Healthcare Reform: What My Business Can Do Now

Like it or not, healthcare reform has passed and the first portion of the bill, the patient protection portion is implemented.

New group health insurance plans that are started after September 23^rd of this year will have a whole set of new protections that will expand coverage, but unfortunately may increase your rates. The costs of the added protections have to come from somewhere.

The second portion of the bill, the affordability portion is set to go in to effect in 2014. So what can your business do now with the outlandish increases and high rates that you are facing?

Two words. Shop now.

There are insurers out there that offer alternatives to traditional coverage and may be able to offer you immediate relief in the way of lower premiums. These insurers may not be right for every company out there, but it is worth looking in to. Some of these insurers are also exempt from the added costs of state regulation.

You have a choice right now. You can either take your increases and high premium costs and hope that in 2014 you will see relief, or you can take a hard look at your  current group health insurance plan and come up with a strategy to contain costs.

I recommend that you develop a strategy now with an insurance broker who specializes in health insurance.

If your broker just hands you a couple of spreadsheets, you owe yourself, your company, and your employees the appropriate due diligence that a broker from CG Benefits Group and Technology Insurance Associates can provide. The plan that your company has, may not be the best option for you and the traditional marketplace may not be best either. Either way, you need to have your benefits reviewed.

Here’s what you need to do now:

• Gather your employee census information to get ready to submit to a broker
• Get copies of current plan benefit summary and rates
• Prepare to take a serious look at your contributions as an employer and how much your employees contribute
• Contact us now and a licensed insurance broker who specializes in health insurance will contact you to start getting quotes from all available carriers. You will discuss your strategy, goals, and needs with the broker to assist him or her in getting a proposal that meets all of your company’s requirements.