Consumer Directed Health Plans
Most of you have heard about "consumer directed health plans". The Bush administration has been a strong supporter of this concept as a way to get a handle on soaring healthcare costs. The recent inaugeration of Mr. Bush signals that consumer directed health plans will increasingly make up a larger percentage of group medical plans over the next several years. In the past, consumer directed plan designs have taken on many forms: Medical Savings Accounts (MSAs), Flexible Spending Accounts (FSAs), Health Reimbursement Arrangements (HRAs) and Health Savings Accounts (HSAs).Many experts consider HRAs and HSAs to be the first generation of viable consumer directed health care products.
HRAs are typically paired with a high-deductible health plan and are employer-funded Section 105 defined contribution plans. HSAs are the latest version of consumer directed health care plans. The core components of HSAs include a high deductible insurance product and a cash spending account. HSAs combine the pre-tax treatment of a FSA, the portability and roll-over characteristics of a 401(k), and the tax-free distributions of a Roth IRA.One of the main goals of any consumer directed health plan should be to get the consumer more involved in both the cost and statistical outcomes of certain healthcare procedures. Informed healthcare consumers will make wise healthcare decisions and typically these decisions will result in both lower costs and improved quality.Although the advantages of HRAs and HSAs can be substantial, employers will want to do their homework prior to setting them up.
Effective implementation will require a clear understanding of the consumer directed healthcare plan that best fits your organization as well as the administrative requirements. Employee education will be essential. Companies will also need to look into how the creation of a HSA or HRA may affect their HIPAA medical privacy compliance requirements.Just like most endeavors, the successful implementation of a HSA or HRA will greatly depend on how much research your organization does on the pro's and con's of each alternative. The type of consumer directed health plan that best fits your company will depend on a combination of your corporate structure as well as the overall objectives of your group health insurance plan.Although consumer directed healthcare plans are becoming very familiar to human resource managers and other benefit professionals, remember that your employees and their dependents will need a substantial amount of education and communication..
Michael Ertel is the founder of http://www.MedicalInsuranceNow.com which is a website that assists individuals and small business owners by providing side by side comparisons of health insurance alternatives.MErtel@medicalinsurancenow.comHow to Reduce Car Insurance Premiums
Here are some useful tips on how to reduce car insurance premiums. Firstly, you need to find a sense of balance between coverage and cost. Apart from negotiating a good deal, there are some other things that you can do to further bring down your car insurance premium for example; Many insurers average yearly mileage at 12,000 miles. If you do not drive this amount, you can inform your insurer, thus resulting in a reduction in your premium. Park the car - Parking your car in a secure location such as a locked garage or a secure designated off road parking spot can potentially reduce your premiums.
Bulk buying - Most of the big insurance companies offer all forms of insurance such as home, life etc. You may receive a discount for buying multiple forms of insurance with the same company. Female drivers are statistically less prone to accidents. Women can avail their quotes from a firm that specialises in covering female drivers. Anti-theft alarm - Equip your car with electronic central...
How to Reduce Car Insurance Premiums
Life insurance > How to Reduce Car Insurance Premiums
Survey Seeks Answers On How Healthcare Insurance is Purchased, Used
(ContentDesk) March 18, 2006 -- The nations pre-occupation with healthcare premium costs and plan usage has sparked a rising interest in just how individuals purchase and use their policies.At the same time, Health Savings Accounts (HSAs) and Health Reimbursement Accounts (HRAs) are growing as a tool of management to reduce their healthcare costs.
The end result is that many firms are shifting more and more of the burden to employees.To determine just how individuals and families are coping with these changing trends, Information Strategies, Inc. (ISI) is conducting a nationwide survey of healthcare insurance purchasing and usage.ISI invites confidential participation by readers at http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.asp?u=530371850698
The results will be published in a series of online monographs available to families, healthcare providers and others concerned about the healthcare system and...
Life insurance > Survey Seeks Answers On How Healthcare Insurance is Purchased, Used
How To Be Your Doctors Favorite Patient
First of all, let me explain something in case you don't already know. The more your doctor and his staff like you, the better service you will receive. It's just a plain fact and human nature. Most doctors are swamped with patients and have to make choices when appointing patients to their schedule. So how do you get the only appointment left on next Tuesday, you day off?
Asking for an appointment: Make or break the relationship.
Depending upon how large the practice is, there is probably one person designated to make appointments and is most likely a woman or young adult.
This position is one of the lowest paid in the practice, so keep that in mind when talking to them and boost their ego at every chance.
? Don't tell them you have to get in this week because you are going on a cruise or exotic trip next week and just have to be seen now. This will not induce sympathy with a person financially incapable of affording such luxury. Just say...
Life insurance > How To Be Your Doctors Favorite Patient
Retirement Calculator and Retirement Services Customization Now Fully Enabled by Microsoft’s Developer Platform.
San Francisco, California (ContentDesk) May 8, 2006 --
Retirement planning website NewRetirement.com today announced complete implementation of its suite of retirement calculators and services using Microsofts .Net Framework 2.0, SQL Server 2005 and Visual Studio 2005.
Using the developer platforms standard ASP.Net 2.0 features, like Membership and Profiles, NewRetirement offers a customized user experience.
Microsofts developer platform enabled NewRetirement to deploy rapidly the websites visitor personalization features.
These features give users the ability to evaluate their need for products, such as a reverse mortgage or
Retirement Calculator and Retirement Services Customization Now Fully Enabled by Microsoft’s Developer Platform.
Life insurance > Retirement Calculator and Retirement Services Customization Now Fully Enabled by Microsoft’s Developer Platform.
Need Some Spice In Your Life?
(ContentDesk) December 30 2003--Join me to for a ride to Congo, Africa, where the deep rivers rush to the ocean through jungles of darkness. Visit a place where nothing works and everything is possible.Come to a land where nothing is ever certain.
Where life is primitive, but has a taste.
And feel the Good and the Evil unified.Explore with me a sinister, glamorous world of passionate love, courage, scrupulous corruption and witchcraft. You will find out, in which pocket your gasoline pump money will end up.You will find out, what it costs the world to fill your SUV.?Jungle Fever ? Congo Years 1994-1999' Available now with all major booksellers, such as Amazon, B&N, and Wal-Mart.
Life insurance > Need Some Spice In Your Life?
ATTENTION! Radio,TV & Movie Producers
This story is about an American soldier and the tragedies he suffered in his life, and how he was able to over come them when a stranger who seemed to appear out of no where, enters his life and offers help at just the very moment he needed help the most. From this soldiers first ride as a hobo, where he meets up with someone whom he later admits was his Guardian Angel, until his final ride on "The Last Train Home," as he lay dying beside some railroad tracks, you will be there also as you relive his past. He tells the story of the past 30 years of his life to a stranger. The stranger makes a promise to the dying man to try and find the family he left 30 years earlier, and return a gold locket to the old man's wife she gave to him on the day he left to go to Vietnam.Website www.wayne1.com.
ATTENTION! Radio,TV & Movie Producers
Life insurance > ATTENTION! Radio,TV & Movie Producers
Top 10 Ways to Cut Spending
Do you run out of money before you run out of month?
Do you wonder where your money goes each month?
Do you struggle to find money to invest for retirement, emergencies and other financial goals?
Here are 10 tips to cut your spending and stretch your dollar to the max:
1.
Consider dropping your home telephone line.
Your cell phone is probably all you really need, and most likely it has free long distance.
You could save $30 or more per month by dropping your "land line".
2.
Cut back on trips to Starbucks or other premium coffee shops.
Often called the "latte factor", spending several dollars per day on luxuries like premium coffee can really add up.
For example, if you spend $4 for a cappuccino five times a week for 50 weeks out of the year (you're on vacation the other two weeks), you would spend $1,000 in a year.
Try treating your trip to Starbucks as a treat...
Life insurance > Top 10 Ways to Cut Spending
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