We’ve Got Your IT Business Covered With Technology Insurance

This is the first in a series of audio education articles that CG Benefits Group and Technology Insurance Associates has produced.  Recorded by insurance broker, Paul Kaplan, the proceeding audio file introduces health savings accounts and contains information about how the underlying medical plan works, how contributions work, and advantages and disadvantages to HSA plans.  Health Savings Accounts can be a great way for you to save money pre-tax to dedicate to medical related expenses.  Many employers are starting to offer this as part of their employee benefits packages.  I hope you enjoy listening as much as I did putting this together,

Paul Kaplan

Last week Healthcare.gov launched as a portal for U.S. citizens to explore the American health insurance market in an easily navigated and concise website. The website includes ways to find insurance coverage options, learn about preventive care, compare quality care, and ways to understand the new insurance laws.

First of all, finding insurance coverage options is a very easy process of selecting options that apply to your unique situation. Whether you are a small employer, an individual with an illness, unable to get health insurance, or a young adult under 26, the website directs to state specific resources for finding coverage.

For example, for a small IT consulting firm in New Jersey, I was informed that New Jersey is a guaranteed issue state for health insurance. An insurance carrier cannot turn a small business down for coverage if it meets the qualifications of small employer. I was then directed to Department of Banking And Insurance where I could read their online New Jersey small employer’s buyers guide to health insurance.

The preventive care section of the website partners with healthfinder.gov where you can enter your age and gender and recommended tests, immunizations, and other health tips tailored to your information is presented. This is a great feature to include in the website and I found it very helpful.

Next, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ hospital compare tool allows users to search hospitals by zip code and offers the ability to compare hospitals in your area by patient care surveys, care outcomes, medical imaging statistics, their Medicare coverage, and volume. This tool is an excellent addition to healthcare.gov and provides an easy way to compare hospitals.

Lastly, the website includes information about the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act in an easy to understand format. A timeline for establishment of reform changes is included to easily reference when certain provisions of the bill will go into effect.

Many Americans without health insurance coverage due to pre-existing conditions may find themselves with health insurance coverage due to the newly established Pre-Existing Condition Insurance Plan (PCIP.)

Starting today, July 1st, 2010 many states will start accepting applications for the new plan with coverage likely beginning on August 1st. You can check to see if your state is running their own program at the following website.

This temporary high risk pool of coverage for Americans with pre-existing conditions will expire on 2014 when denying individuals insurance based on pre-existing conditions will be outlawed.

The congress has already allocated $5 billion to the program, so if you fit the description, you are urged to apply immediately, just in case the program runs out of money if a higher number of people than anticipated enroll in the plan.

In New Jersey, for example, the department of banking and insurance has decided to run their own program under guidance from the Department of Health and Human Services.

General rules for the program are as follows:

• You must be un-insured for over 6 months
• You must be unable to get insurance due to a pre-existing medical condition
• You must be a United States citizen or a national

Premiums will vary from state to state, but the coverage cannot be higher due to your medical conditions or age.

According to healthcare.gov typical premium for the federally run program for a 50 year old will be between $320-$570.  To get an estimate of premiums, check out the details at the website for the PCIP.

The Pre-Existing Condition Insurance Plan will cover a broad range of health benefits, including primary and specialty care, hospital care, and prescription drugs. All covered benefits are available for you, even if it’s to treat a pre-existing condition.

Most plans will have a deductible for major medical services such as hospital visits and surgery and a maximum out pocket to limit the patient’s liability.

Changes are coming to United States health care this year because of recent changes made by the passing of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. This is a list of the five most important changes to be made that we think will impact technology companies and other small businesses.

1. All new  individual and group health plans must provide first dollar coverage for preventive care.
2. Individuals with pre-existing medical conditions can obtain health insurance coverage from a temporary high risk pool setup by the government.  This pool will expire when the insurance exchanges open in 2014.
3. Beginning on September 23, 2010, parents can extend health insurance coverage to their children up to the age of 26.
4. The first phase of the small business employer tax credit for health insurance starts.
5. Individual and group plans must eliminate pre-existing condition exclusions for children.

In February of 2009, President Obama created a 787 Billion Dollar stimulus program intended to help Americans during our present recession. As part of the stimulus bill a 65 percent subsidy was started for Americans who were involuntary terminated from their jobs. The subsidy was extended in April, but expired May 31^st.

Americans that lose their job after June 1^st will have to pay the entire premium for COBRA coverage. According to Families USA, a consumer advocacy group, the monthly premium alone can eat up to 84 percent of a person’s unemployment check.

The extension of the COBRA subsidy was rejected by House Democrats to reduce the costs of a new jobs and tax bill that proposed extending the subsidy through December 31^st. The extension would cost 7.8 Billion Dollars according to a report by CNN.

Many employers are unaware of exactly what workers compensation is and what the employer’s requirements are. This article is intended to go over workers compensation with a focus on New Jersey based businesses.

Workers compensation is based on where your company is located and where your employees work and reside. It provides compensation for injuries that workers have obtained through their course of work.

To start, you will get a policy from an insurance company licensed to do business in your state. The individual state sets the rate per hundred dollars of payroll and classifies your occupation. An occupation that has a high occurrence of injuries on the job, will have a higher rate than a company that is classified with an occupation with less occurrences.

When a policy is initially written you are asked to estimate your payroll. This estimate is used to get the policy in force. At the end of the policy year the insurance company will ask you for the previous years payroll information or you can have an independent auditor perform the task of determining if your estimates were accurate. This will result in an audit bill or a credit.

Many of the workers compensation policies are written to include disability coverage such as New Jersey. Some states like New York require you to purchase a separate disability policy.

Sometimes an employer finds it difficult to obtain a workers compensation policy from an insurance company due to the hazardous nature of their work. In this case, the state will assign an insurance company to provide coverage.

Many business owners continually look for lower worker compensation rates when it is unnecessary. If the correct payroll and ratings information is used the rates from different companies will be the same.

I hope this article demystified workers compensation insurance for you, if you would like further information please contact one of Technology Insurance Associates’ brokers.

Many people who are in the market for life insurance will face a choice between term and permanent life insurance. This article is intended to demystify your choice of the type of life insurance you will purchase.

To begin, let’s define the different types of life insurance and how they are typical used.

Term insurance covers you and provides a death benefit if you pass away during a defined amount of years. Typical policies can range ten, twenty, or thirty years. It is also possible to get term insurance for other amounts of years to fit your needs. Term insurance is a perfect solution when you don’t need life insurance coverage for your whole life.

Permanent life insurance provides a guaranteed death benefit as long as premiums are paid. In addition, permanent insurance such as whole life insurance builds equity in the form of  a cash value that can be used for loans and can eventually, when it reaches a certain amount, pay the premiums on the policy for you.

Permanent life insurance is more expensive in the beginning than term insurance so many people get a mixture of the two types of life insurance.

If you are serious about getting life insurance, your best option is to consult a broker at CG Benefits Group to fill out a needs assessment that will help you determine your goals and needs for a policy.

This May you can protect yourself and your family by purchasing disability insurance coverage. Many people are unaware of why they would need disability coverage. Here are some alarming stats:

Thirty percent of employees will face a long term disability during their careers.
Three in ten workers will miss three months or more as a result of an accident or illness.

Frequently, employees think that they are covered for disability when they are not. For example, workers compensation covers illness and disabilities that occurred at work only. Many employees also think that Social Security is enough coverage, when it isn’t. Half of all initial disability claims to the Social Security Administration are denied and the average benefit is frequently not enough to cover some household’s bills.

If you would like more information about providing disability insurance to your employees, or if you would like individual disability insurance, please call CG Benefits Group at 888-242-4675.

Here at CG Benefits we noticed a very interesting trend. For some employers that may have one or two employees enrolled, the individual health insurance marketplace may offer less expensive health insurance coverage as an alternative.

This happened recently but, one carrier for example, Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield has lowered their rates to be very competitive with the employer based market. Their EPO and EPO Plus product is a viable method to insure yourself and your family, even if you are eligible for group coverage.

Now I’m not saying that every employer should run out and drop their group coverage and let the employees cover themselves in the individual marketplace. You will lose some of the benefits of the employer based group marker such as expanded support services such as billing, claims, and administration assistance provided to employers.

To check to see if you can benefit from new low rates for individual health insurance, get a quote now.

5. Package your benefits. Some insurance carriers provide discounts if you purchase multiple types of insurance from them.

4. Check out alternative methods of funding your insurance. Self insurance is popular in the middle to large group market, but now some carriers are offering self insurance for small groups.

3. Explore plans with higher deductibles and co-pays. The higher the deductible and co-pay are, the lower your premiums will be. This will increase out of pocket expenses, but for some groups with low utilization; this may be a good alternative.

2. A mini-medical plan with high deductibles and limited benefits may be a wise choice for young workers who don’t need a richer benefit plan.

1. Purchase consumer directed healthcare plans such as HRAs or HSAs. Many of the HSA plans for example, have come down in price making them an excellent way to save money for medical expenses while having lower premiums.