Archive for the ‘Employers’ 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 »
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 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 »
Thursday, December 16th, 2010
While many of us know the importance of protecting ourselves against unexpected medical expenses, we tend to overlook the added fact that while we recover from an accident or illness, we are going to lose our income. Sometimes an illness or injury can keep you from working for years, and the added stress of lost income only further hinders your recovery. How many months would you be able to continue paying your bills if you lost your ability to earn an income? Assuming Social Security will cover your expenses is not the safest bet, as income from this source is usually not enough, and not readily available. Therefore, supplementing your coverage with a disability plan can bring peace of mind during the most trying times, and ensure your income and assets are protected.
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Disability Insurance Provides Peace of Mind Protection
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Tags: added benefits, disability, group health, wellness
Posted in Employers, Family, General, Group, Individual, Resources | No Comments »
Thursday, December 9th, 2010
While the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) requires that plans remove annual and lifetime limits on plans, many part time and seasonal workers are now faced with the possibility of losing their medical coverage altogether. Many large employers, such as Disneyland and McDonald’s, do make an offer of some very basic coverage for their part time and seasonal workers, such as a plan that may only offer a few thousand dollars of medical coverage. While this doesn’t sound like much, some feel it is better than having no medical coverage in place at all, as many of these employees don’t qualify for the comprehensive full time medical plan, and would not qualify for other plans due to pre-existing health conditions. A few thousand dollars, albeit no good in the event of a catastrophic illness or accident, would at least provide incentive to seek basic preventive care on an annual basis.
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Mini Medical Plans Face Extinction Due To Health Care Reform
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Tags: group health, health care reform, health insurance, preventative care
Posted in Employers, Federal, Group, Laws | No Comments »
Thursday, October 21st, 2010
Many small business owners are now facing the tough decision as to whether they should grandfather their plans, or make necessary changes to bring down their costs. There are pros and cons to both sides, and the decision should not be a rushed one. Therefore, we want to provide some guidance tools to help you make the right choice.
With the recent rate increases there may be a desire or need to choose a higher deductible plan with lower rates.
- If you increase the deductibles, coinsurance, or maximum out of pocket exposure, your new plan will be subjected all changes in the recently passed healthcare reform act.
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Should You Grandfather Your Group Plan?
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Tags: added benefits, Coinsurance, deductibles, group health, health care reform, preventative care, Universal Health Care
Posted in Employers, Federal, Government Run Health Plan, Group, Laws | 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 »
Monday, August 30th, 2010
One outstanding declaration in President Obama’s health care reform plan is the promise people who like their current health plan will have the option to keep it. How will this work? The plan is to grandfather in policies in order to “protect the ability of individuals and businesses to keep their current plan while providing important consumer protections that give Americans – rather than insurance companies – control over their health care”, per the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Labor and Treasury. Also, “The new regulation also provides stability and flexibility to insurers and businesses that offer health insurance coverage as the nation transitions to a more competitive marketplace in 2014 when businesses and consumers will have more affordable choices through exchanges”*.
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Rules Governing Grandfathered Health Plans
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Tags: Coinsurance, deductibles, group health, health care reform, Universal Health Care
Posted in Employees, Employers, Federal, Government Run Health Plan, Group, Laws | No Comments »
