… From Biz2Biz NWA, May “Heathcare in the Workplace”
By Janie Pritchett-Clark
The rally behind “Yes, We Can” hasn’t gone viral with HR 3962, the Health Care Reform Bill signed into law March 23. Some say the 2,000-page legislation is akin to starting a foreign language class: clueless, confusing, and chary.
What effect will it have on your health care plan? What is it going to cost you? “We didn’t get a whole lot of answers,” says Leesa Davis, fresh from the Society of Professional Benefit Administrators annual legislative conference in Washington D.C.
“No one knows. And that comes from the top down.” Davis is President of SB Howard & Company, a third party administrator in Rogers.
The agenda for this year’s conference was healthcare reform.
“Those writing the healthcare bill’s regulations are sequestered behind closed doors trying to come up with its rules and explanations, and they’re having a hard time understanding what it says,” explains Davis. “That information was disclosed by a White House staffer.”
Clearly, the underlying push is to give everyone good healthcare. There are more agreeable ways to do that, says Davis. “There are approaches that don’t require 2,000 pages of legislation. Ultimately, the bill has the possibility of destroying employer-based plans, which is going to put many more people on the uninsured list and exacerbate the very problem they are trying to fix.”
The bill is so plagued by myth and misinformation that many small businesses owners have shrugged the problem from their shoulders.
“When it was a hot topic in mainstream media I was pretty up on what was going on. Now it’s just not flavor of the week,” says James Hood, Hollywood Stars Pizza in Fort Smith. “They’ve made it so bulky you don’t know what you are reading anyway.”
Hood has six employees between the ages of 17 and 30-something. None has insurance.
“I am concerned. If what I perceive to be the costs, I may have to rethink my business. It could be a cost of doing business such that it’s not going to be worth it. That’s a lot of offset for pizza,” he says.
Tom Kirkham is the CEO of Kirkham Systems, a computer software and design company based in Fort Smith. The company has eight full time employees currently insured through the company.
“My impression from a high level perspective is that it’s nothing more than enlarging the total number of insured and everybody is going to have private insurance. I don’t know where the cost savings are going to come from,” says Kirkham.
Both Hood and Kirkham say they will look to their insurance company for help and information to plan their approach as compliance deadlines draw near.
Yet, the insurance people don’t know either.
“Anybody who gives you insight currently is lying to you,” says Andy Jackson, Owner/Agent of Group Benefits Network based in Fort Smith. “There are so many gray areas they are still working out.”
He is reminded of HIPPA, the huge, slow moving beast that took more than three years to iron out its wrinkles.
“The insurance professional is the person to seek your answers from,” says Jackson, “and they need to be taking a proactive role with their clients.
“As things change we will be working with national associations to conduct and attend web conferences and training seminars. We’ll be scheduling opportunities for our clients to log in to these conferences. We will take a proactive role. We’ve got to.”
Davis says, “My clients are just not going to accept, ‘I don’t know’. At least I came away from the conference armed with short term guidance. They will be grandfathered in to have some leeway in terms of compliance.”
“All in all,” she says, “we all have to be more proactive. Go talk to your congressman now,” she suggests. “Tell them this is really going to affect your business.”
Tips on Choosing an Insurance Agent
Now more than ever it’s time to trust your insurance agent. “Make sure you know and trust you agent,” says Andy Jackson, Owner/Agent of Group Benefits Network. He suggests you consider these points when selecting an agent for your business insurance.
Service. This means more than helping you file a claim. Make sure they not only stay informed of laws, rules and changes that apply to your business and employees, but also inform you.
Referrals. Ask for an agent referral from an insurance carrier you trust. Ask for someone in your area who has experience with a business of similar size. Ask for references from the agent under consideration and actually talk with those references.
Years in business. “There is a lot of information to learn and it’s always changing,” says Jackson. Consider how many years an agent has been in business or the experience of the agent’s firm. “The first two years are spent learning the ropes, being guided by more experienced agents. You not only have state and federal laws to deal with, every company has its own policies and plan designs. It takes time to learn all of that.”
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