by Andrea

Professional Liability insurance, also referred to as Errors and Omissions insurance or E&O , is an insurance to guard or to look after you and your company in the event that a client claims they have suffered a financial loss or defeat. This is a result of an error or an omission committed by the workers in the delivery of professional services. This coverage is separate from a General Liability (GL) guiding principle which would cover mainly the  injured party or if there’s property damage liability. The General Liability coverage on a business insurance policy also meets your landlord’s requirement whenever you carry business premises liability insurance.

In April 2006, the headlines on Boston’s Beacon Hill read like this:

“Massachusetts Plan Gives All Residents Access to Health Insurance.”

“Lower-Income Residents Will Receive Premium Subsidies.”

“Employers, Individuals Face Levies If They Lack Coverage.”

In the coming years, bigger news for workers nationwide will be heard, if their states adopt reforms similar to those passed by the Massachusetts legislature and signed by former Governor Mitt Romney, prompting headlines that might read: “With Health Insurance a Given, Workers Feel Freer to Change Employers.”

Reforms should be pushed.

by Andrea

Firms with in excess of  200 employees has to provide health coverage plans for their  workers and their families as dictated by law. Meanwhile, employers with 20 to 49 workers alone would be exempted from this proposition not until directions were given as soon as possible. The amount would need employers to pay at least eighty percent of the cost, leaving the workers to pay the remaining twenty percent. Contributions for low-income workers, however, will require for a five percent deduction from their pay. Businesses and restaurants called this a hard hitting measure and if this will be the law’s new policy, a lot of firms would go under or lay off some workers.

by Andrea

The law dictates that you still have rights for retirement protections and health benefits even if you lose your job or you plan to retire. If your company had provided you with a group health plan, you are still entitled to use the benefits but for a certain period of time only. Eventually, when you find a new employer, you may have fewer barriers to health care coverage. And with a change in employment, you should understand that somehow your retirement benefits are affected. As long as you know your rights, you can protect yourself and your family and can resume to work again.

Employees and other workers stand to lose a lot of their medical benefits should plans by many companies to trim down on contributions continue by the end of this year. It might seem like a long way off but with many more jobs forecast to be shed from the already dwindling workforce, these types of news are not good indeed. Companies have been trimming down workers to save on labor costs but with all economic signs pointing opposite of the well anticipated recovery, this taxes more on their profit levels often calling for drastic measures such as these.
Such a move would increase stress in the workforce for even in you have a job and employer sponsored health care, it might not still be enough for your needs. Statistics show that employees who are under 50 have in the past two years had to go without proper health care for at least two instances showing the strain the health care system is taking. Proposals coming out of the new administration are good but with the economy still on a slide, it may take a long time for the whole economy to recover.

Health Savings Accounts (HSA) is a special type of savings account that allows you to deposit part of your pre-tax income and use it in the future for medical, long term care, and/or retirement expenses. You can only get an HSA if you also have qualified high-deductible health coverage. The deductible must be at least $1050/year for individuals, or $2100 for families. They are designed to reduce healthcare insurance costs for employers and employees. HSA savings are owned by the individual, you keep the accounts no matter where – or if – you work. They also roll over from year to year, so you can accumulate savings over time. Some HSAs accumulate interest and dividends that are tax-free or tax-deferred. The money in these accounts can be used towards all kinds of medical expenses, including those not covered by your high-deductible health plan, such as dental care or over-the-counter medication.

Even though the cost of coverage of health insurance by employers is only 6.1%, still the percentage of U.S. small businesses who cover their employees with health insurance coninue to decline this year. This is according to an annual survey conducted by Mercer, a global consulting firm for a sample of 3,000 employers who participated in the survey.

Only 61% of employers with less than 200 employees offered health coverage this year. In 2006, it was 63%, in 2002, 66% of small employers provided health insurance.

This is the third year in a row of moderate increases in health insurance costs, that followed years of double-digit percentage increases. Costs in 2008 are expected to grow even less, but it is expected that they will remain twice as high as the inflation rate.

Both large and small employers who offer health insurance have shifted more of the cost to their employees through higher deductibles.

Large employers in particular are using health management programs as a way to control costs, Mercer found.

Growth in consumer-directed health plans (CDHPs), which cost less than other types of health insurance, also helped curb overall health costs, according to Mercer. The percentage of covered employees enrolled in either a health savings account (HSA) or a health reimbursement account (HRA) rose from 3 percent in 2006 to 5 percent this year.

“As employees shift from more expensive plans into less expensive ones, employers’ overall cost per employee drops,” said Blaine Bos, a Mercer partner.

Consumer-directed health plans, which feature high deductibles and individual spending accounts, are most common among large employers, which typically offer them as one of several options for medical coverage.

More than 60 percent of large employers with an HSA plan said employees reacted positively to it. Average enrollment in HSAs or HRAs at large employers that offered them for at least three years has increased from 21 percent in 2005 to 29 percent in 2007, according to Mercer.

“With these encouraging results, it might seem surprising that employers aren’t moving faster to adopt CDHPs,” Bos said.

“But they worry such a big change in such an important benefit could hurt attraction and retention. So even when they do add a CDHP, most make it an option, which dilutes potential savings.”

Mercer also asked employers what they think about health care reform proposals. Only 23 percent support requiring employers to either offer health insurance or pay into a fund to provide coverage to the uninsured. The same percentage supported requiring all individuals to buy insurance.

“You might expect more employer health plan sponsors to favor individual mandates, which could relieve existing employer plans of cost shifting from the uninsured,” Bos said. “It may be that employers — or at least the individuals responding to the survey — are simply distrustful of any kind of government-imposed mandate.”

Democratic presidential candidate Dennis Kucinich, a House member from Ohio, said the decline in small business coverage demonstrates the need for national health insurance, or “Medicare for All.”

“Small businesses are no longer willing to bear the burden of the cost of keeping the health insurance industry profitable,” he said. “It’s time for America to join with the rest of the industrialized nations of the world in guaranteeing health care for its people.”

Source: bizjournals.com

by Andrea

Recent studies shows, that there is a rapid increase to the number of working men who are not covered by any health care insurance. It’s either their employers don’t offer this benefit or assistance otherwise some would just think that it is not a necessity. High rates of uninsured workers are related to financial instability in getting a health care provider. The rise in the cost of providing health benefits comparative to earnings has led to a drop in the proportion of employers offering health benefits as well as a regression in the percentage of workers who are qualified to participate.

by Andrea

HIPAA or  the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996  propose safety and protection  for people who lose their jobs and their health coverage. Moreover when you find a new employment that offers health benefits, HIPAA will permit you to sign up in the plan with fewer restrictions.

 

*Provides extra or supplementary opportunities to join in a group health plan if you lose the other coverage or experience certain life events;

 *Forbids prejudice against employees and their dependents based on their health factors which includes pre-existing medical conditions, previous claims experience, and genetic information; and

*Assurance that certain individuals will have the right to use, renew, individual health insurance policies.