Disability insurance is coverage that provides you with income protection, should you lose time on the job due to an injury or illness. With disability coverage, partial replacement of lost income is paid to you.

For working-age individuals, disability refers to a medical condition that reduces your ability to perform your job duties.

What is long-term disability insurance (LTD)?

LTD is a type of disability insurance coverage that pays employees a set percentage of their regular income after a specified waiting period. For example, if a worker is covered under short-term disability (STD) insurance as well, the LTD insurance would kick in once the STD policy is exhausted, typically after 3 to 6 months.

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Long-term care (LTC) insurance is a benefit that seems ripe for the needs of today’s workforce. Yet, when employers offer employees the chance to purchase long-term care coverage through the workplace, the participation is usually low. (Typically, LTC insurance is offered as a voluntary benefit, for which an employee pays the entire premium.) A study contracted by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) found that, while purchase rates varied considerably among the group of surveyed employers, 40% saw participation rates below 2%. A separate study published by the Employee Benefit Research Institute (EBRI) found employee participation rates for LTC insurance averaged less than 10%. Read the rest of this entry

So your broker negotiated a three year rate guarantee for your life and disability program and was able to lower your premiums.  You don’t have to think about this for the next three years, right?  Better think again.  The market is extremely competitive and what was a great deal last year may look middle of the road today. 

 Many employee benefits brokers simply don’t bother to perform the due diligence and shop the market in a given year because the clients’ rate was either locked in or renewed with no rate change.    Receiving a renewal with no rate increase is great.  But how do you know that the reason you didn’t get a rate increase was because you were over paying based on your better than expected claims history? 

It is essential to not only review the underwriting assumptions the carrier is using but also to go out into the marketplace and acquire competitive quotes.  Your broker can then evaluate the incumbents’ numbers and benchmark them against the competition to ensure you have the best programs in place.  Make sure your employee benefits broker is carefully evaluating your plans each and every year.

The Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act (GINA) prohibits discrimination in health coverage and employment on the basis of genetic information. Title II addresses discrimination in employment, and prohibits employers from acquiring genetic information about employees, and from using genetic information for hiring, firing or promotion decisions, and for any decisions regarding terms of employment. Since the term “genetic information” is defined broadly, it’s important that employers understand the many situations in which GINA can apply. Final regulations from the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission provide guidance on this. Read the rest of this entry

Most people view life insurance as merely a death benefit for their dependent children or surviving spouse. However, life insurance, specifically a life insurance program called second-to-die or survivorship insurance, can additionally be a very effective asset preservation tool for estates of all sizes.

This type of life insurance covers two individuals (most often spouses) through a single life insurance policy. The premium for survivorship insurance is usually much less expensive than other individual life insurance policy options and the policy respects martial estate tax deductions that defer estate taxes until both insured spouses are deceased. The benefit will not be paid out until both individuals on the policy are deceased.

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Unfortunately, the concern stemming from developing a chronic health issue isn’t limited to your medical needs and health. On the insurance side of things, you’re not just an everyday Jane or Joe purchasing life insurance any longer.

While you might not be considered a standard risk any longer, there are still life insurance programs that can provide you with the coverage you need. One such option is called impaired risk coverage. This is a special form of life insurance designed to provide coverage for individuals that are no longer a standard risk. An impaired risk is life insurance underwriting terminology used to describe an individual that has some factor making him an above average risk to insure, such as an unfavorable health history or current health condition. Most underwriters consider an individual an impaired risk if any of the following statements are answered with a yes:

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According to A.M. Best, an insurance rating company, less than 50% of U.S. households have life insurance outside of what’s provided by their employer. This statistic begs the question – why have so many individuals abandoned their life insurance needs? There’s not a one-size-fits-all answer to such a question, but there are a couple of common contributing factors.

One factor is the alleged product misrepresentations cited in class-action lawsuits against several life insurance companies. Another factor is that much of the media focus today is centered around individuals living much longer than previous generations and the resulting need to adequately prepare for the retirement years. This focus has caused many Americans to redirect their attention toward saving for their retirement years and to start placing their money into tax-favored accounts. Consumer trending hasn’t gone unnoticed by life insurance companies. Despite the fact that most individuals don’t consider life insurance a good investment option, many insurers have been heavily marketing the investment side of life insurance policies instead of the death benefit aspect of it.

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The main objective of many HR professionals today is to temper costs by getting employees more involved in their medical care decisions, expenses and overall health. This may be at least partially attributed to the fact that many experts expect health care costs to increase in 2011.

Health Care Cost Projections for 2011

Cost trends are now available for 2011 from various research organizations. The following health insurance cost predictions are based on recent employer surveys.

Hewitt Associates reports that health care cost increases will be the highest levels in the last five years due to rising medical claim costs, the aging population and the changing health care reform landscape. The organization projects an 8.8 percent average premium increase for employers in 2011, up from 6.9 percent in 2010 and 6.0 in 2009. Also, the average health care premium for an employee at a large organization is expected to be $9,821 in 2011, up from $9,028 in 2010. Employees will be asked to contribute $2,209 (22.5 percent) of their total health care premium, which is up 12.4 percent from 2010, when employees contributed $1,966. Employee out-of-pocket costs are also projected to increase to $2,177 in 2011 from $1,934 in 2010.

Hewitt also reports that employers were able to mitigate costs in this difficult economy by cost shifting, negotiating costs with health plans and increasing their efforts to promote preventive care. Of respondents, 95 percent indicate that managing costs is a top business concern. They will reduce these costs by increasing employee cost sharing, conducting dependent eligibility audits, encouraging spouses to enroll in their own employer’s plans when available, consolidating vendors and taking measures to improve their employees’ health.

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Although hordes of consumers use the Internet as a tool for seeking out medical information, new studies show that only a scarce few are using physician ratings sites to choose their doctor. More than 80% of California based adults say they use the Internet for health-related information, such as medical symptoms and diagnoses, according to a Harris Interactive poll commissioned by the California HealthCare Foundation. However, only a handful of adults are visiting and using the information from physician ratings sites.

As a matter of fact, less than 25% of those surveyed say they have visited physician ratings sites, and only 2% of those actually made a physician change based on the information they found. Even fewer, less than 1%, say they made a hospital or health plan switch based on online ratings.

Will ratings sites ever take off?

Some experts say these statistics prove it will be a long while before physician ratings sites grow in popularity—and that they may never catch on at all. However, other industry professionals believe that few patients visit these sites because the market is still in its infancy. They believe that as the ratings information becomes more in-depth, more consumers will flock to the sites.

Additionally, some insurers are encouraging members to use their own ratings sites. In these types of networks, members pay less out of pocket if they visit a physician that meets the insurer’s “quality criteria.” However, many doctors claim this system is flawed.

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From the beginning, the United States has been a multi-cultural nation.  As immigrants streamed into the U.S. through the gates of Ellis Island, they brought their culture and languages along with them, earning America the nickname, The Melting Pot.  This demographic reality has continued to the present day, as people of different cultures, religions, races, and languages live in our multi-ethnic, multi-linguistic society.

Recent statistics reflect the linguistic diversity of this country. For example, according to a 2007 U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey, 19.5% of the U.S. population over the age of 5 speaks a foreign language.  Of those speaking a language other than English, more than 60% speak Spanish/Creole; 19% Indo-European; 15% Asian Languages; and 1% other.  Nearly 68% of foreign language speakers in the U.S. are between the ages of 18 and 64, and many of these individuals are part of the American workforce.  Language diversity among employees can present a variety of challenges related to (among other things) the communication of employee benefits.

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