The process of selecting California group health insurance coverage for your employees can be a very daunting task. Insurance by nature tends to be very confusing, convoluted, and down right frustrating. With today’s marketplace, and the present state of the economy, it has never been more important to offer proper benefits to both retain and attract employees.
The easiest way to begin the process of choosing the right CA group health insurance plan is to gain a firm understanding of the three most important components of insurance: benefits, providers, and price.
Benefits
Benefits can vary a great deal for group medical insurance in California. You can narrow down your options a great deal by first deciding how much coverage you want to provide to your employees. Determine what absolutely needs to be covered (preventative care, maternity care, routine screenings, etc.), and what other services could be covered (vision care, dental care, prescription drug coverage, etc.). Once you have set your basic guidelines, you will then need to consider the benefit package details. The most common options include: a comprehensive plan that covers everything except for a patient co-pay, which can range from $5 to $20 per office visit; a plan that utilizes an “out of pocket maximum” per employee, which means each employee or person covered on the plan has to pay out of pocket a certain amount before the insurance picks up coverage; a hospital co-insurance plan, which can range from one hundred percent to eighty percent coverage for most services; or a plan that covers basic medical care and offers a prescription co-pay plan for generic and most brand named drugs.
Providers
This is often the step where things get complicated. You should always try to choose a plan that includes the doctors that you and your employees want, and one that offers a large provider network. Having CA group medical insurance does not do anyone any good if they cannot keep their primary care physician, or if the network doctors are inconvenient and out of the employee’s area of residence.
Price
Price is always a major factor when choosing a group health insurance plan. While everyone wants the cheapest plan with most benefits, it is not always best to choose a plan simply because of a low cost. Take a bit of time and compare each plan; how do the plans compare to each other on a monthly cost basis? Are you sacrificing employee coverage and care just so you can save a few pennies? This certainly does not have to be the case. There are several ways you can lower the cost to you and your business, but still offer high quality health insurance to your employees. Consider these plan options: Stand Along Plans, Mix and Match Plans, Employee Buy Up Options, and Carve Out Plans.
Stand along plans allow you to offer more than one option to your employees so they can choose the plan that is right for their specific needs. For example, you may offer both a Health Net HMO plan and a Blue Cross Blue Shield PPO plan. The two plans would then “stand along” each other, and allow for the two options to “wrap around” coverage. This type of plan usually has minimum requirements.
Mix and match plans, sometimes referred to as an employee elect plan, offer more than one type of plan through a single insurance company. For example, one insurance provider may allow a group to purchase both their HMO and PPO plans. The company may supply employees with the less expensive HMO plan and give the employees the option of “buying up” (also known as an employee buy up option) to the more expensive PPO plan.
Carve out plans supply group health coverage only to certain types of employees (general workforce, managers, salaried employees, etc.). This option still allows companies to get the benefits of a group plan, but only incur the expense for covering a few of their employees. Businesses usually take on this type of plan to save money. CA group health insurance companies allow this practice, but with some limitations such as not guaranteeing that such a plan will be accepted by the company. California law allows insurance companies to decline coverage for carve-outs in order to protect the insurance companies from having to provide benefits only the sick people within a group. If the people you want to “carve out” to insure in your company are relatively healthy, this option could be a good strategy. It would provide some employees with health insurance yet keep the company’s total expenses to a minimum.
Selecting California group health insurance for your employees is not a process that should be rushed. Talk to your employees, study your bottom line, and take your time to ensure you make the best choice possible for you and your company.
There is no question about it; health insurance can be a very hefty expense. This is especially true for families, as children usually need medical assistance and attention more often than adults. However, this doesn’t have to be a huge cost. In today’s economy, we need to be assured that we can receive medical services when we need them, rather than going without and suffering because we cannot afford it.
There is an inexpensive option available that can benefit both individuals and families. Many people are finding that a Health Savings Account is the most economical decision.
What is an HSA?
Basically, it is a personal savings account that allows you to make tax free deposits. This money can be used to pay for eligible future medical, dental, or vision care. Health Savings Accounts were designed to reduce the growth of health care costs while at the same time, increasing the efficiency of the health care system.
You must have a high-deductible health plan in order to qualify for an HSA. A popular option is Shield Savings. This is a plan offered by Blue Shield that is comparable to an HSA. This plan has higher deductibles but lower premiums, so that it is very affordable. With this plan, you have access to a large number of medical networks.
What are the benefits of an HSA?
There are many advantages to opening an HSA.
- You have the flexibility of choosing where you spend the money. You can pay medical, dental, or vision care expenses, or you can opt to save the money for future uses.
- It offers you peace of mind. You know that the money is there if you need to use it.
- You have control over the account. You decide how much you want to deposit, where the account is held, and how you want to use it.
- These deposits are tax-deductible.
- If the money is not used, it rolls over and you accumulate interest.
- You own the account, so even if you cancel your services, you keep the money that you have deposited.
Who would benefit from an HSA?
An HSA can be advantageous to pretty much anyone. If you make the maximum contributions to your HSA every year you will more than likely have the money right on hand to pay all your hospital bills in the case of a serious emergency. Example: If your out-of-pocket expense on your HSA high deductible health plan is $4000, you simply pay the $4000 of the hospital bills out of your HSA and your insurance company covers the rest of the bills at 100% for the rest of the year.
The best is all the HSA money you use to pay claims is tax advantage!
What can an HSA be used to cover?
An HSA can be used to cover costs that would not normally be covered by a health insurance plan. These coverages include:
- Non-prescription medications, such as cough medicine and aspirin.
- Maternity expenses.
- Long term care expenses.
- Transportation and lodging expenses associated with medical reasons. For example, if you have to travel to another city to obtain medical treatments, you will be covered for hotel stays.
- Chiropractor services, or message therapy.
- Alternative medical services such as acupuncture, homeopathy, or aromatherapy.
- Services of a psychiatrist or psychologist.
- Preventative health services such as vaccines, lab tests, or prescribed vitamins.
- Services for handicapped individuals such as wheelchairs and guide dogs.
HSAs encourage people to stay healthy. If an individual – or family – doesn’t spend money on healthcare services, then this money can be used for savings or investments. Smaller medial expenses can be paid out of pocket and this account doesn’t even have to be touched unless absolutely necessary.
Lets face it, life can take unexpected turns and bring many surprises. With the economy showing little sign of rebound Americans are finding themselves in survival mode. People throughout California are still losing jobs, and along with it, their health insurance benefits.
If the economy has claimed your job, more than likely you’ve elected your COBRA insurance benefits. COBRA however tends to be unaffordable for the average individual or family. When the COBRA subsidy comes to an end on December 31st 2009, many of us are going to be looking for other temporary coverage options until we can get benefits through another employer. For the Californian unable to afford the premium that comes along with their COBRA insurance, temporary health coverage may be the best option for you.
California temporary health insurance is great for any individual or family looking for affordable coverage immediately. It provides good catastrophic protection and a piece of mind if you are worried about out-of-pocket expenses from catastrophic claims. Temporary insurance can be effective the next business day or sometimes the same day if you apply in the morning. This usually gives the underwriter sufficient time to review your application to determine if you are insurable.
Here in California there are 3 major health insurance companies that offer temporary coverage. Anthem Blue Cross of California, Health Net, and Assurant Health are excellent insurance companies but the Assurant Health plans are by far the most comprehensive in benefits. These plans have far better prescription benefits, 100% optional co-insurance after deductible and lower out-of-pocket expenses. At the same time you should expect to pay a higher monthly premium for such a plan, but if you want the best temporary health plan money can buy, please take a look at the Assurant Health products. On the other hand, if you happen to be on a budget and would like the cheapest monthly premium possible, Anthem Blue Cross of California or Health Net would work just fine for you. Whatever choice you decide, all plans provide great catastrophic coverage!
Determining the best option for you is what we do best here at J.C. Lewis Insurance Services. If you prefer to do your own research then please visit our California short term health insurance page to get quotes, view plan benefits and apply online. Do you prefer speaking to a live person? No problem. Pick up the phone and call us at 866-745-9555. A few minutes with one of our licensed Agents and we can get you up and running in no time!
