qualifying event such as marriage or divorce. Throughout the plan year, funds can be withdrawn from the account (tax-free) to pay for eligible medical, dental, vision, prescription and dependent daycare expenses. Some FSAs include work-related parking and transit costs. The administrator of the FSA account can issue a debit card that is tied to the FSA making it easy to use the account when needed.
Premium Only Plans (POPs)
Group Dental and Vision
Dental Plans
Regular dental exams help employees stay healthier and more productive in the work place. Simple routine visits to the dentist, which are usually covered 100% by insurers, help to detect serious underlying conditions such as heart disease and diabetes. The National Association of Dental Plans and the Centers for Disease Control have performed studies that show that employees with Dental Insurance plans have better attitudes and are less likely to suffer from depression, a common condition in today’s fast-paced world.
Dental Plans offer a variety of diagnostic, preventative care and corrective services including cleanings, exams, x-rays, fillings, root canals, orthodontia for children, and emergency care while traveling.
Vision Plans
Similar to dental policies, vision plans are inexpensive and save money on routine exams, eyeglass frames and lenses, contacts, and even discounts on procedures like LASIK. Monitoring your eye health with regular exams also helps to prevent serious eye diseases like glaucoma and cataracts and also helps to detect early stages of diabetes, high blood pressure, and high cholesterol.
Group Life Insurance
Along with Health Insurance, Life Insurance is considered to be a key part of the benefit package for employees. Besides being a valuable tool in attracting top talent, employees are happier and more productive feeling secure that their loved ones will be taken care of in the event of illness or an untimely death.
Whether employer paid or voluntary, a good life insurance policy provides for an employee’s final expenses, taxes, mortgage and even their children’s education as well as offering additional added benefits. Steven Driss Insurance Aency, Inc. can help employers protect their employees and their employees’ families with a variety of different life insurance products.
Permanent Life Insurance
Life insurance that builds cash value and the savings can be tax deferred and/or borrowed against, if needed. These policies are known as Permanent Life Insurance.
Term Policy
Life insurance that does not build cash value, however, it will pay a set amount to the named beneficiary upon the death of insured within the stated term. Some policies may also make payments upon terminal or critical illness.
Group Disability
National surveys have shown that Short Term Disability and Long Term Disability remain of high importance for most employees. Savvy employers attract and retain top talent by offering both STD and LTD insurance as part of the employer paid benefit package or as a voluntary (worksite) benefit. Here’s how Disability plans typically work.
Short Term Disability
During the time an employee is unable to work due to a qualifying disability (illness or injury), STD generally allows for income payments to the employee to begin after about a two-week waiting period and will continue to pay the employee until he/she recovers or maxes out the benefits–usually anywhere between one month to two years, depending on the policy.
Long Term Disability
During the time an employee is unable to work due to a qualifying disability (illness or injury), LTD generally allows for income payments to the employee to begin after about a 90-day waiting period, although it could be much longer depending on the policy, but will continue to pay the employee far longer than STD–for a few years, up to age 65, or even for life.
Group Long Term Care (LTC)
Group Long-Term Care plans are becoming an increasingly common voluntary benefit offered by employers today. The prospect of long-term care is one of the most important issues your employees may have to face. The cost of long-term care is expensive and generally not covered by other employee benefits, disability or even Medicare. If someone requires long-term care, it is not just an emotional strain but a financial one as well, impacting retirement savings and overall financial position.
Savvy employers know that access to additional resources can increase employee productivity when confronted with managing long-term care situations. Long-Term Care plans demonstrate to your current and prospective employees that your company cares about them–increasing the ability to attract and retain the very best talent.
Most LTC plans are designed to provide benefits for care through nursing homes, assisted living centers, home health care and adult day care. Employers can provide a base benefit while giving the employees the opportunity to “buy up” and obtain the level of coverage that they need for their families.
Voluntary Benefits
Worksite Benefits are sometimes referred to as ancillary or voluntary benefits. They are additional insurance products, plans or programs which an employee can purchase through their employer, through payroll deductions, at a discounted group rate to supplement their employer-paid benefits.
Examples of ancillary or voluntary benefits offered are listed below.
-Life Insurance
-Disability Insurance
-Dental and Vision Plans
-Long Term Care
-Cancer
-Heart/Stroke
-Critical Illness
-Accodent
Wellness Plans
Wellness in the workplace is proven effective to help employees live a healthy life style, leading to significant improvements in workplace wellness, including spiked morale, productivity and reduced absenteeism, to name a few.
Health and wellness not only saves employers money, but also insurers. Accordingly, all of our carriers have invested heavily to trend consumers towards a healthier life style and offer robust tools for their clients. These tools may cover areas such as:
- Diet & Nutrition
- Physical Fitness and Exercise
- Health Screenings
- Telehealth
- Smoking and other Addiction Cessation Programs
- and More….
We also work with wellness providers and networks that offer completely customizable options that deliver everything you need to develop and implement a results-driven wellness program.
Executive Benefits
Typical Group Life and Disability insurance offered to employees usually only cover a fraction of a key executive’s high income. Providing an enhanced, customized benefit package to wrap around the group plan for key executives not only protects the executive and his/her family, but also the business in the event of a sudden critical illness or death. Executive benefits can include supplemental life insurance and/or carve out disability, and plans may be structured to avoid taxation of benefits at the time of claim. Following are some more specific examples of Key-Person Executive Benefits:
Key Person Life Insurance is designed to protect your business should one of the main partners pass away unexpectedly. This policy will name your business as the beneficiary and premiums are billed under the business name. Benefits and premiums are tied the value you have established through financial records. Benefit payments are made to the business to help minimize financial loss should your business lose the insured (key personnel) due to death.
A Business Overhead Disability policy prevents businesses from going under from regular overhead expenses while the business owner is unable to work and run the business due to disability. These types of policies will typically pay for things like employee salaries, rent and utilities, among other expenses.
Buy-Sell Agreements are intended to protect a business after the death of a key employee. Buy-Sell Agreements (also known as Continuation Agreements) are tied to and funded by life insurance policies. The agreement sets out the details of the transfer of business interest by the key-person (or his/her estate) upon a certain triggering event–usually death, disability and retirement. The surviving or continuing business owner or partner can rest assured knowing that they will be able to purchase the key-person share without interference from other survivors of the key person and his/her estate.
An Executive Medical Reimbursement Plan is a supplemental, group executive medical expense reimbursement insurance policy. It allows employers to reimburse their key employees for medical expenses not otherwise covered by regular group health insurance. In addition to covering deductibles, this type of policy covers a range of services including prescription and over- the-counter drugs, dental and vision expenses, hospital expenses and more.
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HR TECHNOLOGY
EaseCentral streamlines the management of your benefits
In our ongoing effort to help our clients succeed, we provide them with access to EaseCentral, a customized benefits enrollment and management site that handles everything from on-boarding to ACA compliance, and more!
EaseCentral
Healthcare Reform
Healthcare Reform is complex. Call one of our knowledgable insurance professionals for more details – Toll Free @ 888-851-9018 – 9am-5pm Pacific or Contact Us
Annual Open Enrollment
You must purchase qualifying* health insurance during open enrollment* or face a potential penalty. Dates subject to change due to changing and emerging healthcare laws.
Click here see if you are eligible for a special health insurance enrollment period.
Tax Penalties
Approval Guidelines
- No pre-existing clause. Insurance companies can no longer increase rates or deny coverage because of a pre-existing condition.
- Dependents up to age 26 may be added to an insurance policy for both individuals and employer coverage.
- Gender is no longer a factor in determining rates.
Tax Credit
Use our Subsidy Calculator to determine your eligibility.
Individual Benefits

Major Medical
Get a Health Insurance Quote
Annual Open Enrollment – Nov. 1st through Jan 31st
Important: You must purchase qualifying* health insurance during open enrollment* or face a potential penalty.
Click here see if you are eligible for a special health insurance enrollment period.
More on “qualifying coverage.”
REQUES T A QUOTE

Medicare Part D Plans
Get a Medicare Part D Plan Quote
- You are enrolling during the annual open enrollment period: October 15th through December 7th of every year.
- You are turning 65

Life Insurance & Annuities
Life Insurance
Protect the people you love the most. When you can’t be there, life Insurance helps pay for your final expenses, your mortgage, your taxes, and the living expenses of your loved ones when they no longer have your income. It can also cover your children’s education and more.
Basic types of Life Insurance
Cash Value: This type of life insurance policy builds up a cash value that has many benefits to the insured, such as borrowing against the policy or building a tax deferred investment income, in addition to paying a death benefit. Whole life, variable life and universal life are all types of cash value life insurance. Cash value insurance is also known as permanent life insurance because it provides coverage for the policyholder’s entire life.
Term Life Policy: This type of coverage does not build cash or investment value. Term life insurance covers you for a set period of time provided you pay the monthly premium, or in some instances, a lump sum in advance. The policy will pay to the named beneficiary the face amount of the policy (set benefit and/or lump sum) upon death of the insured within the stated term. Depending on the policy, it may also make payments upon terminal or critical illness.
Final Expense: Final expense insurance is designed to help protect your loved ones from the financial burden of funeral costs related to your passing. Unlike life insurance, final expense policies have a much lower face value because they are intended to only cover costs related to a person’s final expenses. Therefore, these policies can often be purchased at low or reasonable premiums.
Whole Life Policy: This type of coverage combines term life coverage with an investment fund, and as long as you pay your premiums you are covered for life. Part of your premium goes towards the term part that pays a fixed benefit upon your death, and part of your premium goes toward building taxed deferred cash value that you can borrow against. Some whole life policies offer plans in which you can pay a higher premium for a shorter, fixed period of time, such as 20 years, vs. your whole life.
Universal Life Policy: This type of policy combines term insurance with an interest earning money market account. It has flexible terms that let you adjust your payment or coverage amount. Because this account incurs expense charges, you will need to adjust accordingly to make sure your coverage stays active, in the event that the amount in your account becomes insufficient to meet premium payments. You also have the option of building more cash value by paying premiums even when your account has ample funds to cover them.
Variable Life Policy: With this type of coverage, the death benefits for the life insurance policy are based upon how well the investment account it is tied to is performing (stocks, bonds or mutual funds). Higher performance yields higher benefits, wherein poor performance will yield lower or no benefits at all. Some policies offer a separate or extra premium for a set amount to be paid upon death of the insured.
Annuities: Annuities are investment contracts that can help you grow your savings and/or retirement portfolio. Annuities most often are used as a strategy to provide you with retirement income that you cannot outlive. Payments may begin immediately or at some future date in exchange for a lump sum payment or a series of payments made prior to onset of the annuity. Annuities may arise as a result of a structured liability settlement as well. Annuities may provide either an immediate income stream or an income stream at retirement (or other future date) that transfers some of the risk of you outliving your money (“lifespan uncertainty”) to the insurer. Annuities are offered from carriers with the highest ratings available and designed with high current interest rates and short surrender charges.
Annuity contract structures are complex with an array of product choices such as: fixed or indexed, deferred or immediate, for both the qualified and non-qualified marketplaces. As a result, please contact your agent to discuss possible benefits, risks, costs as well as potential tax deferral advantages to see if annuities are a good fit for your financial plans.
Life Insurance and Investment Annuities can be complex. We recommend you call us for more details or fill out the request form below for a free quote and consultation.
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Supplemental Insurance
Supplemental Insurance
Dental & Vision
Individual Dental Plans
Individual and family dental plans or policies are relatively inexpensive, but can go a long way in promoting your overall health. Studies have shown that regular dental exams can not only optimize oral health to prevent cavities and bad breath, they also detect serious medical conditions such as heart disease and diabetes. Some studies have even shown that people who have dental insurance suffer less from depression, than those who do not have coverage.
Dental plans can range from a PPO or HMO to Pre-Paid, Fee-for-Service, and Discount on a variety of diagnostic and preventative care services including cleanings, exams, x-rays, fillings, orthodontia for children, and emergency care while traveling.
Individual Vision Plans
Take care of your eyes with an individual vision plan that can be purchased separately or combined with your major medical insurance. Similar to individual dental policies, vision plans are inexpensive and save money on routine exams, eyeglass frames and lenses, contacts, and even discounts on procedures like LASIK. Monitoring your eye health with regular exams also helps to prevent serious eye diseases like glaucoma and cataracts and also helps to detect early stages of diabetes, high blood pressure, and high cholesterol.
Disability Insurance
Disability Insurance protects your most valuable asset during your working years, which is your ability to earn a living. Statistics show that our chances are greater of becoming disabled than dying between the ages of 25 & 45, yet many people overlook adding affordable disability insurance to round out their protection portfolio.
During the time you are unable to work due to a qualifying disability (illness or injury), the replacement of your regular income through the monthly benefit provided by disability insurance helps to maintain your pre-disability lifestyle. Workplaces often provide standard short-term disability (STD) and long-term disability (LTD) insurance to meet federal guidelines. Individual disability income insurance can be customized to meet your needs and considers your occupation, age, income and other factors in determining your cost and monthly benefit payment amount.
Individuals not offered disability through their employer and self-employed individuals who desire disability coverage, can purchase policies.
Those who have disability insurance through their workplace, may wish to consider a “wrap around” disability policy to supplement their employer provided coverage.
Short Term Disability generally allows for income payments to begin after about a two-week waiting period and will continue to pay until he/she recovers or maxes out the benefits–usually anywhere between one month to two years, depending on the policy.
Long Term Disability generally allows for income payments to begin after about a 90-day waiting period, although it could be much longer depending on the policy, but will continue to pay far longer than STD–for a few years, up to age 65, or even for life.
Long Term Care
Long-term care encompasses a wide array of services that fall under two general categories – skilled care and personal care, but generally does not require a doctor or a nurse, and is not typically covered by regular health insurance, Medicare or disability insurance.
- Skilled care is provided when recovering from an illness or an injury.
- Personal care helps maintain the daily activities and functions of life.
The need for LTC is not always age related. Although more than half of all individuals age 65 & over will need LTC at some point, it is important to note that roughly 40% of those receiving LTC today are between the ages of 18 and 64. It is never too early to plan for long-term care.
Here are examples of what LTC policies may cover:
Institutional Care: Nursing home, assisted living services residential care facility, hospice care, adult foster home, respite care and more.
Home Care: Home health care, adult day care, personal care, homemaker services, hospice care, respite care and more.
Critical Illness
Surviving cancer and other critical illness is becoming increasingly common with the advances in modern medical technology. Critical Illness Insurance can help reduce the personal financial impact of the cost of fighting these illnesses or keeping up with everyday bills through that process. If you have a health insurance plan and/or disability insurance, Critical Illness Insurance will provide benefits in addition to your other coverage.
Some key features:
- Lump-sum cash benefit paid directly to you.
- You decide how best to spend your payment.
- No network restrictions.
- Benefit level choices to fit your needs and budget.
- Simple plan options for your needs and budget.
The benefits and riders offered are supplemental and are not intended to cover all medical expenses. Certain terms, exclusions and limitations may apply.
Accident
Accidents can happen anytime. Supplemental Accident Insurance is very affordable and complements your major medical policy, in the case of an accidental injury.
Accident insurance helps to protect you from financial hardship due to a great deal of medical and out-of-pocket expenses that follow accidental injuries. Emergency treatment, hospital stays, medical exams, transportation and lodging needs are just a few of the expenses that accident insurance can help cover. Some policies can even pay benefits in as little as one day, based on time of claim submission.
Living Benefits
Meet Our Founder
Steven Driss is an award winning Employee Benefits Expert and is the Founder of Steven Driss Insurance Agency, Inc. He has an extensive background in the employee benefits arena stretching over two decades. He was formerly the President of one of the most well-known benefits firm, Life Employee Benefits, and also worked for several top health insurers prior to Lifeline.
Steven is known for his unique ability to simplify for his clients, the tedious, complex process of purchasing employee benefits. Acting as an extension of his client’s HR, he works in partnership to understand their needs and to help them develop a robust benefit package that fits within the budget, without sacrificing quality benefits.
Steven holds a Bachelor of Science in Finance, from California State University, Northridge. As a Certified Insurance Professional, he maintains a Series 7 Securities License, as well as a life/health/casualty insurance license.
When Steven is not helping clients or managing his agency, he enjoys spending time with his family and is an avid outdoors sports enthusiast.
Professional
Los Angeles Association of Health Underwriters (LAAHU)
Professionals in Human Resources Association (PIHRA)
National Human Resource Association (NHRA)

Aetna

Anthem

Blue Shield

Cigna

Healthnet

Kaiser
