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Tuesday, June 30, 2009

Travel Insurance for those on the go or vacationing!

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Medical Insurance for people traveling outside their Home Country,Perfect for trips between 15 days and 3 years. Immediate coverage is available once you are satisfied with the quotation. Print your ID Card immediately!
The plan is underwritten by Virginia Surety Company, Inc., a U.S. insurance company rated A+ "Superior" by AM Best.



Protect your tickets, your luggage and your health worldwide,Why round trip? So you'll be prepared. Who knows what could happen during a trip abroad – or before you even depart. Benefits include: Trip Cancellation; Interruption/Delay; Medical Transportation; Lost or Stolen Baggage; Missed Connection; Assistance Services.



Permanent health insurance coverage for non-U.S. residents, while in the U.S.A.,Providing comprehensive health insurance for persons residing outside of the United States, RESIDE Prime provides benefits to non-U.S. residents.

Control Blood Pressure with Music? Experts Say Yes

Music may be food for the soul, but Italian researchers say it also is good therapy for controlling blood pressure in heart and stroke patients.

Learn More by clicking on the link in the title: Control Blood Pressure with Music?

Friday, June 19, 2009

Do you know what to do when hiring your first employee to letting your first employee go?

Most small employers have little experience with the ins and outs of employees. What do you do first; I suggest a good HR program where there is no HR department to manage the day to day issues in managing employees.

A good HR program has the necessary resources to help you with;

1. Guidelines to conduct an interview
2. Employee Application
3. Employee Evaluation
4. IRS forms required to obtain a Tax ID number
5. State Guidelines and forms for taxes and insurance
6. Employee Handbook
7. State and Local laws
8. Maintain employee files
9. Employee termination and layoff, i.e., guidelines, forms, notification

When you will be hiring it will be necessary to have a payroll system in place to manage the necessary book work, form and checks required to pay an employee;

1. Payroll programs like bank systems and quicken
2. Payroll services
3. PEO (employee leasing)

Consider Benefit programs which will help you hire and retain employees. Part of you operational budget for employee cost like salary, bonus, benefits are important considerations. You can create a modest budget with the right plans and consultant.

1. Health, Dental, Vision and Life benefits
2. Pension Plans
3. Health Management and Education programs
4. Vacation and Sick leave

Resources are easy to obtain so that you can maintain the best employee management programs. Many small business employers do not always consider the many issues regarding employees and due to the constraints of managing a business it can be challenging.

While you can do the research by using the Federal Tax and Labor sites along with local State sites it is much easier to have all the information in one place.

A good online system such as our value added HR ANSERLINK program is free to clients when using one of our benefit programs or ABC Payroll our Payroll Affiliate.










































Thursday, June 18, 2009

Health Insurance



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Individual and Family Health Plans Shop Online for an affordable Individual & Family HMO or PPO plan. All Major Companies represented.Short-Term Plans - Up to 12 Months of Temporary Coverage. Between Jobs, Temporary Employment & Students.
Medicare Supplements - Click for rates if you are 65+


Dental InsuranceGet Rates for individual and family dental plans. Rates, Benefits and Applications online...


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Health care reform impacts dental benefits


Delta Dental educates Americans
The importance of considering how health care reform might impact dental benefits is the focus of the national Delta Dental Plans Association and located. They are helping to educate the public, regulators, lawmakers and policymakers about how oral health might be helped or hindered under new health care proposals put forward by Congress. The web site includes information about:


· The effects of poor oral health
· The connection between oral and overall health
· The significant differences between medical and dental benefits
· The importance of preventive dental treatment
· Implications of the potential new taxes on those who currently enjoy employer-sponsored dental benefits.


“Delta Dental is committed to including wider access to affordable dental care in overall health care reform,” says Gary D. Radine, president and CEO of Delta Dental of California, Pennsylvania and affiliated companies. “Given how important we know dental benefits are for promoting overall health, it is critical to preserve the deductibility of dental benefits for employers and individuals who purchase them,” says Radine.


Contact us for additional information;




800-334-7875

Largest nationwide dentist network


Delta Dental provides more access and cost-saving opportunities


Delta Dental maintains the largest network of dentists in the nation, a position we have held for more than five decades. A new report by NetMinder shows that our Delta Dental Premier® network has more than 128,500 dentists – 61,000 more dentists than our closest national competitor.


“Having the largest network of dentists in the nation is tremendously important because it offers more cost-saving opportunities to clients and enrollees through our fee agreements with network dentists. It also fulfills our commitment to promoting good oral health by creating greater access to affordable dental care,” says Gary Radine, president and CEO of Delta Dental of California, Pennsylvania and affiliated companies.


Delta Dental Premier® network
128,500 dentists

198,000 dentist locations
Delta Dental PPOSM network
68,000 dentists

120,000 dentist locations
DeltaCare® USA network
22,000 dentist locations


Statistics from Delta Dental Plans Association Network Analysis Quarterly Reports, March 2009.

Tuesday, June 16, 2009

California Health Insurance - Google Docs

Individual and Family Health Plans Shop Online for an affordable Individual & Family HMO or PPO plan. All Major Companies represented.

Thursday, June 11, 2009

Spot Trends in Business and Adapt!

Your business needs to be able to adapt and evolve with the ever-changing times, which means as a business owner, you need to be tuned in to what’s coming down the pipeline in your industry.

How can you spot the latest trends in your industry?

Listen – It might seem like a no-brainer, but listening is something business owners don’t do enough of. Ask your customers for feedback on your products and services and find out from them directly what they’re looking for next.

Pay attention – Read up on trade publications for your industry and any related industries that might impact/benefit your business, i.e. fashion, music, technology. Even makes a habit of reading about the industries that have nothing to do with his business.


Follow trends online – Trend-hunting Web (google it-Small Business Trends) can help to keep you in the know by serving up the daily trends. Social networks and chat rooms can also be a good source for discussion. When you see some common themes coming up in discussions, this is a clear indication of a new trend on the verge of breaking.


Trust your gut – When you dabble in an industry long enough, you start to develop an intuition for what to expect next. If you suspect something new might be on the rise, you’re probably right.

International Trend in Pension Plans


Excerpt: "Unless people prepare for it properly in advance, a perfect storm of demographic and financial trends could derail people's retirement plans, a global survey from HSBC Insurance finds. In its fifth annual Future of Retirement study, HSBC's It's Time to Prepare finds 9% of the 15,000 people it surveyed in 15 countries expect to delay their retirement because of the economic downturn and only 19% intend to retire as they had previously planned. Many are doing the opposite of what they should be doing: 17% are reducing retirement savings or have stopped saving for retirement altogether." (The National Post Company)


What should your strategy be for the long run so you do not allow the market to win, and keep you in the game? Dollar cost averaging has been the saving value for most people since it is simple and it works.


The market historically has highs and lows so that a $1 today buys a share of stock, while a $1 tomorrow can buy 2 shares or ½ a share. If you follow this strategy you gain market momentum which produces an upward trend line the same as when you look at the market over 10, 20 or 50 years.


The other consideration is determining your risk tolerance, changing that tolerance over time as you age to a more conservative position from a more aggressive position when you are younger.
If you study this strategy you will be certain of its success and less tempted to allow the market to dictate your be in or out of the market depending the markets ups and downs.

How can your company maintain benefits and reduce cost?

In these difficult economic time I am often asked how can I maintain benefits and reduce costs. While there is no easy answer, there are some way in which an employer may approach these issues. The following are some highlighted ideas to consider.


  1. Create a fixed budget for benefits within the scope of the companies ability to maintain costs. Develop a multiple plan offering for benefits; ie., HMO, PPO, HSA etc. from which employees can choose a plan which will best meet theirs and their family needs considering personal budget for benefits. Offer a Sec. 125 employee tax savings plan to help reduce the cost which are paid by the employee.

  2. Offer ancillary benefits which the employee can choose from and as above pay with tax benefited dollars on a voluntary basis. This may include; life insurance, dental insurance, supplemental accident policies, disability and long term care policies.

  3. Utilize an HRA self funded program with fixed risks to company expenses for claims and benefits, and combine with the above suggestions.

  4. Consider a combination HRA and HSA plan.

  5. Offer an HSA plan where some of the savings is funded by the company from premium savings.

  6. Initiate health and welfare programs for physical fitness, weight loss, smoking, diabetes and other programs. It has been proven that these programs provide for healthier employees, better work attendance, more productivity on the job, lower ultimate health cost and absenteeism.

We are available to consult with you about these and other programs which will benefit employees and employers.


info@amsinsure.com


800-334-7875

Friday, June 05, 2009

How can your company make the Best Employer list in your area.

Here is how one company made the Bay area list of best employer for the second year.

We are thrilled to be on the list for our second year in a row," said John Sensiba, Managing Partner of Ireland San Filippo. "While it's rewarding to make it on the list, even more important are the tangible changes we're able to make based on the survey's employee feedback. Particularly in today's economic climate, we are consistently challenging ourselves to be a role model in our industry and are actively improving what has already been established and recognized as a great working environment. Our goal is to not just be a 'best place to work' company, but to be the 'best place to work.'"

Over the three years that ISF has participated in the Best Places to Work Survey, the firm has utilized survey feedback to build upon existing best practices. The results include improved employee benefits, creative flexible working schedules, competitive compensation programs, increased software training tools, increased team-building activities and continuing education programs for employees.

We would like to know your thoughts.

Thursday, June 04, 2009

Why Government-Run Public Plan is Misguided

NOTE: There are many views on Health Care in the U.S. and many professionals in the Insurance and Health Care field share these views. Its our goal to present the facts and look for comments as the country moves into a major review and process of change.

• Reforms to the private insurance markets are widely recognized as necessary. But
the creation of a government-run public plan is a bad idea and a waste of
resources that would likely displace tens of millions of happily insured Americans
and exacerbate the worst elements of our current system: gross inefficiency, high
costs, and bureaucracy. Creating a mammoth, complex, hugely expensive, illdesigned
reform that is not likely to be popular when understood.

• As a prominent Lewin study concluded, a government-run public plan would
likely attract consumers not by virtue of superior performance on cost control and
quality, but by its ability to exploit unfair advantages that would tend to shift and
hide its costs away from enrollees and enrollee premiums.1 Nearly 6 out of every
10 Americans (118 million) with private coverage could lose their current health
care coverage, and 130 million Americans could end up on a government-run
health care plan if the government sets payment rates at Medicare rates.

• Expansion of government-run programs could also exacerbate the cost-shift that
already drives up average health care spending by $1,788 (or 10.7 percent)
annually per family.2 A government-run plan would exacerbate the cost shift
because when government payment rates are too low, providers shift costs to
private payers to make up the difference.

• Existing public plans provide less coverage and restrict provider access more than
the average employer-sponsored plan. The Congressional Budget Office (CBO)
estimated that the benefit package for Medicare is 15 percent below the average
employer-sponsored plan. Under Medicaid, specialists are often inaccessible
without long waits. Under a new government-run plan, Americans will find it
more and more difficult to make appointments with physicians and other health
care providers. This is because lower payments will make it increasingly
unaffordable for providers to see patients—particularly the increasing number of
patients with public coverage. o MedPAC: 30% of Medicare enrollees seeking a new primary-care physician have difficulty finding one o MedPAC: 30% of physicians taking no new Medicaid patients

• Public programs like Medicare moreover lag behind the private insurance industry
in terms of containing cost and improving quality. Medicare just recently started
refusing to pay medical care providers for ‘never events’ where a patient suffers a
knowable and catastrophic mistake such as having the wrong limb removed. The
private insurance market has been doing this for years.

• A government-run plan like Medicare does not have to comply with varying state
insurance regulations nor does it have to underwrite applications because
1 The Lewin Group, “The Cost and Coverage Impacts of a Public Plan: Alternative Design Options,” Staff Working Paper #4, April 6, 2008. 2 Millman, “Hospital and Physician Cost Shift Payment Level Comparison of Medicare, Medicaid, and Commercial Payers,” December, 2008. Medicare is open to all seniors at the same cost. Reforming the insurance market could significantly reduce administrative costs for private plans.

• Private insurers must build provider networks. These networks can include highvalue
providers and exclude low-quality providers. Except for certain
circumstances, including criminal acts, Medicare is forbidden from excluding
poor quality providers. It lets in everyone who signs up. So one question to ask is,
will a public plan have Medicare’s indifference to quality -- or invest in the cost
of a network?

• Private insurers must negotiate rates. Medicare just fixes prices using a statutory
and regulatory scheme. And anyone who imagines a public plan would be less
costly than private plans must keep the following issue front and center: In the
many procedure categories where Medicare’s statutory price does not cover full
provider costs, shortfalls are shifted to private payers who end up subsidizing the
public program. So, will a public plan negotiate rates or simply use fiat as a
means of gaining subsidies from private insurance?

• Private insurers must combat fraud -- or go out of business. Indeed, these payers
have every incentive to invest in antifraud personnel and strategies down to the
point where return and investment are equal. But anyone who thinks that a public
plan could serve as a "yardstick" for the private sector needs to consider
Medicare’s dismal record with regard to fraud, waste and other abuse.

• In fact, the total amount of Medicare fraud is unknown. The government does not
measure or estimate fraud in its programs; instead, it measures payments made “in
error.” According to Medicare's own most recent data, payments made in error
amount to over $10 billion annually. (Medicaid's payment errors in 2007 equaled
a whopping $32.7 billion, according to a report by the Department of Health and
Human Services.) Others have claimed Medicare’s payments made in error are
much higher. Even with the inclusion of the budget of the inspector general for
the Department of Health and Human Services, Medicare spends less than onefifth
of 1% on antifraud measures -- a small fraction of what private plans invest
in their efforts to build a network of honest providers.

• And because of the vagaries of politics, in four of the past five years Congress has
turned back Medicare’s pleas for $579 million of additional antifraud funding, on
the grounds that these dollars subtract from the budget funds for curing cancer
and anti-obesity campaigns. Based on experience, Congress will always
underinvest in fraud. Yet according to a House of Representatives Budget
Committee hearing in July 2007, return on investment for certain Medicare
antifraud measures were estimated to be in excess of 13-1. Will a public plan also
hemorrhage from fraud because of chronic Congressional underinvestment?
o “The significant size of Medicare’s erroneous payments suggests that the
program’s low administrative costs may come at a price.” MedPAC, March 2009
o “The traditional fee-for-service Medicare program does relatively little to
manage benefits, which tends to reduce its administrative costs but may raise its
overall spending relative to a more tightly managed approach.” CBO, December
2008 Private administrative costs cover important services like disease management programs
and research to determine which interventions actually work. It is ironic that the same
advocates who frequently cite the need for the government to spend billions in taxpayer
dollars to improve health outcomes are the same who decry the high administrative costs
in health care plans. As Ezekiel Emanuel, an adviser to President Obama on health care
(and brother of White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel), wrote, “The idea that we
could wring billions of dollars in savings [from cutting administrative costs] is seductive,
but it wouldn’t really accomplish that much. For one thing, some administrative costs are
not only necessary but beneficial. Following heart-attack or cancer patients to see which
interventions work best is an administrative cost, but it’s also invaluable if you want to
improve care.”3 Additionally, Medicare loses up to $60 billion to Medicare fraud each
year due to inadequate scrutiny of claims. While private health providers pay (out of
administrative costs) for programs to keep fraud to a minimum, the federal government
invests little, and as a result taxpayers pay more.

• None of these considerations should be interpreted as a defense of the status quo,
or a denial of the fact that major health reform is needed.

• The creation of a government-run public insurance plan would make the
government the gatekeeper – the controller of prices and the provider of coverage.
Health care decisions would increasingly be made in Washington and subject to
political pressures that take into account neither patient needs nor economic
realities. The cost of the program would be such that the effort to pay for it would
become the central concern of American politics – crowding out other
government priorities. As is seen around the world, health care is a central part in
ballooning welfare states.

• There are really only two ways to keep costs under control: by building a real
marketplace in which cost-conscious consumers make choices in a more efficient
delivery system or by imposing arbitrary limits, determined by the government,
on care. 3 Ezekial Emanual and Shannon Brownlee, Washington Post Op-Ed, “5 Myths on Our Sick Health Care System,” November 23, 2008.