Posts Tagged ‘group health’
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.
Permanent link to this post (209 words, estimated 50 secs reading time)
Tags: deductibles, group health, health plan, health savings accounts, premiums
Posted in Employees, Employers, Group | No Comments »
Tuesday, September 13th, 2011
Health care administration under the Affordable Care Act is tricky enough, but none more so than in California. Currently there are two options for the golden state – either consolidating into one regulatory agency or combining between two agencies, the California Department of Insurance (CDI) and Department of Managed Health Care (DMHC), to properly maintain a system that will ensure consumer protection. Those supporting consolidation believe that the fewer hands in the pot will avoid confusion and conflicting interpretations of federal laws. Oversight between two entities can also result in added government and administrative burdens, and difficulty in monitoring what is being purchased and sold in the marketplace.
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Health Insurance Regulation in California Under Health Care Reform
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Tags: group health, health care costs, health care reform, premiums, Universal Health Care
Posted in Federal, General, Government Run Health Plan, Group, Laws, Resources | 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, 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 »
Thursday, June 17th, 2010
While many young adults faced losing coverage as they aged off their parent’s plan, had no coverage in the case of an unexpected pregnancy, or merely had the bare necessities covered by their school plans, all can breathe a sigh of relief as health care reform promises to end their fears.
As mentioned in earlier posts, the most immediate change is coverage will be extended to overage dependents, as long as they are not offered other employer sponsored coverage, up through their 26th birthday. This helps ease the burden of uninsured claims, as many of these adult children would wait over two years before attempting to obtain their own coverage.
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Many Important Health Care Reform Changes for Young Adults
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Tags: children's health, group health, health insurance, heath insurance, Universal Health Care
Posted in Employees, Employers, Family, Federal, Laws | No Comments »
Monday, May 17th, 2010
We are now well into the first year following the passing of the health care reform bill. However, we still are not completely sure of what the changes are going to be, and how it will affect all of us. While some portions of the bill are clear cut, such as extending coverage to overage dependents, many of the larger concepts remain to be fully explained. How are small and large businesses going to be able to afford coverage for their employees? How will the tax breaks help or hurt? How can coverage for all Americans remain affordable?
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Health Care Reform – where it is headed?
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Tags: group health, health care reform, health insurance, preventative care, Universal Health Care
Posted in General, Government Run Health Plan, Resources, Tools | No Comments »
