Contact Sales@LeClairGroup.com with your questions or to request an appointment.
AEP is here, and so are the materials available to UnitedHealthcare agents.
If you are appointed with UnitedHealthcare, please stop by the main office for your 2021 AEP materials on October 2 between 11am and 1pm. You may pull into the roundabout in front of the building and employees will load the materials into your car.
Below is the address if needed:
12700 Whitewater Drive
Minnesota, MN 55343
Contact Sales@LeClairGroup.com with your questions or to request an appointment.
Are you looking for a Short Term Medical option to offer clients? UnitedHealthOne is not only the sole STM option in Minnesota, but it also offers a range of plans for UnitedHealthcare’s national network. As one of the leading STM carriers, UnitedHealthOne has a variety of plan options for you to offer clients.
To learn more about Short Term Medical, click here to register for our upcoming webinar on October 14.
Click to view their Teladoc brochure and Short Term Medical brochure.
UnitedHealthOne’s fall incentive program may be viewed here.
Contact Sales@LeClairGroup.com with your questions or to request an appointment.
How utilizing health benefits reduces cost
Issues with healthcare arise when clients have no coverage. But what about the members who have a plan, but do not use their benefits– especially preventive services?
Surprisingly, many people who have health insurance deliberately avoid using it. The reasoning varies, ranging from fear of out-of-pocket costs and mistrust in the medical system to the recent fears surrounding COVID-19. Other factors come down to other social determinants of health such as transportation, food, economic insecurities, a lack of health literacy, and more.
Many are simply overwhelmed and confused how to navigate the complex landscape of healthcare, so they choose not to utilize it. Many conditions are being left untreated, which can lead to worsened conditions that may result in late detection, delayed treatment, much higher costs, and even avoidable deaths. The longer a condition is left untreated, the higher the likely cost of care.
Every member who avoids healthcare–even when who suspect it to be necessary–is classified as being “care-avoidant.” Among those who choose to be care-avoidant, those who experience behavioral health issues (anxiety, depression, substance abuse, etc.) are at the highest risk of experiencing declining health as a result of forgoing care.
This behavior is not only harmful to the individual, but also to the healthcare industry as a whole. Populations with behavioral health conditions and medical comorbidities can inflate healthcare costs by up to 6.2 times,with little to none of those dollars spent on behavioral care. This can result in as much as $68B in avoidable annual costs, a figure that is growing by upwards of 7% annually by some estimates. Additionally, according to a 2018 study, more than half of Americans do not understand how to navigate the current healthcare landscape because it is so complex, creating an estimated $4.8 billion annual administrative cost burden for payers.
Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, this issue has only risen. Over the last several months, many have chosen to avoid visiting their healthcare providers for fear of contracting the virus in a public setting, which has created more of an issue for the healthcare system.
It’s important for agents to connect with clients to ensure they are utilizing their benefits completely and, if necessary, to remind them why it’s important for them to do so. Encourage those who exhibit a reluctance to seek care by being persistent and reminding them that it is in their best interest to do so. By encouraging clients to seek care, you will in turn save them from hundreds, if not thousands of dollars in medical bills, the stress and pain of prolonged illness or injury, all while doing your part to stimulate the healthcare industry.
Contact Sales@LeClairGroup.com with your questions or to request an appointment.
Recently several Principal® retirement plan customers were recognized as finalists and one named winner of the 2020 Plan Sponsor of the Year by PLANSPONSOR.
By taking a closer look at these four organizations on this prestigious list, we see some common themes that contributed to their success. For most, it means working with a financial professional or third-party administrator and taking a role in helping employees live their best life in retirement.
Consider using organizations like these as inspiration for your clients to take a closer look at their retirement plans. These five insights and action items may help start the conversation.
Action item: If they aren’t already, suggest your clients schedule regular bi-weekly or weekly meetings to stay on top of plan changes and metrics. Introduce the idea of inviting the CEO or other senior management periodically.
Action item: Review how your clients are communicating during COVID-19. Remind leaders that employees may need to hear from them even more often with some extra reassurance.
Action item: Conduct a plan review with a specific focus on automated features. Show how participation and savings can increase by making changes.
Action item: Find out if your clients have other retirement programs that could benefit from consolidating services under one provider. Remind clients how this can save time and possibly money with simplified administration.
Action item: As you meet with your clients, talk about the benefits of using a best-in-class retirement program as a recruiting tool for top talent in their area.
This article originally appeared at advisors.principal.com
Contact Sales@LeClairGroup.com with your questions or to request an appointment.
Deferred annuity interest rates will be decreasing effective October 1, 2020.
This article originally appeared at blogs.mutualofomaha.com
Contact Sales@LeClairGroup.com with your questions or to request an appointment.
Mutual of Omaha is now sending emails containing links to PDF copies of all critical illness policies. The email will be sent within 24 hours of policy issue and will be sent directly to the client, the writing agent, the top level marketer and any authorized user designated by the writing agent or the top-level marketer with full access to Sales Professional Access.
This email process will be in addition to the current paper policy output. The email will contain a link to our Secure Message Portal system allowing access to view the PDF of the policy. Note: This process does not include e-signatures. However, delivery requirements and delivery receipts can be printed and wet signed or electronically signed using one of our approved vendors.
Delivery requirements for critical illness can either be mailed in to Mutual of Omaha with the envelope provided in the paper policy or sent via email to healthrequirements@mutualofomaha.com (recommended).
If you have any questions, please contact your sales director.
This article originally appeared at blogs.mutualofomaha.com
Contact Sales@LeClairGroup.com with your questions or to request an appointment.
We all know someone who has received a cancer diagnosis, and in today’s world, a diagnosis doesn’t mean all hope is lost. With a Cancer Insurance policy from Mutual of Omaha, you can help your clients focus on their recovery by offering them a lump-sum payment that can be used for any out-of-pocket expense including:
Use the flyer to show your clients how Cancer Insurance can help fill their coverage gaps.
*Not all benefits are approved in all states.
This article originally appeared at blogs.mutualofomaha.com
Contact Sales@LeClairGroup.com with your questions or to request an appointment.
Since the days of Life Insurance Awareness Month are waning, we would like to take the opportunity to share some niche products found in the specialty markets that may provide you with opportunities to find solutions to your cases that have been languishing or seem dead on arrival.
Since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, there has been a great influx of cases coming onto the market where traditional life products aren’t an available fit. Older age clients and prospects with impaired health histories or hazardous risk backgrounds are finding little to any help from many U.S. carriers. Coverage postponements have become more common at this time, and the need for outside-the-box, shorter-term solutions is quite evident.
One such accommodation is a simple financial protection vehicle that is often scoffed at by life insurance purveyors, but can sometimes be the best solution for hard-to-place cases. I’m talking about standalone accidental death insurance. Of course the product doesn’t provide comprehensive protection and shouldn’t be prescribed in lieu of traditional term or whole life insurances, but when client demographics don’t fit a traditional mold or when supplemental short term coverage is necessary, accidental death is an affordable alternative that often saves the day.
AD policies are simplified-issue and can be underwritten and approved in a few days, providing much needed death benefits to clients with health problems or clients living abroad or clients with hazardous avocations like auto racing or private piloting. The reasons to look to a high-limit accidental death policy are numerous, and we are constantly seeing this flexible product being the agent’s perfect tool at the right time.
Another niche solution for the life market that has taken the industry by storm is failure to survive insurance also known as contract protection insurance. The basic product is similar in format to term insurance for third-party applications. Its main purpose is to address key person, buy/sell, contract guarantee and business loan situations where there is a financial obligation to indemnify a business contract upon the death of an individual (usually the business owner or a key employee) with insurance. It cannot be used as an alternative to personal-benefit life insurance, but is commonly employed to cover divorce decrees and alimony/child support court orders.
Medically sub-standard cases find easy solutions amongst the product line as the underwriting guidelines are more flexible than those of traditional life carriers, allowing for medical exclusions and coverage for persons with infirmities like cardiac, body mass and diabetes issues. It’s also optimal for prospects with drug, alcohol and mental health concerns.
What make failure to survive insurance stand apart is that it can be underwritten quickly. The average turnaround time from receipt of application to the approval of coverage is usually no more than several business days. Underwriters offer simplified issuance of the coverage without requirements like intrusive medical exams, blood draws and urinalyses.
The fast underwriting period allows policy owners to meet the strict and time-sensitive deadlines mandated by lending institutions on loan agreements. Failure to survive can also be extremely useful when the underwriting of a traditional term product is holding-up a business deal relying upon the insurance for a corporate buy/sell or investment agreement.
Although traditional life insurance is generally preferred, it is not always available to every client in every circumstance. Niche products like accidental death and failure to survive have garnered huge followings in recent years because the products often afford opportunities that traditional life carriers have denied or cannot accommodate.
This article originally appeared at piu.org
Contact Sales@LeClairGroup.com with your questions or to request an appointment.
New rates and benefits for GeoBlue short-term plans are here. Beginning today, members purchasing one of our Voyager or Trekker plans can take advantage of enhanced benefits and expanded age limits.
Click here to read the full August/September newsletter.
This article originally appeared at about.geo-blue.com
Contact Sales@LeClairGroup.com with your questions or to request an appointment.
There’s acronyms galore, many different provider options and according to a 2019 published study, the majority of U.S. adults (51%) reported having inadequate health insurance literacy as measured by knowledge of basic insurance terms. Perhaps even more concerning is that close to one-half (48%) had low confidence in using their insurance to access health care.
Employers can empower — and engage — their employees by educating them about their health care benefits, especially when it comes to navigating the health care industry and finding the right cost-effective care. In a survey conducted by Kaiser Family Foundation, only 51% of consumers could correctly calculate how much they would have to pay for a hospital stay based on their deductible and copay. Only 16% could calculate how much they would have to pay for an out-of-network lab test. Three in 10 incorrectly believe that receiving care at an in-network hospital means that all the providers delivering services at that hospital are in network. Employers can fill this knowledge gap by providing tools and resources for employees to shop for the right health care option.
Take PPOs and HDHPs for example, the two most common type of plans offered (acronyms, see?). If you offer these options – and with open enrollment around the corner – are you confident that your team members understand the difference – and know how to make the choice that suits their individual health care needs?
The takeaway we’d like you to have after reading this post? Employers are a conduit to increasing health care literacy (and health care use, for better health outcomes) and messaging matters. Consider the following tips:
Start by providing resources with straightforward explanations, and even illustrations, to aid in comprehension. This glossary of terms simply defines a HDHP (high deductible health plan) as a type of health insurance plan that offers lower monthly premiums in exchange for a higher deductible (the amount you pay out of pocket before insurance kicks in) shifting more cost onto the individual. A preferred provider organization (PPO) is a plan type with pre-approved doctors, hospitals, and other providers. This type of plan typically has higher premiums than a high deductible health plan, but also a lower deductible and it covers more services pre-deductible.
Beyond the definitions, the data from the 2019 benchmark KFF Employer Health Benefits Survey, also tells a story. PPOs continue to be the most common plan type, enrolling 44% of covered workers in 2019. Thirty percent of covered workers are enrolled in a high deductible plan with a savings option (HDHP/SO), 19% in an HMO (Health Maintenance Organization), 7% in a POS (Point of Service) plan, and 1% in a conventional (also known as an indemnity) plan.
While PPOs are the most common, HDHPs continue to gain in popularity. And cost may be an indicator as to why. Annual family premiums for employer-sponsored health insurance in the U.S. rose 5% to average $20,576 this year, according to the 2019 benchmark KFF Employer Health Benefits Survey. The average annual premiums for employer-sponsored health insurance in 2019 were $7,188 for single coverage and $20,576 for family coverage. The average single premium increased 4% and the average family premium increased 5% over the past year. Workers’ wages increased 3.4% and inflation increased 2%.
Further, the average premium for family coverage has increased 22% over the last five years and 54% over the last ten years, significantly more than either workers’ wages or inflation. However, and importantly, KFF reports that the average premiums for covered workers in high deductible health plans with a savings option (HDHP/SOs) are considerably lower than the overall average for all plan types for both single and family coverage, at $6,412 and $18,980, respectively.
While both PPOs and HDHPs have a deductible, how they affect your team members differently, and the cost differential may be very important to them. How it works for a PPO: If your plan’s deductible is $1,500, your team member will pay 100 percent of eligible health care expenses until the bills total $1,500. After that, they share the cost with your plan by paying coinsurance. For a HDHP: there is no coinsurance after a deductible is met, the health care services are paid by the plan.
Also, HDHPs offer a savings option, known as Health Savings Accounts (HSAs), which allows individuals to save money pretax for qualified health care expenses, such as doctor visits, prescription drugs and dental and vision care, now or in the future. The money in the account is owned by the individual and stays with them even if they change jobs or health plans or retire.
Although often marketed as a pretax investment vehicle, it’s notable that in a Further study a little less than a third of respondents reported tax benefits as a key factor in their decision to purchase a HSA. Knowing this, employers may want to focus on the benefit of leveraging a HSA for future health care needs instead. Here’s why: as health care costs continue to rise, employees are forced to find new ways to pay. In fact, when employees were asked if they primarily use their HSA to pay for health care now or if they primarily use it as an investment tool, 65% report that they are using their HSAs for spending, with 23% stating they use the account for equal parts saving and spending. Yet employers have a much different perception. Over 66% of employers associate HSAs with savings and as a long-term investment tool, leaving a gap in how employees are actually perceiving and leveraging these powerful accounts.
Our advice: use powerful scenarios to help your team members understand the benefits of HSAs in terms of dollars and sense, as our survey findings show that employees want to be active participants in their health care. In fact, when asked why they selected an HDHP paired with an HSA, over half said they want to put away money not as an investment but to have funds available to pay for health care expenses that might arise now or in the near term.
There is a window of opportunity for employers to take action before the 2021 open enrollment period to message differently to HDHP-selecting employees than PPO-selecting employees. Using this time now to update enrollment messaging to educate and empower employees to fully leverage the benefits of HDHP with an HSA to help pay for care today, will pay dividends to employer and employees alike.
This article originally appeared at hellofurther.com
