Category: Employee Medical Insurance

  • 10 Tips to Help You Get Better Health Insurance Coverage

    10 Tips to Help You Get Better Health Insurance Coverage

    Health insurance coverage provides medical and financial assistance in the unfortunate case of illness and accidental injury. If you are not covered, then healthcare expenditures can rise and lead to financial turmoil.  Therefore, it is important to get covered with health insurance, even if you are not provided coverage by your employee or the government.

    You should never go uninsured – that’s for sure. Sign up for a private insurance, if you have to.

    Following are some tips to get the best health insurance plans for you and your family.

    1. You should be familiar with some of the terms related to health insurance and insurance in general, terms such as premium, deductable, co-insurance, etc. This will make it easy for you to understand the plan you are about to purchase. You can find search online to find out what these technical insurance terms mean.
    2. Make sure you don’t miss out on the open enrollment period. Open enrollment is a 3-month time window in which you can sign up for health insurance. If you don’t get enrolled in this time, then you will miss coverage for the given year.
    3.  Not all health insurance plans are the same. Therefore, do the necessary homework before getting coverage for yourself and your family. For instance, there are some questions you need answers to before choosing an insurance plan.
    • How much are you willing to spend on your plan?
    • Does any family member need complex medical procedures (like surgery) in the coming year?
    • If you already have a health insurance, then what is it missing?

    Discuss these and any other questions you may have with your family and other concerned people to get the best plan possible.

    1.  There is no point in sticking to an insurance plan you are not happy with. You can change and upgrade your existing plan in the open enrollment window.
    2.  Medicare, the federal health insurance plan can’t cover all your health-related needs. To get fully covered, get a supplemental health insurance plan from a private provider.
    3.  The health insurance market place offers four types of plans (bronze, silver, gold and diamond). Go for the one that best matches your budget and healthcare needs.
    4.  If you don’t want to pay high monthly premiums then choose High-Deductable Health Plans (HDHPs). To know more about HPHPs, get in touch with your health insurance agency.

    Contact Barich and Associates so our experts can help you get started with having better insurance coverage today! 909.793.6556

  • How to Start Offering Medical Insurance to Employees

    How to Start Offering Medical Insurance to Employees

    Offering medical insurance is a great way to attract and retain skilled employees. It takes your workers’ minds off immediate financial worries and allows them to focus on work instead. Plus, businesses benefit in other ways when they make medical insurance a part of the package: they can become eligible for tax credits and gain tax advantages. Since your employees’ health is being taken care of, you’ll have fewer sick days and less absenteeism. So let’s learn how exactly to start offering this vital benefit.

    Step 1: Figure out the costs and risks involved

    Of course, it’s all very well to know how medical insurance will benefit both the company and your employees. However, it is vital to recognize the potential costs and risks involved with any new expenditure in order to identify the most cost effective plan for your business.  The costs you incur will mostly depend on the kind of benefits you end up selecting. Some plans come with more uncertainty, which can make it hard for a small scale business to go through financial planning adequately.

    Additionally, businesses have to keep administrative costs in mind as well. More traditional plans can cause you to devote a relatively larger amount of time on administrative activities like remitting premiums and filling out forms. Small businesses can find it easier to go with a defined contribution health plan, which will not only enable them to cut costs, but also decrease administrative time.

    Step 2: Assess your health plan options

    If you own a small business, you can either choose a group health insurance plan, or a defined contribution health plan. The former is the more traditional route, and involves all the employees getting more or less the same benefits. It covers employees as well as family members.

    On the other hand, with defined contribution health plans, the company can allow employees more freedom of choice over benefits. Actually, these aren’t exactly health benefit plans. They just allow employees to spend a tax free allowance on their medical expenses of their own volition. These plans are cheaper to provide, so it’s becoming increasingly common for businesses to choose them.

    Of course, these plans are just two large umbrella groups that cover a variety of options within them. Do your research in order to figure out which one plan suits the needs of your company best.

    Step 3: Consult an insurance broker

    Small business owners often try to do everything themselves without taking expert advice into consideration. However, it’s best to confer with an insurance broker in order to benefit from in-depth technical know-how about your insurance plan options and health care policy and reforms in general. This will enable you to tailor your health insurance plan according to the exact specifications of your company. So details such as the number of employees and their age brackets and gender will be taken into account. Work with someone recommended by others so you know you can trust their judgment.

    At Barich and Associates Insurance Marketing Services, we do much more than simply deliver a wide selection of employee benefits, products and services. We deliver a difference by providing expert counsel, superior service, partnership and trust, and by allocating our resources to a level of service that matches your level of need. Call us or Request a free quote today!