Gov. John Lynch announced a series of regional business outreach sessions designed to directly connect New Hampshire businesses with state leaders and state services. The sessions will give businesses an opportunity to hear from and question state heads about state services. Check the following link for further details on Business Outreach Series.
Caring for food in a power outage!
The U.S. Department of Agriculture recommends taking the following steps during and after weather emergency:
Never taste food to determine if it is safe.
Keep the refrigerator and freezer doors closed as much as possible to maintain the cold temperature.
The refrigerator will keep food safely cold for about 4 hours if it is unopened. A full freezer will hold the temperature approximately 48 hours (24 hours if it is half full) and the door remains closed.
Food can be safely refrozen if it still contains ice crystals or is at 40 degrees F or below.
Get block ice or dry ice to keep your refrigerator and freezer as cold as possible if the power is going to be out for an extended period of time.
Discard refrigerated perishable food such as meat, poultry, fish, soft cheeses, milk, eggs, leftovers, and deli items after 4 hours without power.
Please talk to us about a special endorsement avalaible on a Homeowners Insurance Policy that will cover food spoilage.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Mo_6TnijOw
While it is very important to keep heavy snow off of your roof, please remove it with care and safety in mind. Do not end up like this Santa. Stick with it, the end is instant reply!
Believe it or not, there are vast differences between some health insurance policies. Some insurance companies market themselves as the champion of small business owners or individuals with health insurance policies specifically designed for you or the “self-employed”. The truth is that this is all marketing. These policies can be vastly different than policies available from nationally recognized companies. We talk to clients weekly that are very surprised about the lack of coverage these policies provide. If you have a policy that you were told was designed or tailored for you, please give us a chance to show you the differences. You will be glad you did.
The number one reason to buy Life Insurance is Love! You Love Them! Insure Your Love with Life Insurance!
Health Insurance Reform and Health Care continues to dominate the news out of Washington. It is a topic of conversation no matter who we talk to and no matter where we go. Why is that? I would like to suggest of few of the reasons:
The importance, the cost and the complicated nature of this issue bring it to the fore. All of this prior to the application of the political forces. No matter what direction the political winds end up blowing in Washington in the coming weeks, “REFORM” will not reduce the importance, the cost or the complicated nature of Health Care. Infact, reform may increase them all.
Well it is official, Health First NH will be available for small businesses effective October 1. This is a new Health Insurance Plan designed with small business in mind. The goal is to offer a lower cost alternative to small businesses with less than 50 employees. Anthem BC/BS is the first carrier to outline the specifics to the brokerage community at a seminar 8/6. My office has begun quoting this plan for our clients already.
After reviewing the details and beginning to quote the plan for my small business clients, it appears that thwill be attractive to some small business owners. The plan has several attractive features as well as some major differences in coverage when compared to the plans currently available. The plan offers an attractive deductible credit feature that is available when insureds participate in certain wellness programs. However, the plan does have relatively high deductibles and a limited generic-based pharmacy benefit. Lastly, it is not a qualified high deductible health plan that meets the requirements necessary to make Health Savings Account contributions.
My office is ready to discuss this plan in detail with any small business owner. We routinely help business owners compare available plans and costs with the use of a spreadsheet and personal advice. We represent all major insurance carriers in NH.
You may have all seen the headlines recently in the papers.
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Gov. Lynch Announces Small Business Will Be Able to Access Lower Cost Health Insurance Beginning Oct. 1.
On July 8th, Governor Lynch held a press conference in order to announce lower health insurance premium costs for small business. At the press conference, the Governor stated that Anthem has received approval from the NH Insurance Department to move forward with a plan design which meets the requirements of NH Health First. You may recall that Health First requires the base rate of any premium to be 10% of the statewide median wage.
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Needless to say, my phone has been ringing off the hook. I have been watching the legislation for 2 years. In the near future, I will be attending meetings at Anthem BC/BS that will educate the brokers on this new program. While the headlines gain exposure and excitement, the details are critical. For some of you, this may be a great option for your health insurance dollars, for others not so. For example, I have learned that it is not a “qualified high deductible health plan” for Health Savings Accounts.
George
One of the largest factors in the cause of rising health care (and therefore health insurance) is the Medicare Cost Shifting. It is the 800 pound gorilla in the room. During the budgetary process in Washington, the Congress and the President cut Medicare spending by reducing Medicare reimbursement rates. These are the fees paid to Doctors and Hospitals. When a Medicare patient pays a visit to their physician, the federal government pays that bill. The problem is that when the government continuously reduces the amount of the fee the doctor will receive, the doctor must recover that fee elsewhere. Providers do that by raising fees on other privately insured, or uninsured patients. Due to this issue, the number of providers that accept the “Medicare Assignment” is getting smaller every day since providers cannot cover their costs with the Medicare system. (By the way – the State Medicaid system works in a similar fashion. This is the health insurance program for the poor.)
Of course this is only one factor in a problem that continues to get worse. The point is that Medicare is a government program that is broken and full of politcal obstacles. When the government cuts that spending, we all pay for it in terms of higher health care costs and therefore insurance costs. A HIDDEN TAX. Politicians need to admit that this is a huge factor in the rising cost of care rather, than blaming Doctors and Insurance Companies alone.
The Federal System is broken, yet Washington seems to be headed in the direction of “reforming health care” by providing a Medicare like system or option. Is this the model we want for “health care reform”? Or do we want to improve a a private system that provides the best health care in the world?
The privately funded sytem can be reformed and reduce overall costs with a series of systemic and regulatory changes, without reducing the freedom we currently have to choose our own coverage, our own course of treatment and our own doctors.
Reduce you health insurance costs with the use of a concept called a Health Savings Account – HSA. This concept has two components. Component #1 is a traditional health insurance policy with a high deductible. The premium for this type of policy is lower than an HMO for example. Component #2 is an actual savings account (HSA) with huge tax advantages. BETTER THAN AN IRA!!!!!! Tax free growth. Want to know more????
