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Archive for the ‘Health Plan’

Newest, Hottest HR Trend and its Affordable: Voluntary Benefits

October 19, 2011 By: azjogger Category: Financial, Health Plan, Jobs, Uncategorized

By Jelani Asar

Employees Want Them and More Employers are Offering Them – The  Competition is Heating Up

(Voluntary benefits are insurance products that employees may choose to purchase through their companies at rates that are lower than they could get on their own. A few examples of voluntary benefits are dental, vision, life, disability, supplemental health and cancer insurance. Many employers offer voluntary benefits because they allow companies to provide a more robust benefits package at no cost to them.)

According to benefit trends surveys by MetLife, The Hartford, Colonial Life,  and LIMRA, as well as research executives within companies such as Transamerica,  there are surprising numbers reflecting the building trends in our voluntary  employee benefits market, see here:

  • 5 in 10 employees believe voluntary benefits are “very” or “extremely”  important
  • 7 in 10 employers believe their employees don’t even want voluntary benefits  at all
  • Less than 1 in 10 employees will say they want voluntary benefits when asked  by their employer, yet more than 6 in 10 employees get the voluntary benefits  when offered them by their employer
  • More than 9 in 10 Americans would be forced to change their lifestyle if  they lost a portion of their income for 36 months
  • More than 1 in 2 employees say they are very worried about the gaps in  medical insurance
  • More than 6 in 10 Gen Y, Gen X, younger and older baby boomers understand  they get a better deal, better education, and easier management of their  voluntary coverage as a benefit than individually outside of the workplace

A choice of benefits important for creating loyalty

  • More than 4 in 10 of younger to middle aged employees say a choice of  benefits that meets their need is extremely important for creating loyalty
  • Nearly 1 in 2 HR Managers and Benefits Administrators plan to add voluntary  benefits
  • 1 in 2 employers plan on increasing employees’ health insurance premiums,  deductibles and/or copays
  • Over 99 in 100 employers agree employees need guidance for benefits  decisions
  • 1 in 2 companies with at least 1,000 employees are interested in  transitioning their existing benefits to voluntary benefits
  • More than 1 in 2 US employers offer voluntary benefits right now.

Uncertainty in the economy, shoestring budgets, living paycheck to paycheck,  bankruptcies, foreclosures, and debt problems are causing even voluntary legal  services and voluntary tax services to skyrocket in popularity, with a combined  influence of being offered in over 3 in 10 Fortune 500 companies thus far

How Long Do I Have?

The obviousness of the truth is here – voluntary employee benefits are  leading the trend and the new question is, “How soon before I am losing top  talent to my competitors because of their voluntary benefits?”

Extremely Affordable…Extremely

As Dori Molloy, Regional VP of Transamerica Worksite Marketing and Mike Fish,  VP of The Group Benefits Division of The Hartford Financial Services Group agree  in Voluntary Mandate an advertorial to Employee Benefit News, voluntary employee  benefits are also great because they are affordable and for a small investment  you can have coverage and value far in excess of what you would think its  investment would likely command.

Because in the same way a dollar a day invested in a solid fund in the market  can bring massive long term reward, voluntary benefits are the massive  return-on-investment-product of the benefits market.

With many voluntary benefits, you get access to a group deal, a group rate  that is exclusive to you as an employee, and other people who are not employees  – regardless of their position in life or their connections – do not have access  to! Period.

The deal is equivalent to getting goods at wholesale

Your exclusive deal is basically equivalent getting goods at wholesale rather  than retail, going to Costco and getting huge savings, or clearing the shelves  to take advantage of limited time offers – as many of us are more than eager to  do, aren’t we?

Again, all in all, the voluntary benefit is affordable, exclusive, and may  possibly be one of the best investments you’ve ever made.

Jelani Asar and his team in Income Protection Atlanta are saving your  business taxes, protecting your employees money, and increasing your monthly  cashflows all through our voluntary Georgia health benefits quickly, easily, and incredibly – for  Free! and simply Click here – http://www.IncomeProtectionAtlanta.com

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Jelani_Asar

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/6615153

Drug Abusers and Small Business

August 28, 2011 By: azjogger Category: Health Plan, Management, Workforce

By Susan McCullah

Drug use in the United States is rising at an alarming pace, and this is being felt in no greater place than the small American business.

While substance abuse is a valid concern for businesses of any size, smaller businesses are at a greater risk of drug abusers damaging or completely destroying the company. More drug abusers work there.
As far as American employees go as a whole, about half work at large corporations and the other half work at small business.

 The landscape shifts dramatically when looking at drug users. 90% of drug users work at small businesses. There’s more than one reason for this:

1: Smaller businesses often do not require new employees to undergo drug testing during the hiring process. Drug users have a better chance of ‘slipping through’ to jobs than at a larger corporation.

2: Small businesses often do not have an established drug-free workplace policy.

3. Owners of smaller businesses often have a more personal relationship with their employees than larger business owners. This creates a more difficult and complex situation when dealing with a drug abusing employee. Small business owners are more likely to turn a blind eye to drug abuse and give more ‘second chances’ than owners of larger companies.

The large amount of drug users leaves small businesses extremely vulnerable to high costs of employing drug abusers.

-The ‘dead weight’ costs. Drug users are more likely to miss work, be less productive, and be less focused. While the cost of these actions is difficult to quantify, it can add up to lots of dollars down the drain.

-The ‘lost customer’ costs. An unproductive employee may mishandle customer requests, needs, and complaints, causing disgruntled customers to take their business elsewhere. A small company most likely cannot absorb losing customers as easily nor can attract customers as quickly as a larger company. These losses can greatly impact the bottom line.

-The legal costs. Smaller businesses pockets are not as deep as larger corporations. If an impaired employee causes an accident or injury, the resulting lawsuits, workers comp claims, and property damage could devastate a small business much faster than a large corporation.

-The co-worker costs. Employees of small businesses work closely together, and a drug abusing employee can strangle the productivity. Knowing other employees are abusing drugs can bring down morale. Workers may also have to redo work or cover for a drug abusing co-worker. The top producing employees may become disgruntled by the drug abusers performance to the point that they may leave the company.

Smaller business owners need to be aware of this trend and take steps to protect their company from drug abusing employees.

Step 1: Implement drug screening as part of the pre-employment screening process. A good portion of drug testing is relatively low-cost. This step can bring about a high level of benefit by screening out drug abusers BEFORE they are hired.

Step 2: Check out OSHA’s website. There are lots of free tools and resources available to create a drug free workplace.

Step 3: It’s advisable to have a written plan of how and on what occasions your company screens for drugs, and the actions that will be taken if an employee has drugs in their system. Stay consistent with that plan.

These 3 steps are low cost to the company and a good starting point to minimize a company’s risk and expense of employing drug abusers.

Having a program in place can play a vital role in increasing productivity, minimizing accidents, decreasing theft, and improving safety and attendance. And, for small companies, this can be the difference in thriving or going out of business.

Susan McCullah is the Product Development Director for Data Facts Inc, a 22 year old Memphis based company. Data Facts is a leading nationwide provider of employment screening solutions. http://www.datafacts.com. Follow us on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/dfempscreening.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Susan_McCullah

Coping With Business Stress in Your Daily Life

August 08, 2011 By: azjogger Category: Health Plan, Management, Workforce

By Elizabeth L. Todd

Many start-up business owners have problems with business stress if they struggle with money issues while in the first year after starting a new small business. Is your business not delivering as well as you expect? If that’s a yes, and particularly if the main cause is cash flow difficulties, then you probably pay a great deal of attention to your bank account balance and budget, but what you would possibly not realize is how much being snowed under with balancing the ledgers can impact on your health.

According to a recently released report on business stress the number of small businesses going into some form of insolvency arrangement in the month of April 2011 is the highest April count recorded since 1999. This is a 10% increase over the preceding April and a 23% increase above the mean of the prior 5 years.

Business stress management isn’t to be shrugged off. If you do not take initial signs seriously, it is possible to run the risk of really serious problems including heart disease, migraines as well as a host of different medical problems that will cost you more than your business venture in the long run.

Business Stress Indicators

When it comes to your business forecasting and fiscal management, it’s essential to set as well as attain all your goals. However, if that effort stresses you to the level at which it will become a significant health problem, it just is not worth it. This isn’t to suggest that taking financial responsibility can be a bad thing, but if you are over stretching yourself, it could defeat the most important purpose why you are doing it in the first place – to create a profitable business venture and live a comfortable life-style.

A report from Associated Press and AOL does include the following figures:

  • Ulcers: 27% of people with financial difficulties are affected by ulcers or other digestive system conditions as opposed to just 8% of individuals who have no debt troubles.
  • Migraine: 44% of people with substantial financial stress have experienced migraine headaches or other problems compared to only 15% of those with minimum levels of stress.
  • High Blood Pressure: 33% business people experiencing money issues have problems with high blood pressure levels and / or hypertension in comparison to only 26% of individuals with low or non-existent levels of anxiety from finance concerns.

 Other health concerns experienced at a greater level by most people in financial hardship include anxiousness, depressive disorders, heart attack and sleeping disorders. If you suffer from any one of these health problems, it is the time to stop and get started addressing your business stress

Business Stress Control

If your small business budget is starting to get of the rails or some other business concerns seem to throw up major obstacles, it is time to take action. Business stress may easily arise from various circumstances. Find the root factors and then start to eliminate these items from your enterprise.

Debt: When your unpaid bills are mounting up and you ask yourself how to get out of trouble, begin by searching for professional guidance either by going to a financial advisor or just finding a small business course. I’m aware from practical experience that it may be hard to acknowledge the reality of your money situation, but staying with stress and doubt will never get your business out of the doldrums. The sooner that you start to deal with the matter face to face the more advantageous it’s going to be for your own health as well as the health of your business.

The further you delay taking positive action, the more you could ruin yourself emotionally as well as bodily and the longer that your business can be affected. Remember as to why you are spending such effort to build your organization at all. It surely isn’t so you can keep being stressed over it for a long time.

How to handle Stress

Where a new small business owner is attempting to cope with financial pressure, it is not unusual to feel entirely swallowed up by it even when it is often just one single aspect of the overall scenario. Successfully coping with your small business pressures needs appropriate realization of the demands which have been placed on you and that make your body behave in this way.

Once you are able to do that, try to work out if each of these tasks and your objectives are in fact appropriate and also achievable. Otherwise, re-state and also improve your desired goals to targets that will be more sensible. In the event that your present goals are actually realistic then get an in-depth look at your reason for falling short of your objectives. More regularly than not, handling business stress is really as simple as starting to be more in control of getting on top of the actions that you have established to achieve your goals.

One final and all important point; look for time to relax regularly even when it is just short breathers and don’t neglect to make time for some physical fitness. Physical wellness produces mental health which in turn is really an important element in how to approach stress. Your business is a considerable combination of varying aspects. Do not allow just one particular problem area to dictate all else. Ensure that you set aside at the very least a small part of a day to having fun with the sort of things that get you away from the business venture and that you love working on. Regardless of what that is, a walk in the park, unwinding with a great book or looking at some Show on TV or DVD, it is important to have time to truly appreciate the finer things in your own life and your business.

Developing a profitable new business may be your main aim in your life but if you don’t stop to consider the way in which business stress can impact on your overall health chances are you may well discover yourself to be in a position where you won’t get to benefit from the fruits of your toil. As I’ve mentioned before, enrolling in a good quality small business course may well be the first step in the right direction.

Elizabeth Todd is a small business development coach with several years experience running her own business. She started her career as a business analyst consulting in the banking, finance and IT industry and subsequently moved into the small business arena.

After owning and operating several businesses, she was invited by a business enterprise center to act as their small business mentor. She found that coaching was an extremely satisfying task as it allowed her to provide the practical training that is missing in most other business information platforms. She now likes to use this experience to help other new business owners on their road to success.

For more practical help with new business building options and techniques, go to: http://www.incometriggerblueprint.com/

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Elizabeth_L_Todd

Big Opportunities Behind Online Health Research

February 20, 2011 By: azjogger Category: Health Plan, Marketing, Technology

From: eMarketer
 
80% of online Americans are health info seekers

When the Pew Internet & American Life Project surveys US internet users about the most common online activities, the usual suspects come out on top: Using email and search engines are the most common things people do online. But No. 3 may be more of a surprise—looking for information about health.

That pattern held across every age group. Overall, four in five internet users have researched health info on the web, or 59% of all US adults.

Most online health info seekers were looking to learn about specific health-related topics. About two-thirds searched for info about particular diseases or medical problems, and more than half researched specific treatments or procedures.

It was also very common for health info seekers to be researching on behalf of someone else. According to Pew, nearly half of web users who looked for health info online most recently did so for another person. Seven in 10 health info seekers were currently caring for a loved one.

The key for healthcare and pharma marketers is recognizing that the vast majority of web users are empowered consumers of healthcare. They go online to better understand the medical conditions of themselves and their loved ones, inform themselves about treatments and symptoms, and often to connect with others that have the same issues.

Providing health info seekers with credible information, helping them connect with others, and equipping them with tools and education will gain their trust and hold their interest.

For complete data charts and story, go to e-marketer.com

Health Spending Accounts Help Small Business

November 09, 2010 By: azjogger Category: Financial, Health Plan, Operations

By Michael James Arnold Kelly

Some may have heard of a Health Spending Account or HSA, but few know the absolute benefits to a small business owner.

When you leave employment to venture into your own business, you generally leave behind your ‘benefits’ package and suddenly find yourself with no health-care coverage. There is however, a very simple, very cost-effective and tax-effective solution-the HSA.

Most people are familiar with or have had ‘Group Insurance’ and hence are aware how the programs work. They are however Insurance programs and have limitations, restrictions and high risk of fee increases each year. A ‘typical’ group insurance program can cost a business owner $300-$400 per month for family coverage, and this coverage would have significantly low limits for dental, prescription drugs, hospital stays, etc., and would likely not cover eyeglasses, orthodontics, medical devices, certain therapy etc. Under an HSA, all of these items can be covered at a fraction of the cost, in fact, the savings under an HSA can be quite significant – consider the following example:

Jesse is a small business owner, has a spouse and 2 school – aged children. If their medical/dental expenses were $2000 per year, they would have to pay this with ‘after-tax’ dollars, therefore requiring gross income of approximately $3000 per year. However, only a small portion of the expense on for medical would be allowable as a tax-credit on their personal taxes. (medical expenses must exceed 3% of your taxable income before any is allowed for a tax credit) If they were to obtain group insurance, lets assume they paid $300 per month for coverage. Although some this would be deductible by the business as employee benefits, a portion of the plan would be a taxable benefit to Jesse, and the plan would have restrictions.

Now, let’s assume Jesse sets up an HSA for their family. By having the company contribute $200 per month to the HSA, Jesse would effectively have $2400 per year of ‘tax-free’ money to spend on virtually any medical expenses. The company would gain the benefit of a 100% tax deductible amount of $2400 per year.

As the money ‘belongs’ to Jesse, she may determine what expenses to submit for payment; orthodontics, eyeglasses, physiotherapy, contact lenses, prosthetics… and the list goes on.

There are other great benefits to an HSA as well:
Employee retention products; you can establish an HSA for your employees, setting the contribution amount at whatever you want – all employees do not have to be treated equally. ‘Bonus’ payments may be added to the HSA, incentive prizes etc.

You can add an insurance component to your HSA – if someone experiences a catastrophic event, the insurance will pay when you exceed the value of funds in your HSA.

You can add emergency travel medical to your plan – safeguard for when you are out of the country.

One of the best benefits, completely unlike insurance, because the money is YOURS, you can carry forward any unused values at the end of the year to the next year – you do not lose any of your money.

Setting up an HSA is not difficult
Generally, it only takes a couple of days. There is a small setup charge, however, the tax advantages as well as the health advantages far outweigh this fee.

Continuing with our cover story, lets look at the tax benefits of the HSA program for Jesse:

Assume Jesse earns $50k per year and her spouse earns $45k per year. They have family medical expenses of $3,000 per year.

To cover the ‘after-tax’ cost of $3k, they would have to earn roughly $4,500 before taxes. Then, they would be entitled to a medical expense credit of only $251.62 The ending result, They still expended more than $4,000 of gross income to pay for their $3,000 in medical expenses.

On the other hand – if the company contributed to their HSA, $250 per month, they would be out-of-pocket $0. The company would realize a 100% tax deductible expense of $275 per month. (An HSA is a ‘costplus’ program that carries a 10% administration fee, paid by the company – the employee never has to pay a fee.)

From the company perspective, as they have a tax deductible expense of $3,300 per year, assuming a corporate tax rate of 22%, the corporation saves $726.00, therefore, the actual ‘cost’ to the corporation is only $2,574 to give Jesse the BENEFIT of $3,000 per year in FREE medical costs.

HSA’s are not only for Corporations
A sole-proprietor can also realize an even greater benefit – if their marginal tax rate is greater than 22%. The business receives 100% of the tax deduction, whereas personally, the individual would only be entitled to a small non-refundable tax credit.

CRA, in recent Tax Information Bulletins, completely endorses Health Spending Account Programs, get yours today and give your family the medical peace of mind you deserve, and start saving your hard earned money.

To view more articles by Michael visit his blog – Barrie Bookkeepers Blog

Michael Kelly is President and CEO of Ledgers (Barrie). Michael’s firm provides professional accounting, bookkeeping, tax preparation services and advice for small / medium sized businesses needing to realize their growth potential.

Click here for more information about Ledgers’ bookkeeping services in barrie.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Michael_James_Arnold_Kelly

I am not Happy with my Debt Management Comany–Can I Change to a New One?

June 16, 2010 By: azjogger Category: Health Plan, Workforce

By Steve J. Jackson

When you are trying to resolve a personal debt problem it can be very frustrating if you feel that your debt management company is providing a bad service. We consider what your options are if you find yourself in this situation. Thousands of people start debt solutions each month and most people are very satisfied with the service they receive from their debt management company.

However, if the service you are getting is poor, this can be extremely frustrating. If you find yourself in this situation your options will really depend on the type of solution you are using.

I am in a debt management plan

A debt management plan (DMP) is an informal agreement with your creditors to reduce the amount you repay each month so that this fits into a budget that you can afford.

The most important thing to understand about a debt management plan is that there is no legal contract between you, your creditors or your debt management company. This means that any of the parties can change the agreement at any time.

Often this flexibility can work against you because it means that your creditors can demand that you increase your monthly payments or start charging interest on the outstanding balances without warning.

However, it can also work for you. If you want to increase or decrease your payments or you are getting hassle from your creditors but feel that your debt management company is not responding, there is nothing to stop you moving to another company.

You can simply stop making payments to your old debt management company and start making the payments to one that you feel more comfortable with. There will be no penalties.

I am in an Individual Voluntary Arrangement

An individual voluntary arrangement (IVA) is a formal legally binding agreement.

Once an IVA is in place your creditors make a commitment to you that they will add no further interest or charges to your outstanding balances. They also agree to write off a certain amount of the debt you owe. These are of course significant benefits. However, unfortunately once you are in an IVA, you cannot change your IVA provider.

Even if you are unhappy with the service you are receiving, the only way you can come out of an IVA is if you stop making your monthly payments. However, you must understand that if you simply stop paying your IVA, it is likely to fail.

At best this would mean that you would be back at square one with any remaining unpaid debts still outstanding. But if you are a home owner, your IVA provider could very well then make you bankrupt.

Choosing the right company

The best thing is of course to pick the right company to work with in the first place. Follow the recommendation of a friend if you can. Failing this you need to do plenty of your own research.

The internet is a great place to start looking for the right debt management company. Have a look at the quality of information that they provide and familiarize yourself with the different options available.

Also have a look at some debt management forums where you can ask questions anonymously and judge the quality of the answers you get. Then speak to 2-3 different companies and choose the one that you feel most comfortable with. The bottom line is that if you decide to do a DMP or you are already in one, it is possible to change your debt management company.

If you want to do an IVA however, changing the IVA provider is not possible once the arrangement is in place. As such, making the right decision about which company to work with at the beginning is very important.

Steve Jackson is a debt adviser from BeatMyDebt.com in the UK. For more quality and unbiased information on Debt Management Plans, visit our website at http://www.beatmydebt.com

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Steve_J_Jackson

Wellbeing: What you Need to Thrive

June 04, 2010 By: azjogger Category: Health Plan, Management, Workforce

A new book reveals the essential elements of a life well-lived

By Tom Rath and Jim NHarter, authors of Wellbeing: The Five Essential Elements

“Much of what we think will improve our wellbeing is either misguided or just plain wrong.” So begins the new book Wellbeing: The Five Essential Elements by Tom Rath and Jim Harter, Ph.D.

Rath leads Gallup’s workplace research and leadership consulting practice, and his bestselling books StrengthsFinder 2.0, Strengths Based Leadership, and How Full Is Your Bucket? have sold more than 2 million copies in the United States alone. Harter, Gallup’s chief scientist for workplace management and wellbeing, is coauthor of the bestseller 12: The Elements of Great Managing.

That’s a lot of intellectual firepower. But what could they know about wellbeing that the rest of us, who are intimately aware of our own, have overlooked? For starters, the fact that we overlook too much. As Harter and Rath discovered — through a thorough review of decades of scientific research and a comprehensive global study of more than 150 countries, which gave them insights into the wellbeing of more than 98% of the world’s population — most people don’t know what’s good for them.

For the complete story, go to gallup.com

Intel Wants a Chip Implant in Your Brain

December 18, 2009 By: azjogger Category: Health Plan, Technology, Workforce

From PhysOrg,com

j0438746Intel believes its customers would be willing to have a chip implanted in their brains so they could operate computers without the need for a keyboard or mouse using thoughts alone. The implant could also be used to operate devices such as cell phones, TVs and DVDs.

The chip is being developed at Intel’s laboratory in Pittsburgh, USA. It would sense brain activity using technology based on FMRI (Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging). The brain sensing chips are not yet available, but Intel research scientist Dean Pomerleau thinks they are close.

Pomerleau said that with human beings and machines converging in many ways, people will want to give up the need for an interface such as a keyboard, mouse or remote control and operate the devices using their brain waves. Pomerleau believes that some time within the next decade or so people will be “more committed” to the idea of the brain implants.

Pomerleau said a headset incorporating brain sensing technology to operate a computer is close, and the next step is to develop the tiny brain implant, which would be much less cumbersome for the user.

While it seems unlikely many people would volunteer for the Intel chip implant at present, it could have applications for people who are unable to move, such as quadriplegics.

For complete story go to physOrg.com.