A thorough analysis of Trinseo's employee benefit plan and how it applies to their workers.

1. Prepared by: 915357702, 915467490
TRINSEO 1000 Chesterbrook Blvd. Suite 300Berwyn, PA 19312
TRINSEO BENEFIT PLAN
ANALYSIS

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Table of Contents
Section I: Firm Background p.2
Section II: Benefits Inventory Summary p.4
Section II: Inventory of Health and Welfare Benefits p.5
Section III: Analysis of Decision Making and Plan Design p.6
Section IV: Healthcare Plan Design and Impact of the ACA p.9
Thank You Email p.11

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Section I:
Trinseo is both a global solutions provider and a manufacturer of plastics, synthetic
rubber, and latex binders. They did $4.4 billion in revenue worldwide in 2017, and have
approximately 2,200 employees worldwide in their sixteen manufacturing sites and ten research
and development facilities. The six business segments Trinseo specializes in are latex binders,
synthetic rubber, performance plastics, polystyrene, feedstocks, and americas styrenics. Their
business segments are the solutions utilized by companies who manufacture products ranging
from LED lighting to tires.
The headquarters of Trinseo is located in Berwyn, Pennsylvania. The benefit plan for
employees and their dependents in the United States has ninety percent participation and covers
761 lives; 324 employees and 437 dependents. These dependents are made up of employee
spouses and children.
Prior to June 2010, Trinseo was known as Styron. Styron became in an independent
company in June 2010, splitting from three independent companies they had been grouped
together with under the Dow. From the moment that split occurred, Styron began to self-insure
their health and wellness employee risk. In June 2014, Styron changed its name to Trinseo and
became “TSE” on the NYSE. Trinseo’s competition includes companies such as DowDuPont
Inc., Eastman Chemical Company, and Westlake Chemical Corporation.
At Trinseo, there are three people who have a hand in total compensation plan design:
Dina Conkright, Director of HR-Americas; Ed Markowski, Global Director-Total Rewards; and
Sally Waters, Benefits Manager-Americas. Ms. Waters has the largest role in plan design,
dealing directly with the brokers and consultants. Mr. Markowski has little contact with the

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brokers and consultants but has the largest role in implementing, communicating, and overseeing
the benefits plan.
Trinseo contracts with Trion and PwC for employee benefits management and their
brokering services, and statistical analyses, respectively. Trinseo relies heavily on these services
because they self-fund for their medical expenses, short-term disability, and dental coverage.

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Section II
Figure 1:
Figure 2:

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Trinseo has a different definition of “full time” than the Affordable Care Act (ACA)
does, an employee who meets either definition of “full time” is able to receive almost every
benefit Trinseo offers. A majority of Trinseo’s benefits are also offered to many other employee
segments, which are referred to as "less than full-time employees." These benefits are also
offered to dependents of these employees, which includes children, spouses, and domestic
partners. Per the ACA, dependent children are eligible for benefits until the age of twenty-six.
All of the benefits listed can be accessed by employees on the date of hire, except for retirement
benefits and life and accidental death and dismemberment (Life and AD&D). Retirement
benefits are available after employment ends, and life and AD&D benefits are available the first
day of the month following their completion of thirty days of service.
Trinseo helps manage exposures associated with medical expenses by offering two
medical coverage options to employees. Both of these options are self-funded, Preferred Provider
Organizations (PPOs) sponsored by Blue Cross. The first PPO option has a lower deductible and
cost-sharing responsibility compared to the second, "catastrophic" plan. These PPOs are both
offered on a contributory basis and are coupled with a prescription drugs plan. In addition to the
health plans themselves, Trinseo offers employees access to two employee-funded Flexible
Spending Accounts (FSA) that employees can contribute to for medical and dependent coverage.
Employees can also manage dental and vision exposures through the coverage Trinseo offers
through Delta Dental and Vision Service Plan, respectively, and these coverages are offered on a
contributory basis as well. Dental coverage is self-insured and offered similarly to the PPOs in
that employees have a choice of a more comprehensive, more expensive plan. Vision is fully
insured, and there is only one option for employees to choose from.

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In order to protect employees from loss of income, Trinseo offers life and AD&D, short-
term disability, long-term disability, and business travel accident coverage to employees. All of
these base plans are offered on a non-contributory basis, with the option for “buy-up” plans for
life and AD&D and long-term disability. These “buy-up” plans are offered on a contributory
basis, where the employee can purchase extra coverage above the maximum of what Trinseo
provides. All of these benefits are fully insured, except for short-term disability.
Trinseo assists employees who are saving for retirement in a 401(k) plan by offering
matches on employee contributions. They match 100% of the first 2% and 50% of the next 4% of
employee contributions to their 401(k) plan. Employees can also take advantage of the Employee
Assistance Program which gives employees access to consultants in order to make better
decisions in regard to their health, free of charge.
Section III
Trinseo offers two PPO plans which are funded and provided through Blue Cross
nationally, on a contributory basis, they offer because of their networks. Given Trinseo’s diverse
employee base, other types of closed network plans would not be able to provide the in-network
coverage that a PPO offers. The ease of access to a network of quality doctors keeps the
incentives to stay in network stronger with a PPO, as opposed to other types of managed care
organizations. Trinseo participates in cost sharing through coinsurance. They cover 80% of the
cost and employees pay the remaining 20%. Both plans are PPOs but offer slightly different
benefits.
The decision to offer two plans allows for separation of employees with higher cost or
more diverse health needs. The ability to have more coverage, though, is more expensive due to

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increased deductibles and cost-sharing of the "catastrophic" PPO. This decision making process
is the same for their dental plan options, which similarly have a base option and a “catastrophic”
option, as described by Conkright. The reason for offering only one vision plan is because the
vision plan acts as a discount plan rather than a true insurance plan; giving employees discounts
dependent on product and location of purchase. Employees are able to switch plans should they
experience a qualifying life event: marriage, divorce, or birth were examples provided.
One of the PPOs offered has dental and vision bundled with it, and the other does not.
According to Trinseo figures, the bundled dental and vision, lower cost PPO has about a 90%
participation rate. This allows the more expensive health and dental plans to act as true
catastrophic, high-risk plans. With lower participation, these plans create a separated group of
higher risk employees who are paying appropriate prices for their coverage. The PPOs biggest
differentiators are amounts of cost-sharing, deductibles, and coinsurance, with coverage
extended to dependents on both plans. Trinseo offers prescription drug coverage through a
program designed by Express Scripts. Trinseo does this for the cost advantage: their employees
are too diverse to manage a custom plan.
Trinseo self-funds their healthcare cost, though have an ASO contract with Blue Cross.
On its face, the plan comes from Blue Cross and Blue Cross manages the claims. This contract,
and decision, mainly serves a geographic purpose. Trinseo has been self-funding their healthcare
benefits since the day they split from the Dow. The company had been self-funding already, as a
piece of the larger business, and was simply comfortable in their funding stance. Trinseo’s
employees are spread all across America, covering 45 states, and their plants are stationed
around the globe as well. Management is mostly headquartered in Berwyn, Pennsylvania.

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Additionally, about fifty employees work from home around the globe. Trinseo uses Blue Cross
coverage because of their international coverage and relative ease of administration.
Trinseo’s decision to create the FSA the FSA, disability, and life and AD&D plans as
Section 125 comes from their history as a former Dow employer. These benefits are ones the
company has determined “optional” relative to their benchmarking analysis of competitors.
Conkright, Director of HR - Americas, was quick to respond some veteran employees’ distaste at
the new benefits, versus what they had before, as a part of a much larger organization.
Specifically, perhaps the largest change was the adjustment in employer-employee premium
contribution: from a 90/10 contribution split to now 80/20. The distaste was so strong, Trinseo
went as far as to send out Conkright and Markowski on “road shows” to educate employees on
healthcare cost and reduction measures.
Trinseo’s strategy when performing benchmarking analyses is to “meet the benchmark,”
according to Conkright and Waters. This means they want to be at industry standards for total
compensation and benefit plans. This is evident in their voluntary benefit participation. Despite
low enrollment, Trinseo’s voluntary benefits enrollment is standard across the industry, via their
benchmarking analysis.
As for voluntary benefits, Trinseo offers two FSAs, and buy up plans for long-term
disability (LTD), life insurance and AD&D. One of the FSAs offered is for medical expenses,
and the other is for dependent care. Each FSA adheres to two and one-half month carry forward
provision, as outlined by the ACA. Trinseo did not always have FSAs, and the decision to
implement them was facilitated by the change in the employee health cost structure.
In the case of the “buy-up” options for life insurance and AD&D, the “buy-up” is an
additional benefit since employees receive base versions of these benefits. Trinseo’s logic for

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offering these benefits are the same as the vast employer populations’. Utilizing short-term
disability (STD), LTD, and life and AD&D allows for employees to receive the proper care,
time, and support needed for rehabilitation, therefore, allowing for a faster and smoother return
to the workforce. Additionally, Trinseo bundling their life and AD&D coverage allows for
negotiated discounts, that can then be passed on to their employees.
Trinseo also offers an Employee Assistance Program (EAP). The program essentially
operates with two core functions: the first service is proactive in nature, operating as a referral
service for self-or manager-referral for help from counselors/consultants. This service is to allow
proactive identification for common issues, such as: eating healthy foods, staying healthy over
holidays, and family trauma. The second provides reactive resources and access for information
on services such as natural disaster relief/shelter, child care, elder care, and various home
services.
Section IV
The most substantial part of Trinseo’s benefit plan options impacted by the ACA is their
cost. In preparation for the ACA, Trinseo made the strategic decision to minimize changes to
their benefits offered. With this decision comes an increased cost of administering compliance.
In order to accomplish this, Trinseo hired and continues to hire third parties to help with ACA
compliance. Waters was placed in charge of ACA administration within the company. She works
side by side with PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) and Trion to ensure Trinseo’s compliance.
PwC provides all of Trinseo’s actuarial analyses and actuarial consulting, and Trion provides
their benefits consulting. These increased costs of hiring outside firms, along with the increased
administrative costs involved with ACA documentation, are costs Trinseo is willing to pay in
order to achieve minimal changes to their benefit plans while remaining compliant.

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In regard to specific ACA requirements, PwC’s actuarial data helps provide Trinseo the
actuarial values needed to make sure their health plans are of minimum value. Trinseo was
within applicable large employer requirements before 2015 and remained within those
requirements during 2016. This meant that they were able to prepare and maintain their
compliance with the employer shared responsibility provision. The broad definition of minimum
essential coverage is congruent with Trienseo’s plan, which contributed in them not having to
substantially change their plan design.
While Trinseo and the ACA have conflicting definitions of full-time employment,
Trinseo offers a comprehensive benefits plan to all four of the employee categories mentioned in
Section II. This helps mitigate any potential issues with the conflicting definitions and allows
Trinseo to save on what would be increased costs that could come with offering more benefits to
a larger group of employees.
According to Waters, Trinseo is not overly concerned about the Cadillac tax. The
company runs cost numbers semi-annually to monitor how close they are approaching the limits
set forth by the proposed tax. They have not yet come close. As stated in Section III, Trinseo has
a high deductible health plan attached to one of their two PPO options. Markowski expressed the
firm’s consideration of adding a health savings account in order to make the high deductible plan
qualify as a consumer-driven health plan. This decision would take place in order to help lower
premiums and avoid the "Cadillac Tax danger zone."
Trinseo’s main focus is on remaining ahead of the curve. Conkright and Waters both
stated repeatedly that compliance is not overly difficult if a firm stays on top of the laws and
allocates the right resources. They are a large firm with sufficient capital and access to the right
consultants. Trinseo has never paid any ACA fines for being non-compliant because they have

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made being fully compliant a pervasive company goal. Trinseo knows that the ability to avoid
fines is fully within the employer’s control.