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The Affordable Care Act of 2019: it seemed, for some time, as though it wouldn’t exist. Despite political uncertainty, the ACA remains. While mandatory coverage for all Americans has been repealed there are still facets of the ACA in play–and as a business owner, it’s important that you understand how it has the potential to impact your company.

Health Insurance Remains Important for Your Business

Health insurance is one of the most important aspects of a job.  Offering a comprehensive benefits plan can help attract and retain employees, help your employees be more productive, and offers tax incentives.

The Cost Factor, the repeal of the individual mandate means health insurance premiums may rise in some markets. Some states have enacted laws to mirror the original ACA, however, an increasing number of people are unable to pay for health insurance that adequately covers their needs. Many more employees may opt for high deductible policies that are designed to provide coverage only in the event of medical emergencies. As a business owner:

Without an adequate benefits plan, you may see employees taking more sick days. Since they’re unable to visit a clinic and receive medical care that’s reasonably paid for, they may avoid seeking medical treatment until they have to. That may mean an increase in sick days since employees are more likely to “wait it out.”  Delaying care may also result in longer absences.

Providing insurance does not have to be cost-prohibitive. You want to take care of your employees, but you can’t afford to do it if the cost rises too high. As a result, you may find that increasing insurance premiums makes the cost of insurance for your employees prohibitive. Offering employer-sponsored health coverage, but requiring employees to pay a percentage of the cost, may help offset this expense. We can design plans to meet your needs, including self-funded options.

You need to shop around. In some areas and with some providers, the cost of insurance is actually dropping–though not every provider is on board. If you’re struggling to cover insurance premiums, take the time to shop around. You may find that insurance is more affordable than you initially thought.

Do you need a health insurance policy for your employees that work with your finances? We’re here to help you find the right arrangement for your company. Contact us today to learn more about the insurance policies that are available to you as an employer and how they can shape your employees’ health in 2019.

Are you taking care of the hands in your workplace?

The most common work disability in the United States is Arthritis. Arthritis can cause pain and usually inflammation, over time you can also lose the use of muscles in the afflicted area. Carpal Tunnel Syndrome is the most common injury associated with computer typing.  It can lead to sore wrists and hands with sudden sharp shots of pain up the forearm.  It also plunges the productivity of your workforce, unable to type and having difficulty grasping and handling items.

The cause can be from an injury, overuse, arthritis or chronic diseases such as diabetes or hypothyroidism. It can be hard to tell if you are developing it but symptoms may include feeling tingling in the fingers and hands. Grip strength becomes weakened. Numbing or burning sensations are also indicators that there might be a problem.

If you start to have symptoms seek treatment to prevent the symptoms from getting worse. Left untreated the pain and use of your hands will only get worse. A doctor will be able to diagnose and recommend treatment.

So what does this mean for business owners?

There are many proactive ways to keep the hands of your employees safe and productive. There are ergonomic keyboards, chairs, and desks that put your employees in the perfect posture to work behind a desk all day. You can also have instructors come in and teach the proper sitting and posture positions. Today we look at the option that we have just implemented here at InsureYourCompany.com

Compression Gloves.

Compression gloves or arthritis gloves are designed to provide support with gentle compression to relieve signs and symptoms of arthritis in the hands. They offer complete coverage for hands, fingers, and wrists while still allowing the ability to operate grip and touch with fingers. Many occupational therapists recommend them to help ease pain and swelling making it easier to deal with daily activities. The gloves are designed to be worn for 8 hours and can reduce swelling, hand pain, joint stiffness, and use of hands. The outcomes vary and may not address all of your issues.

Be sure that the gloves fit well, not too tight or too lose. Make sure that they are being worn for an extended period of time, not one hour here or there. If pain continues or increases seek out a medical professional.

There are many ways to improve your workspace. We just handed out the gloves to our employees and we will update you on the results. Whatever you decide to do just remember a happy employee is a productive employee.

There is an art to being able to sit down and immediately concentrate all your attention on the most important task at hand. Being able to hone and refine this skill will accelerate your career growth. You want to concentrate on your definite aim, which we previously discussed in our The Law of Success, Part 5: Initiative, using visuals to have as reminders of your definite aim. In order to successfully concentrate, you have to eliminate too much multi-tasking and really assert your attention onto the main task you are needing to complete, by order of importance throughout your day.

You have to ensure you are prioritizing your tasks by the importance of what needs to get done first before you move onto what you want to do. Concentrating and prioritizing your day will help to make your less enjoyable tasks, more enjoyable. Master your ability to concentrate and become successful.

With winter fast approaching–or already here, in many parts of the country–it’s important to start considering how to prevent freeze-related damage to your home. Even with insurance, repairing your home after a freeze-related incident can be expensive! You want to keep your home as safe and protected as possible to avoid expensive repairs.

Tip #1: Leave Water Running Indoors

One of the simplest ways to prevent freeze-related damage to your home is to leave the water running or dripping in a faucet. If you have a large home, it may be helpful to leave water dripping in more than one faucet to help keep things moving smoothly throughout the entire house. This step keeps water moving through the pipes, which can prevent them from freezing and bursting. It doesn’t need to be hot water, which comes from a tank inside the house; rather, turn the water to cold and let it run.

Keep in mind that you don’t just need to leave the water running overnight. During the day, if temperatures are well below freezing, you may still need to leave the water running. While the sun may help warm the pipes and decrease freezing temperatures, it’s still important to keep things moving!

Tip #2: Cover Outdoor Faucets

Do you have outside spigots and faucets? As the temperature creeps below freezing, take the time to cover them. Make sure they’re turned completely off, then purchase a cover that will keep them warm and keep water from freezing and bursting those pipes.

Tip #3: Wrap Pipes with Heat Tape

Do you have exposed pipes outside your home or in your garage? This time of year, it’s important to wrap them with approved heat tape. This will help keep them warmer and decrease the potential for freeze-related damage in your home.

Tip #4: Know How to Close Up Your House

Do you need to leave your home for a period of time during the freezing months? Whether you’re headed south for the winter or you’re planning on being gone for a vacation, make sure that your house is protected! If you have to leave the house, try some of these tips:

• Post your contact information so that the local fire department will know who to contact in the event of an emergency
• Leave a key in a lockbox so that emergency responders can get into the house if necessary
• Make sure to leave a trickle of water running and your thermostat set to at least 50 degrees. This will prevent freeze-related damage while you’re gone.

Tip #5: Remove and Drain Hoses

If you leave your hose sitting outside all winter, it’s not just likely to destroy your hose. It can also cause water to freeze in the faucet or in the pipes immediately beside the house, which can quickly cause significant damage. Instead, roll the hose up, drain it, and store the hose elsewhere for the winter.

Tip #6: Make Sure Sprinklers are Drained

Sprinklers are often forgotten in the winter when grass doesn’t need to be watered. Take the time to drain your sprinkler system. Then, blow compressed air through the system to ensure that there’s no water left hanging around.

Freeze-related damage is an expensive proposition, whether it occurs when you’re sleeping soundly in your home or you come back from vacation to find significant damage. Make sure you have insurance that will help protect you if things don’t go according to plan! Contact us today to learn more about homeowner’s insurance or renter’s insurance that will help protect you and your family financially if you experience damage to your home or pipes this winter.

Life insurance: you know that it’s something that you need sooner or later, but when do you really need life insurance? At what point in your life should you acquire life insurance to help protect your loved ones and pay for your final expenses in the event of your death? Knowing when to acquire this key type of insurance is critical to protecting your loved ones.

The simple answer? Life insurance should be acquired as early in your adult life as possible. When you are younger, your monthly life insurance premiums are likely to be lower, and you can lock in those payments for the life of your policy. Many people make the mistake of waiting until they are older or they have significant health problems to make the choice to seek life insurance, but looking into a policy when you are young can make your premiums much lower as you age and your health declines. If you’re waiting for the perfect moment to seek life insurance, however, ask yourself some of these questions.

Is there someone who depends on you for their financial stability?

Once you’re married, for example, you and your spouse likely share the burden of handling your finances and paying your bills. When you have children, the financial responsibility only increases. Would your spouse be able to pay the bills without you if you were to die unexpectedly? Having a life insurance policy will provide some financial stability in the weeks and months immediately following your death, allowing your spouse to get their feet back under them and figure out what they need to do in order to provide for themselves or your family.

It’s not just getting married that can increase your need for a life insurance policy. You might, for example, be caring for your elderly parents or a disabled loved one: a sibling who is unable to work, or an elderly aunt or uncle who is no longer able to provide for themselves. If you are the one taking care of finances for anyone in your life, it’s important that you take out a life insurance policy to provide financial protection in case you are no longer with them. This simple step can take a weight off of their shoulders and make it easier for them to move forward if something happens to you.

Is there someone–or several someones–who rely on services or care that you provide?

You might, for example, be responsible for providing care for aging parents at home or for caring for your children. In some cases, you might not even have a job that provides income for your family, but you do have a responsibility that they would have to pay for in your absence. In this case, a life insurance policy would help ensure that your spouse, children, or other loved ones could have that care even if something happened to you.

Do you have significant debt?

If you have significant debt in your life, from student loans to credit card debt, that burden may fall on your loved ones to pay if you die unexpectedly–especially if, for example, your parents cosigned on your student loans or you share debt with your spouse. When you have significant debt, taking out a life insurance policy that will help protect your loved ones and pay for those bills after you die will help ensure that the bills are taken care of and that your death doesn’t leave a heaping mess on the shoulders of people you care about.

A life insurance policy isn’t a luxury, nor is it an unnecessary expense. Rather, it’s an investment in the futures of your loved ones–and one that will pay off if something happens to you. Do you need to take out a life insurance policy or need more information about its benefits? Contact us today to learn more about how we can help.