We Make Insurance Simple & Easy
See the resources on The Conversation Project website.
National Healthcare Decisions Day exists to inspire, educate, and empower the public and
providers about the importance of advance care planning.
I encourage you to make decisions and to document your healthcare decisions. Here are some
resources to help you and to help you discuss the decisions with family and friends.
Amy Penna, in her article “Small business health insurance: The state of the market and what small businesses are doing about it”, states:
“You don’t have to look hard to find evidence that group health insurance has become prohibitively expensive for small businesses with fewer than 50 full-time employees. As we’ve reported in the past, annual group health insurance premiums in 2017 for small businesses were $6,486 for single coverage and $17,615 for family coverage.
Additionally, traditional group health benefits come with other costs that can stretch a company’s budget. The cost to administer group health benefits adds up to over $12,000each year. With figures like these, it’s no wonder that the number of small businesses offering group health insurance has declined by 25 percent since 2010. Currently, less than half of small businesses offer any kind of health insurance to their workers.”
Many small businesses would like to offer health insurance benefits but finding traditional group insurance is too expensive. There are alternatives solutions such as a taxable wage increase or tax-free personalized benefits (QSEHRA) and other options that benefit both the employer and the employee in these ways:
The Taxable Wage Increase method increases employee’s wages so they can afford to purchase a health plan. On the company side, business owners don’t have to worry about playing middleman between the insurance company and their employees. On the other hand, the employee pays income tax on the increased wages. However, the premium can be lower than that of a group plan premium so the employee still comes out financially ahead and they have a health insurance plan customized to their needs.
The Qualified Small Employer Health Reimbursement Arrangement (QSEHRA) also known as a small business HRA, is a company-funded, tax-free health benefit used to reimburse employees for personal health care expenses. The business must establish legal QSEHRA plan documents, including a summary plan description to comply with IRS and Department of Labor requirements.
Today, many people are self-employed, losing their employer benefits or finding their employer benefits too expensive along with higher deductibles and decreasing benefits.
If you are in this situation, it can be a challenging and daunting task to find and understand the right health insurance option that will fit your coverage needs and budget. Going online can get you in trouble as you believe that you are getting a certain type of coverage and then when you go to use your insurance, it is not what you signed up for.
I would also caution you, that there are insurance companies and agents that will lead you to believe you are getting a major medical plan when the only major medical plans remaining in the market are Affordable Care Act (Obama Care) plans or employer group plans.
Currently, there are three types of plans available for private (or non-employer paid) health insurance.
Affordable Care Act (Obama Care) which is well suited for those individuals who have a pre-existing condition of which they are currently being treated to ensure that they are not without treatment.
Short Term Plans. These plans work well for people in transition, i.e., between jobs that offer employer paid benefits or needing a few months of coverage before moving into Medicare. These plans are currently offered for 3 to 6 months terms renewable for another 6 month term.
Hospital Indemnity Plans offer the best option for those looking for a permanent plan, in other words, one that is guaranteed renewable. These plans offer a set insurance benefit for medical services for hospitalization, surgery, doctor visits, well care and other medical services. Some plans have a zero deductible or you can choose a higher deductible. Your auto insurance is an indemnity plan, i.e., when in an accident, your deductible (should you have one) is deducted and then your benefit is applied to pay for the repair of your automobile… this process is per incident.
Don’t get caught with the wrong health insurance… for information or questions, please feel to contact me. And, by the way, if you are unhappy with your current health insurance plan, you are able to cancel at anytime and switch to another type of plan.
Questions to help you gauge how much your family would need in the event of your becoming Critically, Chronically, or Terminally ill, or Dying.
D. (Debts): This is referring to any debts that you might have outside the mortgage (car loan, credit cards, student loans, etc.) If we were going to write you a check to pay off all debts (excluding your mortgage) how much would that check be for?
I. (Income Replacement): After paying off your debt, if we could bring your family a check every month to cover normal living expenses—how much would that monthly check need to be? And, for how many years?
______________Monthly Amount x12 x _____________Years=
M. (Mortgage Protection): What is your current balance that you owe the bank for your mortgage?
E. (Education): What do you feel would be an adequate amount to set aside for you children’s education ($50,000, $100,000)? What is the approximate amount that you have established in college savings?
E. (Expenses—Final): On average, we allocate around $10,000-$15,000 to cover final expenses. Does that see reasonable?
