Technology Insurance Associates

Employment Practices Liability Insurance

alan — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 17:34:29 +0000

I wanted to share a story about one of my clients. He was expanding his IT staffing business and hired a female recruiter /salesperson. This salesperson was emailing and interacting with the client’s operations staff at their offshore operations center. The emails started to turn more and more inappropriate, in a sexual way. The client is not sure who initiated the inappropriate emails but he now sees himself on the other side of a sexual harassment lawsuit. Needless to say the legal costs are great and he is scared to let any of these employee go. There is an insurance product that can protect your company from this type of exposure, Employment Practices Liability Insurance (ELPI). EPLI covers a business against claims by workers of the company, that their legal rights have been violated. Protection is provided against many types of employee lawsuits, including claims of: Sexual Harassment, Discrimination, Wrongful Termination, Breach of Employment Contract, and many others. The policies will reimburse your company against the costs of defending a lawsuit in court and for judgments and settlements. The policy covers legal costs if you win or lose the suit.

To prevent employee lawsuits, educate your managers and employees so that you minimize the problems in the first place. Create effective hiring and screening programs to avoid discrimination in hiring. Post corporate policies throughout the workplace and place them in employee so policies are clear to everyone. Show employees what steps to take if they are the object of sexual harassment or discrimination by a supervisor. Make sure Supervisors know where the company stands on what behaviors are not permissible. Document everything that occurs and the steps your company is taking to prevent and solve employee disputes. Contact us if you would like to learn more about employment practices liability insurance.

Life Is Good When You’re a Hoosier

paul — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 20:35:21 +0000

I recently had the extreme pleasure of reading a well thought out opinion column in the Wall Street Journal by the Republican Governor of Indiana, Mitch Daniels. Mr. Daniels shared his experience with Indiana state employee’s usage of Health Savings Accounts.

In review of the usage and cost savings, Indiana will stand to save $20 Million Dollars due to high enrollment in the HSA. An HSA is an outstanding addition to a company’s benefit plan and in the case of Indiana State workers in my opinion is successful due to high contribution rates provided by the government.

For example, the whole deductible of $2,750 is put into the HSA for the employee to use for any qualified medical necessity. For employees, “about 6 percent last year, who use their entire account balance, the state shares further health costs up to the maximum-out-of-pocket of $8000, after which the employee is completely protected.”
This generous level of contribution by the state is seldom seen in the private sector. Our New Jersey Employee Benefits Specialists have implemented many HSA plans and usually the deductible is funded by the employer, but beyond that it is the employees responsibility to pay out of pocket for expenses or contribute themselves to the HSA plan.

I would like to see a wider adoption of HSA plans in the public and private sector. I hope the current administration in Washington makes consumer directed healthcare a bigger priority and looses the mentality that regular workers can not afford HSA plans due to the high deductibles present. The focus should be on providing incentives for employers to at least contribute to the HSA in the amount of the deductible since the savings on the premiums are so significant.

NJ Short Term Disability

alan — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 15:52:02 +0000

We have had a few issues recently with regard to employees trying to figure out how to apply for NJ Short Term Disability. New Jersey, New York and Rhode Island are the only states that require employers to have this coverage. The NJ form (WDS-1) is available from the NJ State website. This form has all the detailed instructions for the EMPLOYEE to file a claim. The 3 part form needs to be filled out by the employee, employer and doctor. Submission is required within 30 days of the disability. We will make the form available on our website you can also contact my office for the form. As with most forms that deal with claim issues timely filing is most important.

What is a Co-pay?

paul — Fri, 19 Feb 2010 16:58:07 +0000

One of our goals at CG Benefits Group is to help employees understand their benefits. Many employees are often confused about how various components of their health care work such as deductibles, co-insurance, and co-pays.

In the first of our series aimed at helping you understand your benefits, we will discuss what a co-pay is in health insurance plans and how to find out what your co-pays are.

A co-pay is a defined amount of money that is used by the insurance company to charge you for utilizing a service. Commonly you are charged a co-pay for doctor, specialist, and hospital visits. Typical co-pays can range from fifteen Dollars for a doctor visit to one hundred and fifty Dollars per day for a hospital visit.

If you are unsure about how much you co-pays are, then look on your insurance ID card. Most insurance carriers print the co-pays for your primary care physician and specialist visits on the ID card for convenience. If you insurance carrier does not list the co-pay, or if you would like to find out how much your co-pay is for other services, then you can call CG Benefits Group and speak to your assigned customer service representative at 888-242-4675.

DO I NEED WORKERS COMPENSATION?

alan — Thu, 18 Feb 2010 02:23:15 +0000

I am asked this question thousands of times annually by small businessmen. Here are the rules, they apply if you own or operate a business in New Jersey. If you have an employee and pay wages you are required to obtain Workers Compensation. All Corporations operating in New Jersey must obtain workers compensation regardless if you have employees. Partnerships or LLC must obtain workers compensation if you have employees, owners for those entities can exclude themselves. If you cannot obtain coverage from an insurance carrier, the State will assign one to insure you. Rates are set by the State based on the employee’s duties. All rates will be the same regardless of the carrier. These are the basic rules, I would be glad to any question you might have about your business. Drop me a line alan@cgbins.com.

COST OF GROUP BENEFITS

alan — Sat, 13 Feb 2010 19:53:43 +0000

As a business owner you must remember why you have a group benefits plan. Yes, it provides coverage for you and your family and of course your employees, but it is a great tool for recruiting and retaining GREAT talent. What you have to remember to do is let your employees know exactly what the cost is. I am amazed when I speak to employees of companies where the employer pays the ENTIRE cost of the health insurance, that they do not know what the cost is. If the employee fails to understand the value of the benefit, it is a worthless benefit. You can send them a notice at the end of each year letting them know how much you spent for their share of the benefits. They will start to think twice about moving to another job where the benefits are not as rich or the employer does not pay a greater share.

NEW YORK WORKERS COMPENSATION

alan — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 16:01:36 +0000

I wanted to make all employers that have workers in New York State aware that they need a separate policy for Disability. Unlike New Jersey where Workers Compensation and Disability in incorporated in the same policy Disability in New York is written on separate paper. This issue has caused many employers to incur huge penalties and fines. The policy is quite inexpensive and is based on the number of male and female employees one has working in New York. Minimum premium is around $45.00 annually. New York is very harsh on employers that are unaware of this policy and $1000 for every 10 days of non compliance is charged. I have seen fines and penalties as large as $99,000. A call to your insurance agent can get you in compliance in a few minutes. Technology Insurance Associates offers this policy , give us a call or fill out the inquiry form on our website. We are glad to help.

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Generic Drugs Are Not the Same After All

paul — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 14:23:02 +0000

You may have recently received a letter from your insurance company advising you to switch to a generic drug instead of a costly name brand medication, or maybe your doctor has recommended you stay with a brand name prescription, despite a generic being widely available. You might be asking yourself, what is the difference?

First of all, a brand name drug becomes a generic drug after a brand name drug maker’s patent expires. Competitors are then allowed to apply to the Food and Drug Administration to make a generic form of the prescription without repeating the original developer’s clinical trials and other development activities that raise the cost of the prescription. This allows the new manufacturer to sell the generic drug at a substantial discount. According to the FDA, generic drugs must have the “same quality, strength, purity and stability,” as brand name drugs. A generic drug however may have different inactive ingredients such as colors or flavors.

One common misconception is that generic drugs are made in substandard or antiquated facilities. This is not true as the FDA conducts inspections of facilities to ensure their high standards are met. In fact, almost half of generic drugs are manufactured or sponsored by brand name manufactures who produce brand name and their generic counterparts.

If a generic and a brand name are the same, then why do doctors prescribe brand name prescriptions? Some patients have been switched to a generic drug and seen their symptoms come back or experienced some side effects that were not present with the brand name drug. According to a New York Times article in December of 2009, some antidepressants, heart medicine, and antiseizure medicines have been linked to patients having “symptoms returned-or even worse than before they were medicated.” One study in particular, focused on Budeprion XL a generic of Wellbutrin XL. The generic drug released the active ingredients at a different rate than the brand name drug. This may have caused different side effects and a lower effectiveness of the Budeprion dose.

For the consumer, the best practice is to ask your doctor if a generic drug is available, and if it is available then ask if it performs the same. Different doctors will have their own opinion on this topic and should definitely be consulted before you switch to a generic.

High Cost of Health Insurance

alan — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 12:30:15 +0000

I am disturbed at the failure of Congress to do anything regarding the health insurance issue in this country. It is getting difficult for employers to have an affordable health insurance program for their company. The issue however might also be the fault of the employers that do not take responsibility for their health plan. They allow the employees to go on and off the plans arbitrarily. They accommodate the employee’s wishes without regard to the rules that the carriers put in place. This has an impact on the rates. We are seeing renewal rates of 15 to 40% a trend that is impossible to sustain. Someone has to take hold of this issue and act.

What is COBRA?

paul — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 21:27:00 +0000

The Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act (COBRA) established in 1986 is a federal law that allows employees when terminated, for any reason other than gross misconduct, to continue their health insurance coverage.
Benefits can typically be extended for 18 months or as long as 36 months in certain situations.

For the group to be eligible it must have 20 or more employees. If your employer does not meet this requirement, then state continuation laws will go into effect and may provide extended coverage after employment.

COBRA laws also apply to products such as dental or vision insurance.

The employee will be required to pay the full cost of the insurance and a two percent administration fee may be added to the COBRA premium.