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HSA's Save You Money

If you are considering an HSA plan for your group insurance benefits, you will be encouraged by the results of two separate surveys.

The surveys, conducted by Buck Consultants, an independent subsidiary of ACS, were conducted this past spring. Results show that employers and account holders are satisfied with the coverage they got by using Health Savings Accounts (HSAs) and HSA-qualified health plans. They feel that they can better control costs and so are spending less, thus saving for potential future medical expenses. They believe that they are more involved in managing their health benefits. Read the rest of this entry »

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Creating a Healthy Workplace

With the rising costs of healthcare and group health insurance, more and more attention is being focused on employee wellness. Healthier employees mean less absenteeism, fewer medical needs and ultimately lower medical costs and health insurance premiums.

Initially, programs were launched to encourage employees to live a healthier lifestyle by eating better and exercising to lose weight; by quitting smoking; by decreasing alcohol consumption; and finding ways to reduce stress.

Professionals now realize that additionally an important facet of any employee wellness program is to create a healthy workplace.

Creating the healthy workplace includes good health management on site, active group wellness activities, a supportive environment for employee wellness programs, and open communications systems. Read the rest of this entry »

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Voluntary benefits cover expenses not paid for by traditional health insurance. Voluntary benefits include disability, accident, critical illness, cancer and supplemental health insurance and cover expenses such as loss of income, travel to treatment centers, child care and the like in the event of unexpected illness or injury.

With the rising cost of health insurance, voluntary benefits are becoming more popular for both employers and employees.

Voluntary Benefits from the Employer’s Point of View:

• Employers can offer their employees more comprehensive coverage.
• Since voluntary benefits are 100% employee paid, there are no additional costs to the employer.
• The employer’s payroll taxes may be reduced if the employee’s contribution is paid with pre-tax dollars.

Voluntary Benefits from the Employee’s Point of View:

• Employees don’t have to use their savings while recovering from an unexpected illness or accident.
• Benefits are paid directly to the employee when they need them.
• Premiums for the voluntary benefits are based on group rates and so are lower than if the employee purchased the coverage on an individual basis and are typically just a few dollars per month per plan.
• Employees can save on payroll taxes in many cases because the premiums are paid with pre-tax dollars.

Thus, voluntary benefits are a good idea for both employees and employers and is something that you should consider.

Technorati Tags: accident insurance, cancer insurance, critical illness insurance, disability insurance, Group Insurance Benefits, supplemental health insurance, voluntary benefits

Health Care Now

According to answers.com, the definition of health care as a noun is:

“The prevention, treatment, and management of illness and the preservation of mental and physical well-being through the services offered by the medical and allied health professions.”

As an adjective, health care is defined as:

“Of or relating to health care: the health care industry.”

So, as you can see, it includes a wide range of health related topics ranging from your personal health care to health insurance plans and medical service providers.

Just how much do you know about your health care related issues?

Cigna has teamed up with the Water for People Organization to create a game that lets you test how much you know about your health care. When you answer three questions correctly, you help provide a days worth of water to children in developing countries.

My first question was:

What is bruxism? Do you know the answer?

• Tooth grinding
• Thumb sucking
• Fear of the dentist
• Root canal

I correctly answered “Tooth grinding” and was on my way to helping to provide a days worth of water.

Won’t you take a moment to test your health care knowledge, learn something you didn’t know previously and help provide clean water for students in developing countries?

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Insurance Brokers

A friend of mine owns a café here in town. My husband and I were in there the other evening and I overheard him talking to another patron about group health insurance. Of course, my ears perked up.

When he came over to say hello to us, I asked him if he was looking for insurance for he and his employees. He said yes, but that he was just going to go ahead and sign up for it on the Internet.

“You don’t want to do that Michael.”

“Why not?”

If you feel like my friend Michael and choose to go that route, chances are that you will not get the best coverage for the best price for you and your employees and you will waste a lot of time doing your research. This is time that could be better spent on your business. Read the rest of this entry »

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Many insurance carriers are reporting that they are seeing a sharp increase in the issuance of short term health insurance policies.

What is Short Term Health Insurance?

Short term health insurance plans (also called temporary health insurance), offer coverage for major hospital, medical, and surgical expenses. It really is aimed at healthy individuals and families as it does not cover pre-existing conditions. These plans offer a temporary solution to a short-term insurance gap.

Most plans last one to six months and can be renewed for a total of 36 months. Thus, unlike traditional health insurance plans, these plans have an expiration date.

Pre-Existing Conditions: Read the rest of this entry »

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I posted the following question in one of the insurance forums I belong to:

Do you have health insurance? If so, are you covered under your employer’s plan or do you have an individual plan?

I asked this question because I wanted to try to get a sense of the truth to the numbers being published about the number of uninsured people in the US.

I received a very comprehensive answer about the cost of insurance from John K. Arnold, a Managing General Agent in the health insurance business based in Orlando, FL. Read the rest of this entry »

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Section 125 Plans are also known as cafeteria plans, flexible benefit plans or mini-flex plans. Section125 of the Internal Revenue Tax Code defines these plans with strict guidelines.

These plans were originally added to the tax code in 1978, but didn’t become popular until 1986 when additional tax laws were added that gave employees’ more tax advantages.

They were created as tax savings plans wherein participants could save tax dollars. With these flexible benefit plans, group health plan premiums and eligible healthcare and dependent care expenses are paid for with “untaxed” dollars.

Deductions are taken from the participant’s paycheck and placed into a separate bank account as contributions to the participant’s flexible benefit plan. The participant submits legitimate claims to whoever is administrating the account and they are reimbursed for expenses.

The key is that the money deducted from the participant’s paycheck is never taxed. Thus, the participant’s net take home pay is higher because they don’t pay taxes on these funds.  They get the funds via reimbursement for legitimate expenses and don’t pay taxes on those funds.

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Health insurance premiums are directly affected by what is called the “area factor”. To you and me that means in what zip code do I live?

The cost of medical care varies from one geographical area to another and the differences in cost are considered when monthly premiums are determined.

So, what leads to these differences? This variation is based on to the general cost of living of the area, differences in medical practices, the degree of specialization of services and the amount of competition in the area.

Risk also plays a role in the cost of medical care. For instance, in an urban area that frequently has accidents and more health risks the costs would be higher than costs of a suburban area that has fewer accidents and less health risks.

Each insurance company has their own actuaries that calculate the area factor. So, if you live in an area with elevated medical costs, you may want to try to find an insurance company that offers the best coverage at the lowest price for your particular zip code.

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