by admin | Nov 12, 2020 | Benefit Management, Open Enrollment
As the weather turns cooler and shopping centers get busier, it’s easy to surmise that it’s nearing the end of the year. Are we all ready for 2020 to be over?! Yes, please! Since we are closing in on 2021, it’s time for you to maximize your healthcare plan by taking advantage of end-of-year healthcare benefits.
HAVE YOU MET YOUR DEDUCTIBLE YET?
Before you continue reading, look over your insurance plan details and check your deductible amount. Then, check with your HR advisor and see where you are with your benefits per their records and the insurance company records to ensure you have all the information you need regarding these details. Now that you have all your ducks in a row, let’s look at some ways to make sure you are maximizing your healthcare benefits before year-end.
THINGS TO DO LIST
- Refill prescriptions—maybe get 90-day supplies so they last beyond the start of the new year
- Schedule lab work
- Schedule imaging
- Visit the dermatologist
- Visit the optometrist—get new glasses or contact lenses
- Schedule preventive screenings like:
- Endoscopy
- Colonoscopy
- Prostate cancer
- Lung cancer
- Schedule elective surgeries like:
- Hysterectomy
- Gallbladder
- Joint replacement
- Weight loss
- Thyroid
- Eye
- Back
- Go to physical therapy for an injury
- Visit your PCP for preventive care
- Visit the dentist
THINGS TO CONSIDER
Before you go whole-hog on scheduling these appointments, you need to consider some things first.
- Think about the additional costs associated with procedures like physical therapy post-surgery. You should calculate the cost of having the surgery this calendar year and starting PT after the new year begins and your deductible resets versus doing everything next year.
- Many dental plans have yearly maximums so it may be better to split up some dental procedures between this year and next.
- Make sure you stay in your network when you schedule these appointments or else your insurance coverage won’t be as robust as you thought.
- Use your FSA money before the end of the year because these funds are “use it or lose it.”
- The IRS does give you a grace period of 2 ½ months to spend your money
BONUS TIPS
As a couple bonus tips:
- Check your plan’s terms about coinsurance so you know if this will come into play even after meeting your deductible.
- Increase your HSA contributions to max out your account before the end of the year. The IRS, again, gives you some extra time in the following year to keep contributing to the prior year’s account. But, not maxing out your contribution amount means that you aren’t reaping the benefits of this tax-free money.
Making sure you are fully utilizing your healthcare plan at the end of the year is a smart move for every healthcare consumer. Begin crossing things off this “To Do List” today!
by admin | Nov 10, 2020 | Health & Wellness
The month of November has a central focus on the holiday, Thanksgiving. Linked with this holiday is the emotion of gratitude. We want to take a closer look at this emotion and see how it is linked to better health and give you some practical tips on how to increase the size of your gratitude bucket.
The Definition of Gratitude
The emotion of gratitude is defined as “the quality of being thankful; readiness to show appreciation for and to return kindness.” We are familiar with the act of “thank you” to represent gratitude, but it also includes thinking on positive things that have happened during the day or your life, meditating on positive thoughts, and feeling grateful.
The Health of Gratitude
Beyond making someone feel appreciated, gratitude also has other benefits. In fact, there are physical health benefits associated with the act of gratitude. The Greater Good Science Center produced a list of benefits to gratitude.
For the individual:
- increased happiness and positive mood
- more satisfaction with life
- less materialistic
- less likely to experience burnout
- better physical health
- better sleep
- less fatigue
- lower levels of cellular inflammation
- greater resiliency
- encourages the development of patience, humility, and wisdom
In addition to these above benefits, psychologically, the act of gratitude has been shown to reduce toxic emotions like envy, frustration, resentment, and regret. Those who focus on gratitude have even been reported to visit the doctor less!
The Act of Gratitude
So, how do you practice gratitude in your everyday life? Here are some easy-to-do exercises to strengthen your gratitude muscles:
- Say thank you
- Keep a gratitude journal
- Write handwritten thank-you notes
- Think/meditate on positive thoughts
- Smile!
- Put sticky notes around your home and workspace to remind you to be grateful
By practicing gratitude, you are not only sowing positivity in someone’s heart, you are also reaping health rewards like lower blood pressure and decreased levels of stress and depression. This simple act, that we’ve all been taught since we were born (Moms always remind you to say, “thank you!”), has far-reaching benefits so start flexing your muscles of gratitude today.
by admin | Oct 26, 2020 | Benefit Management, Human Resources
With many enrollments being forced to go virtual this year, you may feel at a disadvantage. But, there are actually plenty of reasons to believe a virtual open enrollment could be even more effective for you and your clients.
IMPROVED EDUCATION
People only tend to remember 10% of what they hear and only 20% of what they read. However, people actually recall 80% of what they see. As you prepare your virtual enrollment presentations, make sure you work on integrating images to communicate your message. An image has a higher chance of evoking an emotional response in a person than a set of words, written or spoken and with that emotion comes retention. Leverage every opportunity to use graphs, charts, and images to relay your message.
GREATER REACH
As you communicate with your employees regarding education on benefits offerings or deadlines for enrollment, use a form of communication that is natural for most people—text messaging. Texting for employee communication results in a 98% open/read rate and a 45% reply rate. Compare these percentages to basic email open rates of 20% and a reply rate for email of only 6% and you’ll plainly see that texting has a far greater reach. So, if it worries you that virtual enrollments will result in less communication, don’t let it!
Another great way to leverage this time of virtual open enrollments for the good is to get online with your enrollment paperwork by posting it all via an online portal or company intranet. Employees can read through the information at their leisure from anywhere—phone, tablet, or laptop. They can also easily share it with family members who can read it at their convenience. More people will be able to digest the information than if it had only been available at a physical enrollment meeting.
OPEN LINES OF COMMUNICATION
Work on creating a solid foundation of communication for the entire year by introducing it during Q4’s virtual enrollment meetings. Use your company’s social media to stay in contact by posting educational infographics, animated videos on health and wellness topics, and invitations to webinars. Then, by the time 2021’s enrollment period approaches, your employees will be conditioned to look at your social media for company announcements and you will be set up for success as you post info on your different channels.
Even though open enrollment looks starkly different than in years’ past, it does have its benefits. Improved communication, a greater reach, and new, open lines of communication are all byproducts of this innovative, virtual environment. What a great surprise!
by admin | Oct 13, 2020 | Health & Wellness
In a world where viruses run rampant across the globe and healthcare costs are skyrocketing, there is an easy way for you and your family to stay healthy—preventive care services.
Preventive is defined as “used to stop something bad from happening.” Preventive care is care that thwarts off illness or disease thanks to regular check-ups, counseling, and screenings. When you subscribe to a health plan—regardless of whether it’s one offered by your work or one you purchase in the marketplace—most plans will include an array of preventive care services free of charge. So, where do you start with accessing these services? It’s easy!
Easy as 1-2-3
As long as you have subscribed to a health plan after 2010, those plan providers are required by law to offer basic preventive care services to you and those covered by your plan with no additional copay, coinsurance, or requirement to meet a deductible. By utilizing this free resource, you are setting yourself up for greater health success—and it’s as easy as 1-2-3!
1. Visit your doctor for annual checkups.
Annual exams allow doctors to identify disease earlier and manage chronic conditions closer. They also help your doctor to track any changes in your body over the years so that, should a disease or illness befall you, there is background data from your preventive care to refer to as they prescribe treatment. An easy way to remember to schedule these annual doctor appointments for both you and your family is to plan them around your birthday each year. This is also helpful for the doctor because as you age, you need additional health screenings so they can have those recommendations ready for you at your annual appointment.
2. Stay up-to-date on immunizations and boosters.
Just as an infant has an immunization schedule that the pediatrician follows to bolster the child’s immune system, so do older children and even adults. For instance, before children enter a certain grade in school, they may be required to have a meningitis booster. Tetanus shots are only good for 10 years so once a decade, you’ll need to get a booster for this disease which also may include the diphtheria vaccine and sometimes one for pertussis. As you age, you may need the shingles vaccine and other shots for prevention of pneumonia or the flu.
3. Follow a care schedule for additional age-related screenings.
Because you are visiting your doctor annually for regular checkups, they will likely alert you to any additional screenings they recommend. For instance, women ages 40-44 can begin getting mammograms to help detect breast cancer. After age 44, it is recommended they get this screening annually. If you want to be pro-active and keep track of these additional screenings yourself, there are tools online to do so.
MyHealthfinder is a site coordinated by the US Department of Health and Human Services. Simply enter your age and answer a few easy questions, and the site will cull a list of suggested screenings for you.
PublicHealth is another site with suggested preventive care services. They have created a lifetime care schedule, broken into age brackets, with lists of screenings recommended for each age by the National Institute of Health (NIH).
Keeping you and your family on the right track for health and wellness is not hard! By follow these three simple steps for your health care, you can significantly affect your health in the future. It’s as easy as 1-2-3!
by admin | Oct 1, 2020 | Benefit Management, HSA/HRA
Health Savings Accounts (HSA) are great ways to save tax-free money for medical expenses both in the current term, and for your retirement years. By making wise choices, you can maximize the benefit of these fantastic savings accounts. Let’s take a quick look at the basics and then explore some tips on how to make your HSA money grow.
What is an HSA?
According to the website HealthCare.gov, a Health Savings Account is a type of savings account that lets you set aside money on a pre-tax basis to pay for qualified medical expenses. By using untaxed dollars in an HSA to pay for deductibles, copayments, coinsurance, and some other expenses, you may be able to lower your overall health care costs. HSA funds generally may not be used to pay premiums.
In order to contribute to an HSA, you must be enrolled in a High Deductible Health Plan (HDHP). A HDHP is defined as a plan with a higher deductible than a traditional insurance plan. The monthly premium is usually lower, but you pay more health care costs yourself before the insurance company starts to pay its share (your deductible). A high deductible plan (HDHP) can be combined with a health savings account (HSA), allowing you to pay for certain medical expenses with money free from federal taxes.
HSA vs Traditional Insurance
As mentioned, you are able to open a Health Savings Account when you enroll in your employer’s High Deductible Health Plan. A HDHP is different from traditional insurance in that with traditional insurance, you and your employer both contribute to the cost of your health insurance each month—otherwise known as the premium. You then have a fixed cost—a “co-pay”—that you pay when you visit a doctor, pay for prescriptions, or have a health procedure. With a HDHP, the patient is incentivized to shop around for lower cost doctor visits and procedures since they are paying for those costs out of their pocket at the full amount from the beginning until the high deductible amount is met.
Now, when used in tandem, the two components of the HDHP and the HSA have the potential to save the insured party money on their health care expenses. Here’s how it works:
- Contribution Limits
Each year, the government puts a cap on the amount of money that an individual and a family can contribute to their HSA. For 2020, an individual can contribute up to $3550 and a family can add in $7100 to their account. In 2021, the amounts both increase: individuals will be $3600 and families will be able to deposit $7200.
- Triple Tax Benefits
When you contribute to your HSA, your money gets a triple tax benefit. There is a 0% tax on deposited money, your money grows tax-free while in the account, and, when used for qualified medical expenses, you can withdraw the money tax-free.
- Roll-over
The money that you deposit into your HSA is yours to keep–forever. If you change jobs, the money follows you. If you don’t use the money you’ve contributed by the end of the year, it rolls over to the next year with no penalty.
Tips to Maximize the Benefits of Your HSA This Year
Don’t be complacent to let your tax-free hard-earned money simply sit in your HSA all year! You can by making some wise choices. Here’s some tips on how to do this:
- Do you get a bonus at the end of the year? You can use that bonus money to bulk up your HSA until April 15 of the following calendar year. Just make sure you don’t contribute more than the annual allowed amount or you will pay a 6% tax on the overage.
- Once you hit the minimum contribution amount for your particular plan, you can invest a portion of the contributions in an IRA account and watch your tax-free dollars grow even more! Check with your plan manager regarding the minimum amount required.
- There is a once-in-a-lifetime allowance for you to move money over from a traditional or Roth IRA to your HSA. This allows you to kickstart that HSA so that you can begin using that money for expenses right away. The annual contribution limit still applies to this scenario for the individual and family amount.
- Long term care insurance is expensive and you can use your HSA money to help pay for those insurance premiums. Again, check with your plan manager to make sure you are staying within the allowed range for using this money for those premiums.
- Finally, name your spouse as the beneficiary of your account. When you pass away, your spouse will have access to these funds with the same tax benefits as you did. In fact, your HSA money can even continue to grow tax-free after you pass.
Finding ways to save money is always a good idea. Finding ways to maximize the benefit of your already saved money is even better!
