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So far MIBS has created 65 blog entries.

Boat and Watercraft Insurance

Make it smooth sailing by adding insurance protection! As summer starts, it is a great time for insureds to reassess their insurance coverage, especially on boat and personal watercraft protection. Available Coverage: Fuel Spill and Wreckage Removal Debris from accidents on the water can create environmental and safety hazards. Watercraft policies can cover fuel spills and wreckage removal at the limit of liability Physical Damage Coverage Types: Personal Property and Unattached Equipment Coverage With personal effects coverage, fishing gear and other personal property are covered up to a certain value. Plus, unattached equipment such as water skis, deck chairs, anchors, safety equipment, and marine electronics can also be covered. If needed, the insured can often purchase more coverage for a small additional premium. Some insurance companies offer this additional coverage at no cost. Emergency Assistance Reimbursement is available for on-water towing, labor, and basic emergency services (such as delivery of fuel or a battery) if the boat or personal watercraft is disabled while on the water. Pet Coverage This can cover costs if cat or dog that is injured because of a boating accident. New Boat Price Protection  The insured can get the [...]

2019-07-25T12:56:24-05:00Property & Casualty|
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TASC Landmines for HSAs, FSAs, and HRAs

Recently, MIBS hosted a seminar presented by Nancy Dantzman, Vice President at TASC and Craig Sayers, MIBS' regional director with TASC. It was a very informative and lively event. Nancy jumped right in discussing Flexible Spending Accounts (FSA) which offer variability when setting them up. FSA Flexible Spending Account An FSA is an account employees can use to pay certain out-of-pocket health care costs not paid by other health plans, pretax. The FSA can be set up with the employer and/or the employee contributing. When employees contribute pretax, this lowers the payroll taxes that the employer has to pay so both parties experience savings on their tax liability.   In groups with high employee contribution, the employer’s payroll tax savings may be enough to pay for any administration charges for the FSA.   Employers are not required to make contributions but certainly can. The IRS sets the contribution limit each year and the limits for 2019 are: FSAs are known for their use it or lose it provision, however, groups may offer participating employees more time through either a carryover option or the grace period option to use any funds [...]

2019-06-11T16:42:07-05:00Ancillary, Marketing & Sales Ideas, Patty's Perspective|
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Coming July 1, 2019 for BCBS Mid-Market Groups (51-150)…

The 2019 BCBS Mid-Market Portfolio will launch July 1, 2019 for effective dates starting July 1, 2019 and going forward and there are a few changes. There are 10 new plans and six of the 2018 plans will be removed. Any group that chose a 2018 benefit plan that is being removed, will be mapped to a 2019 plan most similar to their 2018 plan upon their renewal. Included in the new plans is an H.S.A. Blue Options plan. Plans being closed are listed below: For your new 51+ groups effective 7.1.19 or groups renewing 7.1.19 and after, be sure to use the new BPS form for any plan changes. Click Here for 2019 BPS BCBS has changed the plan name for their HSA plans to include A for aggregate and E for embedded into the plan name in the 5th position. Example: Aggregate plans will look as follows: MIEEA### Embedded plans will look as follows: MIEEE### Blue Choice Options HSA compliant plans are both Embedded in 2019 BCBS’s level funded product, Blue Balance Funded for the 51+ market will be ending 7/1/2019. It will still be [...]

2019-04-26T00:45:32-05:00Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Illinois, Medical|
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Fitness and Wellness Insurance with Philadelphia Insurance Companies

Specifically designed to meet the needs of the Health, Fitness & Wellness Facilities, Philadelphia Insurance Companies coverage taps into a unique and growing market. With the driver for healthy habits speeding up at high rates, the demand for the specific coverage has grown. Fitness and Wellness coverage is designed to meet the needs of many categories such as: Health Club Facilities, membership based Fitness and Sport Facilities, training and instruction based Martial Arts Studios Yoga Studios YMCA’s  Keep in mind for Fitness & Wellness, there are quite a few products that the insured can access directly and can obtain quotes and bind coverage themselves with Philadelphia. More specifically for individual fitness instructors or studios, the carrier does not pay commission or use brokers for those policies since the insured can access the portal directly and obtain quotes from the website for $175 in premium. However, for other Fitness & Wellness policies they do accept submission and follow a normal quoting process. Key Benefits General and Professional Liability Comprehensive General Liability and Professional Liability Personal Injury Liability Special Events Insurance for outside the club/facility Coverage extended to contracted professionals Zero Deductible [...]

2019-04-15T16:04:07-05:00Property & Casualty|
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Unum Update for Ancillary Products

Do you have groups with 10 or more enrolled? Consider Unum for their ancillary products! In 2019, Unum’s dental and vision networks were increased by 8% making them one of the top 10 best networks. Their goal is to become one of the top 3 networks, which they are successfully working towards. Unum also offers the EyeMed network which includes Lens Crafters, but their regular vision network offers more Big Box names: Sears, Target, Walmart, Vision works, etc. Also, in 2019, Unum can offer discounts for their dental products when bundled with another product line. A great selling feature with the long term disability product, is the EAP Program (Employer Assistance Program). For members enrolled in this product, they will have assistance from a skilled negotiating team that will work with the provider to get a discount on any balance (minimum $400) not paid by the health insurer. This can also be added onto the life product as well. Employee Assistance Program Flyer Employee Assistance Program Medical Bill Saver Flyer Medical groups renewing this year mostly are receiving minimal increases and even some decrease in premium. [...]

2019-03-19T02:06:46-05:00Ancillary, Marketing & Sales Ideas|
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Blue Options/Blue Choice Options Plan Hospital Search

The Blue Options/Blue Choice Options plan continues to be a great option for groups to offer to their employees. However, one of the main concerns members have is if their hospital is in the Blue Options plan. To explore this, I tried an experiment to confirm if the hospitals in the large BCBS PPO network were all in the Blue Options plan. Using the BCBS IL provider finder:  I created a list of all hospitals within a 100 mile radius of 60173 in the large PPO network. 122 hospitals were listed. I clicked on the name of every hospital on the above list to see what networks were listed. Most showed Blue Options/Blue Choice Options as a network. For those hospitals that did not show the Blue Options/Blue Choice Options network, I individually checked under the Blue Options/Blue Choice Options network. All of the hospitals on this list showed the large PPO network. Every one of the hospitals on the list in item 4 showed they were Tier 2 in the Blue Options/Blue Choice Options network. Advocate Lutheran General Hospital Tier 2: Participating Provider Organization Advocate Lutheran General [...]

2021-06-15T21:46:10-05:00Uncategorized|
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New car? Don’t forget Gap Insurance!

What is Gap Insurance? G- Guaranteed A-Asset P- Protection Guaranteed Asset Protection (GAP) Insurance is an optional, add-on car insurance coverage that can help certain drivers cover the “gap” between the amount they owe on their car and the car's actual cash value in the event of an accident. Why is this an important coverage? Here's an example: Your client Jim has just purchased or leased a new vehicle and has contacted you to make sure he has the insurance coverage he needs in case of an accident. You help the insured add the new car to his current auto insurance policy. Will that policy provide him  with enough coverage in the event of a total loss? Unfortunately, Jim totals his brand new car after a few months of owning it.  He needs to find a replacement.  Will the auto insurance payment from his carrier cover the cost of the outstanding loan? Well, if he has a standard policy, he likely will not be covered for the difference in the value of the vehicle and the outstanding loan. According to Edmunds.com, during the first nine months of 2016, 32 percent of all cars traded [...]

2019-01-22T18:21:47-06:00Property & Casualty|
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General Liability vs. Professional Liability

General Liability Insurance and Professional Liability Insurance are both important components of Small Business Insurance. But which policy addresses the risks your clients face? Here's how you can tell the difference. General Liability covers a Physical Incident It protects your client's business against a few general lawsuits that any business could face. Essentially, it kicks in when a third party (anyone who doesn't work for the business) sues for: Bodily or personal injury on company property Damage your client's company caused to their property Advertising injuries Slander and Libel- spoken or written defamatory statements Misappropriation- unauthorized use of information Copyright infringement Examples: Third Party Bodily Injury If a person is injured on business property, they may make a bodily injury claim against the business. For example, a package delivery man trips on loose carpeting in your client's accounting office, falls and breaks his wrist. General Liability Insurance can help cover the costs of the bodily injury claim he makes against your client's business for this accident. Third Party Property Damage If your client or someone on their payroll damages a third party’s property, they may face a property [...]

2019-01-08T15:49:40-06:00Property & Casualty|
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Tips: Adding Value to Group Enrollment and Renewal Meetings

Agents can add value to the group health plan that their clients are enrolled in by educating the insureds on how to maximize their benefits.   This also will increase the agent’s value in the employer’s mind.  With many families paying a monthly health premium that is higher than their mortgage, it is even more important to use the plan correctly.  Listed below are some topics and brochures to enhance your enrollment and renewal meetings. Stay in Network – insureds will receive more benefits by staying in network. Both BCBS IL and Humana offer insureds the opportunity to register for their carrier’s member website where they can view accrued deductibles and out of pockets, claims in process, provider searches and more. They also offer members a mobile app, making it very easy to search for an in-network provider while on the go. Since the mobile app is linked to the plan they are enrolled in, the provider search option already has their network, making the search easier and more accurate. Going out of network could result in very high expenses for the insured as those providers can balance [...]

2018-12-04T15:20:24-06:00Marketing & Sales Ideas, Medical, Patty's Perspective|
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Workers Compensation

Help business owners protect their most valuable asset- their people. As you are visiting small business owners for open enrollment, it is a great opportunity to make sure they are fully covered in all aspects of their business. Consider asking how their workers compensation plan is working for them. Offering solutions in workers compensation and reminding them that you can come up with custom solutions for their coverage will help ensure they are protected. Running a business can come with many important decisions to make. Help make getting workers compensation insurance an easy one. Workers Compensation works on two levels: To protect employees... Medical expense benefits Lost wages benefits Over 2,000 workers compensation claim professionals to simplify the claims process 500+ in-house nurses and medical professionals to ensure a timely return and smooth transition back to work when medically appropriate To protect business… May limit a business owner's liability if sued by an injured employee Safety resources and expertise available to reduce workplace accidents Investigative team for claims Sales Approach: Why should you write worker's compensation for your small business clients?  All business owners know that they need workers compensation when [...]

2018-10-30T14:21:52-05:00Property & Casualty|
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