Medical Plans
Choosing a Group Health Plan for Your Business
Finding the right group health plan for your business can be downright intimidating: sorting through lists of insurance companies and plans; checking and re-checking the dollars and totals for deductibles and co-pays; making sense of plan limitations and exclusions; deciphering a dictionary's worth of insurance-speak. It's enough to make anyone feel like a high-school freshman again.
You don't have the time for all this research and number crunching. But can you really afford to leave it on your "maybe someday" list? As the cost of medical care rises, the risks of not having health insurance are more apparent than ever. Today a single injury or illness -if uninsured- can leave a family in financial ruin. Moreover, group health coverage is a key benefit of employment. You may not be able to hire and keep the best employees without offering health coverage. The point is: don't procrastinate!
But take heart: a little basic knowledge can help you shake off those freshman jitters. Here are three quick lessons to help you find high-quality insurance at a reasonable price:
Know the type of benefits you need
Have a good understanding of your employees' healthcare needs before you start shopping. Do they require frequent medical care or do they rarely see the doctor? Are they more concerned about preventive checkups or coverage in case of emergency? Are prescription or maternity benefits important to them? This is an essential first step. You want to purchase a plan that offers the medical benefits your employees need, without a bunch of "extras" your employees won't take advantage of. You'll pay for these "extras" in the form of higher premiums.
Get multiple quotes from multiple insurance companies
Comparison-shopping really pays off. Don't limit yourself to the options available through a single insurance company, if possible. And if the thought of calling all the insurers in your area sounds tedious, find a licensed agent to help you. An agent can discuss the pros and cons of the various insurance companies and plans in your area, provide you with quotes for each, and offer valuable advice based on your group needs.
Take full advantage of all available tax benefits
There are significant tax benefits for employers who offer group health insurance to their employees. For example, businesses can generally deduct 100% of the premiums they pay on qualifying group health plans. You'll also want to look into the newly approved Health Savings Accounts (HSAs). These are tax-favored savings accounts that can be used to pay for medical expenses. Be sure to ask your agent for more information on how to take advantage of HSA-eligible plans in your area.
Identity Theft. Even though this type of crime is relatively new on the scene, its growth has produced alarming results. Every age group, including teens, is impacted by potential loss to one’s identity to someone else.
One reason is the rise of a unique and, sometimes detached, lifestyle for our teens. The age for having credit cards gets younger every year, but this does not necessarily mean that teens understand the responsibilities and risks associated with having credit cards. As a result, teens are a prime target for identity theft.
Another area of risk to identity theft for teens is the social networking sites that have literally become their connection to society. Many teens willingly share their private details in order to be more popular amongst their peer group.
Because of the massive popularity of sites such as MySpace, FaceBook and YouTube teens often live in a breeding ground for predators looking for their next victim. Identity theft is becoming their weapon of choice. Most teenagers on MySpace don’t give a thought to security issues and readily post all of their personal information on the site. This could include their full name, age, address, etc.
The 5 top reasons why teenagers are so vulnerable to identity theft attacks are:
The risk for identity theft for teens has produced a “currency” so valuable, that a teen’s identity can be worth more to identity theft thieves than money.
The good news is that protecting a teen’s identity is relatively easy. The first step is to make sure that teens understand the risk, and how to recognize and prevent identity theft.
There are numerous strategies teens can adopt that will help to protect their lives and their credit from falling victim to an identity theft attack. The following list is a great place to start:
Teens can protect against identity theft by:
- Protecting their computer or phone by understanding exactly the type of data that it holds, then selecting the appropriate security options to protect the data.
- If they are planning to attend college, request that the school refrain from using their SSN (social security number) as their college identification number.
- Never giving out private details over the Internet or phone, unless absolutely sure of who they are dealing with.
- Making sure they carefully scrutinize their credit report before applying for their first apartment or a student loan.
- Always keeping their social security card and birth certificate in a safe and secure place.
- Lowering credit card limits.
- Learning how to spot shoulder surfing and stop these crooks in their tracks.
One of the most important resources teens have for getting off to a great start in life is their parents. Working together, teens can avoid becoming a victim of identity theft.