Archive for the ‘Employees’ Category
Thursday, November 10th, 2011
A surprising number of employees make vital errors during their company’s open enrollment process, often resulting in unexpected out of pocket costs. By not understanding deductibles, coinsurance, or premiums amounts responsible out their own pockets, many find out too late that they have made an error and must wait until their next anniversary date to make a change. Some of the most common mistakes are not knowing what benefits they have, not clearly understanding costs for the coverage chosen (for themselves and their dependents), and not taking advantage of pre-tax premiums and/or flexible spending plans, and not electing ancillary benefits (i.e. dental and vision), all by not taking advantage of face to face interaction prior to enrolling or renewing their benefits.
As your agency, we will assist you in every step of your open enrollment process, whether you are the employer or employee. We will walk you through the plan options, explain out of pocket exposure, and break down your monthly portions for you and your family members before you enroll, ensuring that you are on the best plan for your needs. Our enrollment meetings are not only a great way to get to get to know us, it also guarantees your complete understanding of your company’s benefits.
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Tags: deductibles, group health, health plan, health savings accounts, premiums
Posted in Employees, Employers, Group | No Comments »
Wednesday, May 4th, 2011
While preventive screenings are now an integral part of (most) health care policies, employees are still bearing the brunt of stressful job environments, and lack of exercise. Obesity continues to rise, even with all of the education available to us. Add to that the added dangers of stress on a taxed body and mind, and you are looking at some serious sick time. Thankfully, employers are becoming more proactive in the work place, offering healthy bonuses and wellness programs, and insurance carriers are covering preventive screenings on most plans with no out of pocket costs. Much needed in this time of economic stress, employees can work on their top concerns:Weight loss – 39% of polled employees stated losing weight as their main concern
Reduction of stress — 23% reported reducing stress a major importance in their life
Tags: added benefits, preventative care, wellness
Posted in Employees, Employers, Group, Resources, Tools | No Comments »
Friday, March 4th, 2011
Employers are constantly searching for ways to bring down the cost for group health insurance premiums. While the answer used to be “switch to an H.M.O”, this is no longer the case. While H.M.O. plans used to offer much lower premiums because patients were limited in where they could go for care, the rates for such plans have increased at such a steady pace, many of them have surpassed the PPO options in terms of monthly rates. The average increase for an H.M.O. in 2011 was 9.8%, the highest increase in five years.
Tags: group health, health care costs, HMO plan, premiums
Posted in Employees, Employers, Group, Individual, Resources, Tools | No Comments »
Friday, February 25th, 2011
Starting this month, new protocols were implemented to regulate waiting times for California residents. These guidelines were primarily designed for HMO patients, but do extend to PPO’s as well. As it seems that more time is spent in the waiting room rather than with the doctor, these wait times provide some much needed relief. For the first year, the California Department of Managed Care will oversee that the rules are strictly followed, and health plans that fail to meet the wait times will find that they face possible fines and penalties. As it will be the insurer’s responsibility to meet the guidelines, it will also force the expansion of their provider networks to meet the need for timely care. The rules note the following maximum wait times:
Tags: health insurance, HMO plan, network provider, ppo
Posted in Employees, General, Laws, Resources, State | No Comments »
Thursday, January 27th, 2011
As the number of uninsured children increases, a new study shows that many of these children have the added stress of an emotional, behavioral, or developmental disorder which is going untreated due to lack of access to medical care. Low income families tend to have children with higher rates of these conditions, such as ADD, autism, or depression, but do not have health coverage to assist with the mental health services they need – including counseling and medication. According to such reports as the one done by the Health Resources and Services Administration:
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Many Children Going Without Mental Health Services
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Tags: children's health, health care costs, health care reform, health insurance, mental health, pre-existing
Posted in Employees, Family, Individual, Resources, Tools | No Comments »
Thursday, January 13th, 2011
According to studies done in 2010, High Deductible Health Plans increased significantly in both the group and individual markets. Many found that taking on higher out of pocket plans greatly reduced their premiums, while not affecting first dollar benefits, such as preventive care or doctor office visits. It was shown that individual enrollment in HDHP’s increased from 39% in 2007 to 51% in 2010. Numbers were similar when reviewing group enrollment in HDHP’s. It is believed that as more information is provided to potential enrollees of HDHP’s regarding the benefits of adding on a health savings account, more people wanted to take advantage of the tax benefits as well. Overall, many feel that these plans gave them more control over their health care needs and costs as a whole.
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High Deductible Health Plans and HSA’s Growing in both Group & Individual Markets
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Tags: deductibles, health care costs, health plan, health savings accounts
Posted in Employees, Employers, Family, Individual, Resources | No Comments »
Thursday, December 30th, 2010
The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) states that children must be offered health care coverage regardless of their health status. As a result, almost all carriers decided to drop new “child only” plans from their portfolio, fearing that parents would only enroll their child once they became ill. However, a new bill signed into play by Arnold Schwarzenegger will bring this practice of denying any child health insurance coverage to an end as of January 1, 2011.
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Children Guaranteed Health Coverage Thanks to Assembly Bill 2244
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Tags: children's health, health care reform, health insurance
Posted in Employees, Family, Resources | No Comments »
Thursday, December 23rd, 2010
With health care reform came certain guidelines that would be implemented right away. One provision states that health plans must cover preventive care at 100% – with no cost sharing (i.e. co pays, deductibles, or coinsurance). However, does this mean you can rush out to take care of all those things you have been postponing? Well, yes and no, as many items listed under the government’s guidelines are age and gender specific. Add to that the need to ensure your provider codes the preventive care correctly so it will be covered completely, this can get tricky. Here are some important things to note once your plan has added the preventive care benefit on your plan:
Tags: health care reform, health insurance, preventative care, Universal Health Care
Posted in Employees, Employers, Federal, Government Run Health Plan, Laws, Resources | No Comments »
Tuesday, September 14th, 2010
The COBRA subsidy program remains in limbo, and as a result many enrollees are choosing to discontinue coverage altogether. This program, which was intended for anyone terminated from September 1, 2008 to May 31, 2010, offered a 65% subsidy for up to 15 months. The subsidy, however, would be less for anyone whose modified gross income exceeds $125,000. While this is of great assistance to COBRA enrollees, anyone who has exhausted their 15 months or is newly unemployed, relief seem to be nowhere on the horizon.
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Expired COBRA Subsidy Leads to Coverage Lapses
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Tags: COBRA, health care costs, health insurance, pre-existing
Posted in Employees, Federal, Group, Laws, Resources | No Comments »
Tuesday, September 7th, 2010
It is expected that about 456,000 small businesses in California will qualify for the federal tax credits, offered to employers with 25 or fewer full time eligible employees earning less than $50,000 annually. This will bring some relief as employers struggle to maintain coverage in a sagging economy. Currently, only 46% of small businesses with three to nine employees offer coverage, as compared with 95% of California businesses with over 50 employees offering coverage to their workers.
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Many California Small Businesses Can Get Health Coverage Credit
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Tags: group health, health care reform, health insurance, tax credits
Posted in Employees, Employers, Federal, Laws | No Comments »
