Archive for the ‘Individual Medical’ Category
Using A Section 125 HRA Plan to Fund Individual Medical Purchases in Lieu of a Group Plan
Has group insurance seen its best days? I had to ask myself that today. In 2016 medical underwriting of individual policies will no longer be allowed. There will no longer be uninsurables that get treated differently under group plans than they do under individual policies. Why would an employer continue to stay on the back of a bronco that has been trying to throw it off for 20 years?
If the employer thinks it has a financial incentive to keep the group plan in place, that is likely not true. Changes in the Internal Revenue Code effective in 2009 makes purchase of individual policies with pre-tax HRA salary reduction amounts, as well as pre-tax employer HRA contribution amounts, permissible. The HRA contributions become “defined” in that the employer can fix the amount, if any, per class of employee, often at a level less that group plan levels. How the employee uses it is entirely employee driven. The employer steps out of the equation for everything except the regulatory framework of a Section 125 HRA approach. Employees make their own product purchase and just file the required paperwork with the administrator.
This is an exciting new concept about which only a few really knowledgable consultants are assisting employers. Let BBCG show you how this might work for your workforce. Please click here to open a link to a preseentation from one of our strategic partners which is a nationally recognized leader in the implementation of this concept.
Please note that this concept is not carrier dependent. Employees can buy any healthplan they desire. However, for ease of transition BBCG can make available to the purchasing employees from one up to three individual plan carriers and assist with the purchase process. For very large employers considering this transition, BBCG would actually put enrollers on site to assist. Note that with 3 carriers, three basic plans, and dozens of variable alternatives within the plans the decision points can exceed 100 for an employee. Using lowest cost as the driver can often be very dangerous for some employees.
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New: Portuguese Language Service for Brazil and Olympic Travelers
IMG Global has provided BBCG with a Portuguese language translation of its Patriot Travel Medical brochure. We can now provide native language product information to Portuguese language speakers. We can also provide a live Portuguese speaker to discuss larger group purchases, etcetera. Click here to access Portuguese language brochure.
Rio de Janeiro will host the summer Olympics in 2016, the first time for any South American country. Although six years may seem like a long time to that date, the physical build-out to get Brazil ready will start much sooner. It is highly likely that there will be extensive Brazilian travel where the IMG Global Portuguese support can be key. Please refer any Brazilian related business to BBCG. The travel medical policy linked here is only one of the many offering we can show businesses headed that way or which might be using the U.S. as a staging area prior to the Olympics.
Any questions? Click here to send BBCG an email inquiry.
Access other IMG international product information which can be browsed, priced and for which applications can be made online by clicking the below icon.
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UnitedHealthOne (Golden Rule) To Change Individual Health Plan Instant Quote Function Aug. 30, 2010
As you may have noticed from experience using the existing Instant Quote function from UnitedHealthOne (i.e., Golden Rule Insurance), it has lacked some degree of user friendliness. Effective Monday, August 30, 2010, there will be an upgraded Instant Quote function via a new link. We will add the new code as soon as it is available to us.
Note: the existing link below will continue to function via a redirect to the new Instant Quote web pages until approximately September 1, 2010 at which time it will become a dead link.
For persons who prefer to do business with a long-established insurance carrier in the individual healthcare market, BBCG offers United Healthcare’s “UnitedHealthOne” (f/k/a Golden Rule) products. Various traditional, high deductible, point-of-service and HSA products are available. Please feel free to use this service to explore options that you feel might meet your needs.
Please click on the above Golden Rule icon to open the auto-quoting page. This is a free and non-binding service unless the user actually submits an application.
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Dropping Health Plan: Use Pre-Tax Dollars to Soften the Blow and Save Payroll Taxes
Click Above Icon To Browse and Price Products
Met with CIGNA individual health product reps today. One new item of value for small/medium employers. If an employer plans to drop an existing employer sponsored group health plan and feels a significant number of its employees will subsequently seek individual health coverage, BBCG can now set up a method whereby individual coverage is purchased with pre-tax dollars. Employer saves the payroll taxes on the dollars not expended as payroll per se. This can be a very significant number for a moderately sized employer. It also allows a “soft landing” for employees who are losing employer subsidized coverage by lessening the cost by the personal tax liability amount and by showing an on-going concern for the welfare of the workforce. Click here to email BBCG for more information.
Browsing and pricing products by clicking on the above icon is a free and non-binding process unless an application is actually submitted by the user.
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New: UnitedHealthOne Dental Products Auto-Quote Function
BBCG now has available a simplified auto-quote/purchase function for two excellent individual dental products from United Healthcare’s “UnitedHealthOne” family of companies. Just click on the below icon to begin the FREE quoting function. Should you choose to purchase, an application can be submitted via the same link. BBCG is offering this auto-quote/purchase function only in Florida at present. If you are outside of Florida, please give us a call. We are especially interested in developing business in Washington D.C. where BBCG also has a licensed agent.
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Will Someone You Know or Employ Be Traveling Abroad — What Happens to Health Coverage?
Click On the Below Graphic for Auto-Browse/Purchase Service
Free and Non-Binding Unless User Actually Makes Application
Most people are not aware that the vast majority of health care coverage (i.e., health insurance policies, employee sponsored plans, Medicare, etc.) actually stops at the U.S. border. Many people are virtually “bare” (i.e., without insurance) during their stay overseas – although admittedly, most think otherwise. In some cases, there is minimal emergency or medevac coverage via a domestic plan. However, when substantial services are required immediately in a foreign country often the result is significant out-of-pocket costs. The suprise is often daunting to the traveler, family and/or friends.
There are many different categories of persons abroad, from the tourist, to the short-term business traveler, to the long-term expatriate. Within those categories there are often specialized needs for diffent groups depending on their length of stay and purpose abroad. For a broader discussion of the different sub-groups click here.
For an employer with personnel deployed abroad and promising extended health coverage, the cost of using a domestic employer sponsored health plan to pay the costs incurred in a foreign country rarely is the most cost-effective method of providing coverage for those individuals. [Note: for employers with 3 or more persons deployed abroad and 50 or more active employees in the U.S., BBCG has another portfolio of long-term and short-term international healthcare products provided by CIGNA International. We have found that those products may have more appeal to the corporate purchaser.]
For tourists, there is often a false sense of protection perceived in the typical travel insurance provided via their travel/tour operator. Rarely are the limits high enough to offset a major medical event. They are designed for emergency care with limits that rarely reach $50,000. An emergency heart by-pass procedure in Rome is going to cost a lot more than that!
IMG Global, as the managing general underwriter for Sirius International Insurance Group, has developed a uniquely high level of specialized expertise in meeting the needs of different types of travelers abroad. Please click on the graphic above for detailed information on international insurance designed for various travelers. You can also make application directly from that link for most products.
If you have additional questions, please click here for a direct email link to BBCG.
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United Healthcare Individual Medical Auto-Quote Function at BBCG
For those persons who prefer to do business with a long-established insurance carrier in the individual healthcare market, BBCG offers United Healthcare’s “UnitedHealthOne” (f/k/a Golden Rule) products. Various traditional, high deductible, point-of-service and HSA products are available. Please feel free to use this service to explore options that you feel might meet your needs.
Please click on the above Golden Rule icon to open the auto-quoting page. This is a free and non-binding service unless the user actually submits an application.
This service is in addition to the similar auto-quote function provided by BBCG via the CIGNA individual/small group market segment per our earlier blog entry at http://bocabenefits.com/blog/?p=588.
Both CIGNA and United Healthcare offer individual products as solutions to the “To Age 26” gap many college seniors may face while waiting for eligibility under one of their parent’s health plans.
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CIGNA Individual Plans Now Available Via Auto-Quote Function
In addition to the UnitedHealthOne (f/k/a Golden Rule) individual products auto-quote function from United Healthcare , BBCG now has a similar auto-quote function available for CIGNA products. Just click on the CIGNA logo above to open the quoting window.
Like the UnitedHealthOne products, CIGNA products also address the “To Age 26” issue for graduating college seniors.
This is a free and non-binding process unless an application is actually submitted by the user.
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