Flying solo on benefits

My head is in the clouds today and it made me think about my first solo flight in an airplane. I think this has a great analogy of how most of my clients feel when they leave their employer with all of the great benefits or they leave their home country and they are now responsible to take care of their own benefits.
When learning how to fly you spend a good portion of your time in ground school learning the basic maneuvers and rules you need to follow and then you get a few hours in the air with your instructor showing you the ropes. Once the instructor feels you have mastered the basic skills, he lets you go up and take the controls by yourself. It can be extremely scary with just a few hours of experience. The amazing thing about the experience is how much you remember the teachings from your instructor as well as the radio to signal to other traffic. It all ties together and you make it safely.
Unlike flying an airplane, people aren't really taught much with regards to what to do with their own benefits. All most people know is they need health insurance. The government tells everyone to go to a website, but the instructions are shotty at best and the overwhelming amount of choices can leave one's head spinning. That's where your benefits broker comes in to be a help as you get off the ground running. They have been there before and know how to instruct you and get you the right plan. They won't be the ones using the insurance, but they are there to help coach you on how to use it, even well after the sale.
Did you even ask about other benefits? One of the most common forgotten items is retirement. I honestly don't think most people want to work until the day they die and I am sure they don't want to solely be living off of social security. The way around this is to start saving early. every little bit counts. There are hundreds if not thousands of books out there about becoming rich by just saving $25-$100 a month. Have a 401k form an old company? Roll it over to a program that you can continue participating in (watch out for fees though.) Have a financial advisor you work with? Great! Make sure your benefits person knows this, because retirement plans do affect some of the health ins benefits with regards to financial assistance and make sure your advisor and benefits broker are truly working in your best interest and not just trying to sell you the hottest new product. They will typically ask more questions of you and actually get to know your situation.
besides retirement, you can also extend all of this to even more benefits. Imagine a world o possibilities. Disability insurance (for when you crash the plane and can't work), life insurance (for when you crash the plan and don't come back, your family needs the financial support), vision and dental insurance.
So the point of my whole blog is to get you connected with your benefits flight instructor (ahem, *me*) and get prepared to soar to new heights in your business.
Nevada benefits 9505 Hillwood Dr Ste #100 Las Vegas, NV 89134 (702)258-1995

Fiduciary schmiduciary rule

I think every newsletter or article I get about the financial industry is all about the new Fiduciary rule that advisors will be affected by. Frankly, it is just another way for the government to impose new tactics in protecting long time agents and agencies make even more money and be protected from competition. They want agents to be more liable for the advice they give and make sure they aren't just selling unnecessary investments. The concept is great! Who doesn't want to be sold a crappy investment and if they are sold one they want to make sure the seller is held to the right standard. This just makes advisors charge higher fees in order to offset their insurance costs and pushes more advisors out of the market.
The past few years have seen an increase in Robo-advisors who use technology to help people invest their money. These advisors operate on extremely low fees and allow consumers some much needed flexibility. Under the new rule, these advisors might be put into question and their low fees might be a thing of the past.
A good advisor shouldn't have to worry about these changes. If they truly do act in the best interest of their clients, are competent, and do a good job, they will continue to offer value to their clients and be able to make money. The trouble most advisors have though is getting clients. With more and more competition to the low cost alternatives, it just makes it even more difficult to gain that clientèle and be that long term advisor that people are willing to pay the higher fees to.

American Dream U and Nevada benefits

Nevada Benefits, partnered with American Dream U, has reopened a state of the art, 24 hour access, fully equipped workspaces, whiteboard walled conference room, fully furnished offices, business lounges and video communications center!!  It's been designed not to be "nickle and dimmed" along the way!!  

Can't bet the location in Summerlin right off the Summerlin Parkway and Town Center Drive (1 block from 24 hour fitness and Starbucks!).

Contact Phil Randazzo for more information at phil@nevadabenefits.com or call 702.258.1995

http://www.americandreamu.org

The irrational fear of deductibles and large numbers

Does a $5,000 deductible make you freak out and make you wonder "why the heck am I paying a monthly insurance premium when I have to pay the first $5k of my medical bills?!" Well, you're not the only one. The trouble we have though is asking ourselves, is this assumption really rational?

I think it all boils down to the fact that we like it when other people pay for things. It is much easier to pay an insurance company $100/mo more just to save ourselves $50 on a doctor visit, because when we went to see the doctor we didn't get a bill. We do this all of the time with all sorts of products. Vehicles, Television programming, insurance, furniture, etc. We finance those purchases and break them into monthly costs because we get what we want now and then just pay a little bit later on. Had we been a little more savvy we would have saved our money up, paid cash for the purchase and saved ourselves the extra interest payments and negotiated a better deal.

In order to get over our irrational fears we need to take a step back and think about what insurance really is. It is a safety net meant to help protect us from large financial losses. Insurance companies don't want you to be in a better position after you have submitted claims to them, they just want to make sure you aren't in the worse position. If we were all better off submitting insurance claims we would be looking for ways to profit from them constantly. (some people try, but then they go to jail)

If insurance is there to protect us against large losses, then it makes sense to have a deductible and your monthly payment you pay will determine how much of a deductible you will have. If you can't afford paying $5,000 in medical expenses, maybe consider paying more for your insurance. The trouble is that if you can't afford the higher insurance premiums, then having a higher deductible isn't a bad idea. How often will you meet that deductible? Do you incur medical expenses every year? If so, how much do you really incur? A regular doctor visit might cost you $100. A prescription drug maybe $20 for most people. Insuring yourself against those smaller expenses might not make sense as you pay an additional $100/mo for a policy that gives you a $50 copay to see a doctor as opposed to you paying the entire $100 for that same visit.

The Dummies' Guide to Health Insurance Tax Penalties

- Individuals:

      - 2015: $325.00 or 2% of income, whichever is greater

      - 2016: $695.00 or 2.5% of income, whichever is greater

      - Children 18 and under, the minimum per-person tax is half of that for adults ($162.50). 

      - The tax penalty is pro-rated, so that a person who is not covered for only a single month would pay 1/12th of the tax that would be due for the full year.

- Families:

       - 2015: $975 per family or 2% of family income, whichever is greater

       - 2016: $2,085 per family or 2.5% of family income, whichever is greater

       - The minimum amount per family is capped at triple the per-person tax, no matter how many individuals are in the taxpayer’s household.

- Tax Forms:

        - Those who bought insurance on the health insurance exchanges with the help of federal subsidies will receive a form 1095-A detailed their coverage and have to reconcile their payments with their income level.  HealthCare.gov, the federal exchange that serves 37 states, started to mail out 1095-A forms to customers said all forms should be mailed out by the end of January. This end of month deadline is also the same for state-run exchanges

        - Taxpayers who get their health insurance through their employer or government sponsored programs like Medicare or Medicaid, which will be the majority, will be able to prove their compliance via their tax filing by check a box on their normal tax (1040 series) return validating they had insurance.

        - If you have exemptions to claim, you will need to complete the tax form 8965.

          More information on exemptions: http://obamacarefacts.com/obamacare-exemptions-list/

Emergent vs. Urgent - Planning Ahead for the Minor Stuff

If your health plan is like most, it offers a persuasive disincentive to visit the emergency room when an urgent care center will do. This disincentive often takes the form of a higher 
co-payment for emergency care. (The 
co-payment is your share of the cost.) Moreover, if you go to an emergency room for an ailment that seems questionable as an “emergency”, the insurance company may deny the claim, leaving you on the hook for the entire bill.

PPACA (i.e., “Obamacare”) defines a medical emergency as symptoms which would cause a reasonable layperson to fear that an absence of immediate care could mean a loss of life, limb, or organ; or the loss of function in a limb or organ.

Generally speaking, emergency rooms are connected to hospitals. They are heavily staffed, expensively equipped, and never closed. Patients typically wait for hours to see a doctor. Emergency rooms treat major traumas, broken bones, heart attacks, uncontrollable bleeding, unconsciousness, and the like.

Urgent care centers, by contrast, are free-standing facilities, lightly staffed, less equipped, and open later than normal business hours (but not open all night). Patients typically wait a matter of minutes, not hours, to be see a physician’s assistant or nurse practitioner. Urgent care centers treat flu symptoms, fevers, chills, sprains, headaches, and the like.

One of the most common reasons policyholders go to the emergency room for symptoms that do not meet the PPACA criteria above is a lack of planning. Nevada Benefits recommends that you take a moment now, while you are well, to locate the urgent care centers nearest your home and place of employment; then make a note for future reference. Waiting until you are sick or injured before mapping your way to the nearest urgent care center will prove more difficult than doing so in advance of your actual need.

Of course, if you experience a medical emergency, then you should call 911 or go to the nearest emergency room. Otherwise, an urgent care center, if appropriate to the ailment, can save you money, time, and aggravation.   

Do not hesitate to contact us with any questions about the emergent and urgent care benefits under your plan.

Telehealth- what is it?

Virtual House Call

Telehealth is a word coined to describe a doctor-patient encounter mediated entirely by technology. In its simplest form, telehealth is your primary care doctor hearing your complaint, forming a diagnosis, and recommending an over-the-counter remedy, all in the course of a single phone call. You receive care without darkening your doctor’s door.

In its more evolved form, telehealth is a video link-up through a corporate vendor specializing in just such electronic encounters. Or instead of taking a half-day off work to drive across town and haunt your doctor’s waiting room, you simply use your smartphone to transmit to her office a photo of that mysterious rash.

With carriers like Anthem, Cigna, and UnitedHealth Group expanding their telehealth networks, and pharmacies like CVS, Rite Aid, and Walgreens investing in telehealth platforms, it’s safe to say that multimedia medicine is more than a trend; it’s an important solution to the problem of healthcare scarcity.

Dallas-based Teladoc is at the forefront of this technological movement. Teladoc’s physicians are available for consultation 24/7. Place a call to Teledoc and an experienced, state-licensed, board-certified physician will get back to you in minutes (16 minutes on average). This service is ideal for cold and flu symptoms, allergies, respiratory infections, urinary tract infections, ear infections, sinus disorders, and the like. Teledoc physicians can prescribe certain short-term prescriptions, such as antibiotics.

(Remember, however, that in the event of a medical or psychiatric emergency, you should always call 911. Telehealth is not for emergency treatment. Nor is it for chronic ailments or specialty care; although Teladoc can provide guidance as to whether you require a specialist.)

Perhaps best of all, expenses incurred through Teladoc qualify for reimbursement under your FSA, HSA, and HRA.

The expansion of consumer access to limited healthcare resources is among the great economic and social challenges of our time. Nevada Benefits supports and encourages the spirit of innovation embodied in the telehealth approach.