Mike Sheeran

Best Disability Insurance Companies

October 8, 2012 By Mike Sheeran

Pick from the best disability insurance companies to protect your income. After being asked pretty often which disability insurance is the best, I decided to put this list together. These are my opinions what companies are the best based on what I’ve read and experienced.

While you are at it, don’t forget to read my recent post: Do you really need disability insurance?

Mike’s List of Best Disability Insurance Companies

In no particular order. These are for personally owned policies. Group coverage has quite a few more options as well.

To me, being the best means, which policy has the greatest likelihood of paying out a claim should you become disabled. Price is important but don’t waste your money on a policy that won’t be there when you need it.

MetLife – White Collar
Union Central/Ameritas – White Collar and Grey Collar
Guardian – White Collar
Standard – White/Grey Collar
Mutual of Omaha – for Grey Collar
Assurity – for Blue Collar
Mass Mutual

Get a Disability Insurance Quote

If you want to read more on disability insurance or the best companies, please contact me directly or check out the professionals at Disability Forums. These guys are really helpful for both consumers and professionals.

Catastrophic Health Insurance – Did You Make This Mistake With Your Small Business Health Insurance?

April 9, 2012 By Mike Sheeran

Another year of steadily rising insurance premiums for your business and you are faced with a major dilemma… make employees contribute more towards their insurance or drastically cut the the insurance benefits to make it more affordable for your business.

It’s definitely a bad situation for everyone involved, but it doesn’t have to be. Don’t make the mistake of reacting too quickly and not choosing one of the best tools at your disposal.

Catastrophic Health Insurance in New Jersey

A properly set up and administered Catastrophic Health Insurance Plan will solve these key issues for your business:

Cut your premiums by up to 50%. Yes 50%!
Allow for more flexibility in your insurance plan design
Allow you to set up an HSA or HRA. See my post on HRA’s vs HSA’s.
Save your employees money on their payroll deduction
Allow you to continue the health plan without sacrificing benefits for everyone.

Catastrophic Health Insurance – How does it work?

In NJ you will generally use a qualified high deductible health plan as your catastrophic health insurance.

Upfront Deductible

Almost all of the catastrophic health insurance plans in NJ will have $2,500 single deductible and a $5,000 family deductible. With these plans, all services are subject to the deductible before anything is covered. You do pay lower negotiated rates for your services though.

Maximum out of Pocket

The other key feature of NJ Catastrophic Health Insurance is that they all have a maximum out of pocket. This is the annual limit on how much you will have to pay for your covered services. This figure is usually $5,000 per single employee and $10,000 per family.

Catastrophic Health Insurance To Save the Day – Putting it All Together

Since you are using a qualified high deductible health insurance plan, you have two options at your disposal.

Health Savings Accounts
Health Reimbursement Arrangements

We are going to focus on health reimbursement arrangements because this is where employers will save the most money.

Under the new high deductible plan, the HRA will allow you to reimburse your employees for their medical expenses up to whatever dollar amount you choose. You are going to fund no more that what you can afford and it will be based on your premium savings.

Plan Design

Your 10 employee company had an annual premium $60,000. $500 per employee per month.

Your new high deductible plan has an annual premium of $30,000 per year. $250 per employee per month.

Annual Savings of $30,000.

HRA Fund

Based on your proposed savings of $30,000, you will agree to fund the full $2,500 deductible for each employee.

This will total $25,000. If all employees use their reimbursement money, you will still have saved $5,000.

But they won’t……

They will likely use somewhere in the neighborhood of half the money.

End Result:

Old premium:$60,000

New premium + HRA(half usage) = $37,500

Savings:$22,500

That is an almost 40% reduction in your overall premium for the year.

Catastrophic Health Insurance Summary

I showed you a quick example of how a small business can save nearly 40% on their medical insurance premiums. Don’t make the mistake that many do in ignoring catastrophic health insurance as the answer their insurance premium woes.

I would love the opportunity to earn your business. Please contact me for your small business health insurance quote.

Supplemental Life Insurance. Should you buy it?

March 27, 2012 By Mike Sheeran

Supplemental Life Insurance is usually offered as an extra employee benefit option at large companies. It is a life insurance benefit that can be bought through a payroll deduction for a low cost and usually with no or few medical questions. Sounds good but is it worth it?

Do you need supplemental life insurance?

Before you buy supplemental life insurance, you should really take a good look if you need life insurance at all.

People who do not need insurance may be those without any dependents, any debt or anyone depending on them financially. Ask yourself “if I were to pass away, would anyone be affected financially?” If that answer is no, then you should probably not be buying supplemental life insurance or any insurance at all.

How much supplemental life insurance should you buy?

If you have determined that you do need insurance, you can use this calculator to see how much you should consider buying.

Life Insurance Calculator from LifeHappens.org

Life Insurance is meant to cover a financial shortfall and they generally are used to pay for:

College Funding – if you have kids
Pay off Mortgage
Final Expenses
Pay off outstanding loans like credit cards or other loans
Make up for lost income for surviving spouse.
Pay estate taxes for large estates
Money to be left in trust for beneficiaries.

Where should you buy your life insurance?

You’ve determined you need insurance and now you know how much so the next step is to get quotes and buy it.

The supplemental life insurance option through your employer will be an easy option because it can usually be paid for through payroll deduction and you have the ease of signing up without medical questions. The downside to this is that you may qualify for a better rate if you were to apply on your own.

Key Things to Consider When Deciding Between Supplemental Life and an Individual Policy

If you need x amount of coverage, can you purchase that much through the supplemental life program?
Is the supplemental life coverage portable? Can you take it with you if you leave the company? And for how much money?
Are you in good health or bad health? Good health may benefit by buying individually but unhealthy people may get a better deal through the supplemental life program.
How long do you need the coverage?
Supplemental Life Coverage can be discontinued at the discretion of your employer. Are you ok with that or would you prefer to have control over your own policy?

Supplemental Life Insurance can be a great choice to buy a little bit of life insurance coverage for those that need it, but it’s not always the best option.

You can get a life insurance quote here on the ING website or request one directly from me. It’s always a good idea to get an individual quote so you can compare it to your supplemental life options.

I’d love to earn your business. Please contact me for a personalized life insurance quote and I will help you evaluate all of your options.

Additional Reading – What you need to know about life insurance – From LifeHappens.org

New Jersey Health Insurance Exchange

March 16, 2012 By Mike Sheeran

Tonight the NJ Senate passed the NJ State Health Insurance Exchange Bill. The news is exciting for many New Jerseyans as it shows some promise for lower premiums in the future. The NJ Health Insurance Exchange bill will create an online marketplace for individuals and businesses to review all of their options in one place. In addition to making it easier to purchase insurance, the goal is bring down the prices for insurance in NJ. This would be fantastic as I have personally seen many companies rates that have doubled or tripled in the past five years.

Now before we all get googley eyed over the new bill, I have some concerns over how much the exchange can actually help our high NJ Health Insurance premiums woes.

New Jersey Health Insurance Exchange – Concerns

What does affordable health insurance mean? In my opinion, this really needs to be answered with real numbers and not just saying “it’s more affordable”. If they an bring an HMO monthly premium from $600/month for a single down to $400/month, that would be quite a feat. At $400 a month though, is it affordable enough for people to buy? Maybe yes, maybe no?
How do they expect to to bring down price levels to affordable levels?
When merging the individual market with the small group, how much can we anticipate rates to go down?
Just because we can purchase online, (we can already do this) why is it now magically less per month? And how much less?
Competition is great and this should also help bring premiums down. But, how much??? There will be more companies trying to get their rates down with aggressive contracts with their physician networks and also by spending their money more efficiently. Should we expect smaller networks, more troubles getting services approved? How much less can we pay the doctors before they just give up and quit?
Many small businesses rely on brokers to lend a helping hand with managing their plan. Will brokers be playing a major part in the exchange? If not, businesses must be trained and prepared to handle NJ Continuation, COBRA, claims, quoting, compliance, adds, changes, terminations of employees etc… Brokers act as an additional human resources department for many of the smaller businesses without a large office staff.
New Jersey Protect was recently added to the NJ portfolio and it’s goal was to provide more affordable coverage. How many people have we actually enrolled in this program? My guess is not many. I give people premium rates for these plans almost every day and the response is always the same, “too much money”. NJ Protect is considerably less in premium per month than the standard individual plans.

It may seem that I have a bad feeling about the exchange, but really my concern is with how much premiums are going to be. Are we just adding one more program that nobody can afford? New Jersey has a very large uninsured pool despite that fact that we have NJ Family Care, Medicaid, Medicare, individual health, NJ Protect, small group health, large group health, NJ Continuation, COBRA, DU31, Dep-26 and I’m sure there are even more programs. Basically, if you have the money, you can have insurance.

What I do like about the exchange is that it will certainly make it easier to understand the different programs and options. A singular place to look for insurance will be very helpful especially with the different eligibility requirements for each of the plans.

If you have an opinion on the New Jersey Insurance Exchange or think my ideas are completely wrong or misguided, I would love to hear about it.

Affordable Small Business Dental Insurance From HorizonBlue Dental

March 6, 2012 By Mike Sheeran

Looking for affordable Dental Insurance from HorizonBCBS Dental?

HorizonBlue Dental has recently updated their plan summaries to make it easier to understand the dental benefits.

Horizon Dental Summaries

Horizon Dental Option Plan

The Horizon Dental Option Plan offers a great way to save premium dollars without reducing benefits. Members have the freedom to receive dental services from any dentist. If you use a dentist who participates with the Horizon Dental Option Plan, you can maximize your benefits and save money. Discounts on participating dentists’ charges range between 10 and 30 percent. You have the option of selecting from over 115,000 participating dental offices nationwide. With any choice made there’s always a dental benefit and you are always covered for eligible services because of the plan’s out-of-network benefit.

Horizon PPO Dental Plan

In-Network

The Horizon Dental PPO Plan, a Preferred Provider Organization Plan, offers the lowest fees available to our customers through our Horizon Dental PPO Network of participating dentists. These dentists accept our reduced allowances as payment in full, less any applicable deductible and/or coinsurance.

Out-of-Network

With an out-of-network option, members may go to a nonparticipating dentist and may have to pay the dentist his/her usual fees in advance. Members must then file claims for reimbursement. Reimbursement is based on our reduced allowances, and members are responsible for any charges in excess of these amounts.

Horizon PPO Access

The Horizon Dental PPO Access Plan provides 100 percent coverage for the most frequently needed dental services when you visit a participating dentist.

In-Network

The plan covers frequently needed, eligible preventive and diagnostic services, such as exams, cleanings and X-rays, as well as selected basic services, such as amalgam (silver) fillings and space maintainers, at 100 percent. For eligible major or specialty services, such as root canals, crowns and bridges, you’ll pay only a reduced Horizon Dental PPO Plan allowance to participating dentists. There is no annual deductible, no annual maximum and no wait period for major services.

Out-of-Network

The plan allows you to use nonparticipating dentists for certain eligible preventive and diagnostic services, however you may have to pay for any charges above the Horizon Dental PPO Plan allowance, pay dentists at the time of service and submit claims for reimbursement. There is no out-of-network benefit for major or specialty services.

Horizon Dental Choice

Horizon Dental Choice saves your company money and increases employee satisfaction through its cost-effective design and comprehensive benefits.

No deductibles

No annual benefit maximums

No copayments for most eligible routine services

Low copayments for eligible major specialty services

Horizon Dental Choice is an HMO-type of coverage that features a strictly credentialed network of participating dentists. It’s a great addition to your benefits program, either in combination with another Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey dental plan or as an alternative to your existing traditional program.

Horizon Dental Companion

The Horizon Dental Companion Plan is available only when combined with a Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey medical plan.

In-Network

The plan covers frequently needed, eligible preventive and diagnostic services, such as exams, cleanings and X-rays, as well as selected basic services, such as amalgam (silver) fillings and space maintainers, at 100 percent. For eligible major or specialty services, such as root canals, crowns and bridges, members pay only a reduced Horizon Dental PPO Plan allowance to participating dentists. There is no annual deductible, no annual maximum and no wait period for major services.

Out-of-Network

The plan allows members to use nonparticipating dentists for certain eligible preventive and diagnostic services, however they may have to pay for any charges above the Horizon Dental PPO Plan allowance, pay dentists at the time of service and submit claims for reimbursement. There is no out-of-network benefit for major or speciality services. The Horizon Dental Companion Plan is available only when combined with a Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey medical plan.

Horizon Dental Companion Plan

Please contact me for information on adding one of the Horizon Dental plans today. Horizon Dental Quote