Any good employer knows the importance of having a competitive benefits package to offer their employees. As health insurance costs continue to rise, many businesses are rethinking their health insurance plans. There are two primary types of plans to consider— fully-insured plans and self-funded plans, and understanding how both of these health plans work can help your company immensely. So, what’s the difference between a fully-insured and self-insured health plan? Let’s take a look! Fully-Insured Health Plan A fully-insured health plan is the more traditional way to structure an employer-sponsored health plan. As the employer you often feel less of the effects of rising medical
What Qualifies for a Special Enrollment Period
Change can be a scary thing, but it doesn’t have to be! Especially when it comes to health insurance. If you recently had a major life change— like getting married, having a baby, or losing health coverage— you are eligible for a Special Enrollment Period (SEP), allowing you to enroll in health insurance outside the yearly Open Enrollment Period. Doesn’t that sound reassuring? With certain life changes you qualify for a SEP and have up to 60 days following the event to enroll in a health insurance plan. If you miss that window, you have to wait until the next Open Enrollment Period to apply.
How do Health Insurance Provider Networks Work?
A health insurance provider network is a list of doctors, health care providers, and hospitals that are contracted to a specific health insurance plan (PPO, POS, HMO or EPO). In these plans, the insurance company creates an entire list of doctors and facilities from which you have to choose. When you go to the doctor, you want to stay within your provider network to keep medical costs down. Health plans work to ensure that consumers have access to high-quality, effective care. Consumers benefit from peace of mind when receiving in-network care because it assures the provider meets quality care standards and has lower cost sharing and
Understanding the Different Types of Health Plans – PPO, HMO, HDHP, EPO
It’s good to have choices when it comes to health insurance that way you can find one that best suits you as an individual or you and your family. While there are a variety of health plan options to choose from, the most common plan types are an HMO, PPO, HDHP and EPO. Generally speaking, the difference in most health plans includes the size of the plan network, the ability to see specialists, the plan costs and the coverage for out-of-network services. Let’s take a closer look at each plan type to see how they’re alike, how they differ, and how you can choose the
5 Things Large Group Employers Should Consider Before Selecting a Health Insurance Plan
Selecting a health insurance plan for your employees is no easy feat. Depending on the size or demographic of your business, there could be a variety of specific benefits or providers your employees desire from their health insurance plan. It’s important to note that this is not a decision that should be taken lightly. A new survey shows that *56 percent of U.S. adults with employer-sponsored health benefits said that whether or not they like their health coverage is a key factor in deciding to stay at their current job. Furthermore, 46 percent said health insurance was either the deciding factor or a positive influence
How to Select a Health Insurance Plan
When it comes to selecting a health insurance plan, it is certainly not “one size fits all” or even “one size fits most” for that matter. There are a variety of factors to consider such as your age, your career, your family, whether you’re planning to start a family, your medical history, your prescriptions, and more. That’s why we’ve outlined the top things you should consider when selecting a health insurance plan so you can ensure you’re getting a plan fit for your specific needs. Download Our Free Guide On How to Select a Health Insurance Plan Step 1: Determine how you’ll be getting a
5 Things to Consider When Choosing an Insurance Agent
For many businesses, health insurance can be complex, difficult to navigate and tough to understand. There are constant updates because of policy reform that you have to stay on top of. Carriers will often make changes to the benefit plans including what’s covered within the plan and costs associated with it. Lastly, what your employees need or want in a health insurance plan will often change over time. As people age, start families, or have children, their health insurance needs change — as does the importance of getting coverage to protect yourself, your employees, and the ones they love. Working with an insurance agent can
How Employee Sponsored Health Insurance Can Boost Office Morale
Office morale is an extremely important asset to consider when defining a company’s success. It’s important to keep your employees happy so they will not only want to work for you, but they’ll work harder for your business since they truly want it to succeed. In this ever changing economy, more businesses are looking for ways to boost employee morale and increase performance. Employee sponsored health insurance can have a direct impact on company morale. Many employee concerns typically include financial struggles, false sense of security, and health issues that may impact their future. By offering an employee sponsored benefits package, you will help eliminate
Top 3 Reasons Why You Need Health Insurance
There are many reasons or events for why you may want to start looking into purchasing a health insurance plan. Health insurance is a preventative form of coverage in case of an emergency or event in which you may need to seek medical attention. We’ve compiled the top 3 reasons why you may need health insurance. #1: Emergency Room Visits Did you know that there are 129.8 million emergency room visits each year according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. UC San Francisco examined a range of reasons people may need to visit an emergency room and the average out of patient cost ranges anywhere
Health Insurance Rates for 2015 Unknown
With the implementation of the Affordable Care Act, insurers are unsure of how the new rates will impact their bottom line. It is predicted that the rates in 2015 will increase but it is unknown as to how much they will increase by. The increase will depend primarily on the number of people enrolled in the Affordable Care Act and their medical needs. While the 2014 rates are finalized, insurers must submit their rate increase requests to the federal government in late May or early June for 2015. However, this task is challenging to many of the insurers since they don’t understand much of the