Bill is 50-year-old department manager for a mid-sized manufacturer. Even though he has never been seriously ill and has a clean family health history, he was recently told that he has cancer.

While the treatment will be long and difficult, Bill can take comfort in knowing that his employer-sponsored health insurance will pay most of his hospital and physician costs.

But Bill is about to be blindsided for a second time when he realizes that he will have no income to help support his family as he recovers from the difficult medical treatments.

Disability Insurance Myths - An Employee’s Perspective

During the working years, an employee is over three times more likely to be disabled than to die. At Bill’s age, the odds are still 1.8 to 1 in favor of a disability. In fact, thanks to advances in medical treatments over the last twenty years, deaths from the major illnesses (cancer, stroke, and heart disease) are down nearly one third, while disabilities from these same diseases are up by over 50%!

Yet Bill, like many workers, is only protected against the lesser risk.

Based on these statistics, you would think that every employee would ensure that he has disability insurance coverage. Unfortunately, many of today’s workers do not see the necessity for this insurance because, like Bill, they have been lulled into a false sense of security by a lifetime‘s worth of good health or the naive belief that unforeseen illnesses and accidents happen only to the unlucky few.

Disability Insurance Considerations From an Employer’s Perspective

Unlike the readily understandable benefits like paid vacation or health and dental insurance, disability income insurance can be more difficult to use as an incentive for workers to remain loyal, yet in time of need it will be the most appreciated part of the benefit package. Workers of all ages (yes, even those young employees who believe they are invincible) need protection from those surprises that can neither be predicted nor prevented. Disability Insurance is a benefit that a caring employer can provide, even if it is never needed, and it will engender a sense of loyalty when it is established with a thorough explanation.

2 Types of Disability Insurance

There are two basic types of disability insurance: short term (STD) and long term (LTD), neither of which should put an undo strain on a company’s budget. Employers have the option of adjusting the waiting period (the interval from the injury or illness to the start of payments) and the benefit period (the maximum amount of time for which the worker will receive payments).

In the case of STD the waiting period is generally up to two weeks, while the benefit period can be as little as thirteen weeks or as much as two years. With LTD the waiting period ranges from six months to two years, and the benefit period would last from a few years to a lifetime.

Employers also have the flexibility to require employees to contribute a portion of the premium, or they may choose to pay the entire amount themselves. There are a variety of paths that an employer can take to establishing a plan that fits the company’s budget and, at the same time, addresses the potential needs of the workers.

Disability Insurance - Putting it all Together

There is little doubt that disability insurance has advantages for both your employees and your company. Consider these:

• Group rates are lower than individual rates and, with the option of employee contributions, a plan can be established at a reasonable cost
• There are no medical exams, so all of your employees are automatically covered regardless of medical history
• Those valued employees who become temporarily disabled return to the company with a sense of loyalty and gratitude
• Waiting and benefit periods can be adjusted, which gives your business flexibility in designing a plan
• Hiring managers can use this benefit as a recruiting tool for inducing new talent to the company

Get the Right Disability Insurance Coverage

To learn more about your disability insurance options, give us a call at (800) 947-1270 or (610) 775-3848, or click here to contact us. We offer health and disability insurance protection from multiple competing insurance providers, so unlike single-brand companies, we're free to shop around to find the best deal on quality insurance protection. Contact us today to get started.

Changing your Workers’ Compensation Insurance provider will cost money and time.  Not only will you need to spend time researching your options, but you will also probably end up spending more time answering employees’ questions. One way to save money on Workers’ Compensation expenses is to develop a strong long-term relationship with your third-party administrator (TPA).

A competent TPA can help lower your worker's comp insurance cost

The best TPAs have strong medical management skills that allow them to control the medical cost of your claims and work in conjunction with workers’ compensation adjusters.

Before hiring a TPA, ask which of the following techniques they use to control medical costs:

• Telephonic nurse case mangers (TCM) or Field nurse case managers (FCM) – experienced nurses help coordinate and manage the medical care of an injured employee, including consulting with physicians; providing frequent updates to the adjuster; and facilitating communicate between the employee, employer, and physician.
• Senior nurse reviews – a highly experienced nurse who provides continuous oversight of medical care, identifying recovery obstacles early in the claim.
• Utilization reviews – provides an independent confirmation that medical services are necessary with a pre-certification review, a concurrent review, and/or a retrospective review.
• Medical bill reviews – reviews and verifies the accuracy of the diagnostic codes and charges.
• Prescription management – helps ensure the best prices and the prevention of overutilization of drugs.
• Physician review – If an injured worker isn’t responding to medical care within the normal recovery time, a specialist can evaluate and document the past, current , and future medical treatments.
• On-site clinics – a medical clinic located on an employers’ worksite can reduce the cost of medical care for both personal and work-related injuries and illnesses.
• Injury triage – a triage nurse evaluates the injured employee’s needs and directs them to the most appropriate medical providers within the network.
• Wellness programs – a company sponsored wellness program lowers the cost of health insurance and the cost of workers’ compensation costs, lowers absenteeism, and increases productivity.
• Preferred provider networks – a network of doctors, hospitals, diagnostic facilities, and other medical providers that have agreed to provide medical services at a reduced cost to injured employees covered by workers’ compensation insurance. 

Get educated and lower your Workers Comp costs!

• Become more informed about the services offered by your claims administrator. Ask for samples of reports and deliverability’s. Read through their brochures and ask lots of questions.
• Visit one or two of their claims offices and learn their processes. Find out if adjusters have backup or clerical assistance. Watch the process as a medical bill enters the system through to the time that it is paid. You’ll have a better understanding and appreciation of how they work and how you can work with them more efficiently.
• Educate your adjusters on your business. Invite them to come in and see what your business does, the kinds of jobs and skills your employees have. This will help them understand better how an injury can occur. This may also allow them to offer more possible transitional duties for injured workers.

Need help finding a good TPA?

Amercian Insuring Group can help you find the right TPA for your organization. We can also help you find the best Workers Compensation Insurance coverage. That's because as independent agents, we're free to shop among competing insurance providers to find the best workers comp insurance to meet your unique needs at the best price.

Give us a call at (800)947-1270 or (610)775-3848 or click here to contact us. 

Warmer weather has arrived and with it come thoughts of vacations spent lying on the beach, hiking through the mountains, or visiting friends and relatives. No matter what you decide to do with your time off, it is important that homeowners make provisions to insure the security of their homes before they go.

Why Home Security Should be a Priority

According to FBI estimates, there are more than two million burglaries each year in the United States, and 65% of these are residential break-ins. It is no coincidence that these crimes occur at a 10% higher rate in July and August – the two most popular vacation months.

Having a fun-filled vacation can provide joyful memories for a lifetime, yet a disastrous homecoming can just as easily taint them.

Prepare for your vacation by taking a few home security precautions to insure that you are not added to these statistics.

Steps Homeowners Can Take for Increased Protection While Away

Homeowners insurance is your failsafe, but it's much better to avoid a breakin altogether. When faced with the subject of home security, many homeowners immediately think of a monitored home security system. With these systems, motion detectors and sensors send an alarm to a monitoring center during an intrusion. The center then reports the break-in to police. This is an effective method of deterring a home invasion while you are away. Keep in mind that installing the system can be expensive, and there is usually an ongoing monthly fee. Such systems can also lower your homeowners insurance premiums.

While it isn’t the most common method of securing your property, hiring or negotiating with a house sitter is another option.

There are other free or low-cost steps homeowners can take:

Make your house look inhabited:

Take some obvious measures inside your house:

Provide security on the outside:

• Criminals love hiding places, so trim any shrubbery that obscures windows and doors.
• Trim any branches that are close to the house and could provide direct entrance to the upper floors.
• Lock a detached garage and all outbuildings like tool sheds and workshops.
• Put timers or motion sensor lights in the driveway or walkway. They can surprise and deter a potential burglar.

Get a Homeowners Insurance Checkup for Your Peace of Mind

Protecting your property and possessions in your absence is essential, and the time and money that is invested will pay dividends in the form of peace of mind during your vacation and a return to a secure home after it’s over. Having the right homeowner's or renter's insurance is also important for your peace of mind because it provides important financial protection in the event of a breakin while you are away. Contact us or call us at (800) 947-1270 or (610) 775-3848. We're independent insurance agents who will help you find the best house insurance at the right price.

Do you live under a rock?  No?  Then it’s pretty safe to say that you’ve heard about the Affordable Care Act (ACA) – Also known as Obamacare - that was signed into law in March 2010. 

It may also be safe to say that you don’t completely understand it and the implications it imposes on your small business, including health insurance requirements for your employees.  We would like to simplify it for you.

What is Affordable Care Act?

The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (Affordable Care Act or ACA) created several health insurance reforms that were designed to ensure that all Americans have access to quality, affordable health insurance. 

What are the Health Insurance Impliccations for Small Business Owners?

The ACA requires that all employers with 50 full-time equivalent (FTE) employees or more must offer health insurance to full-time workers or pay a penalty.  If you have less than 50 FTE employees, you are not required to provide health insurance.

Although it’s important to understand its implications, you may be surprised to learn that ACA doesn’t affect as many businesses as you might think.  According to obamacarefacts.com,

• 90% of US firms have less than 20 full-time employees
• About 96% of firms have fewer than 50 full-time employees.
• Less than 0.2 percent of all firms (about 10,000 out of 6 million) face employer responsibility requirements.
• More than 96 percent of firms with 50 or more employees already offer health insurance to their workers.

Here are three provisions of ACA specific to health insurance for small businesses: 

The SHOP Marketplace - an online health insurance exchange - is open to employers of 50 full-time employees or less. Insurance plans in the Marketplace are offered by private companies and cover the same essential health benefits. No plan can turn you away or charge you more because you or your employees have an illness or medical condition. The idea is that pooling insurance risks will increase small business purchasing power, provide more choices for them, and simplify the paperwork.

Insurance plans in SHOP are available through insurance brokers – like American Insuring Group - at no additional cost to you.

ACA offers incentives to small businesses that employ less than 25 full-time low- and moderate-income workers.  Credits may be worth up to 50 percent of an employer's insurance premium costs – helping to offset the cost of providing health insurance coverage for employees.

To qualify for the tax credit…

• you must have fewer than 25 full-time equivalent (FTE) employees,
• your average employee salary must be $50,000 per year or less,
• you must pay at least 50% of your full-time employees' premium costs, and
• you must offer coverage to your full-time employees through the SHOP Marketplace.

3)  Reporting and Notifications

The IRS has implemented new ACA-reporting requirements that small business must follow.  Some businesses…

• may be required to report the value of the health insurance provided to each employee on W-2 forms
• may need to officially notify their employees in writing about the new health insurance Marketplace.

Get Help - Find the Right Health Insurance for Your Small Business

Contact American Insuring Group at (800) 947-1270 or (610) 775-3848.  We can help you:

• Determine if your business has 50 or fewer employees and is eligible for SHOP
• Apply for health insurance for your employees
• Review and compare price, coverage, quality, and other important features of available SHOP plans
• Enroll in the SHOP plan you choose
• Help you understand eligibility for the Small Business Health Care Tax Credit
• Answer your questions and guide you through the process
• Help you after you’re enrolled

Every small business should conduct a risk management assessment prior to reassessing their business insurance needs – preferably before they even open their doors.  Basically, this means imagining the “What ifs” and thinking about worst-case scenarios.  Think about any event that could lead to a loss for your business, estimate the cost of that loss, and determine how to best address each risk.  These losses may include material losses, liability, business interruption, or injury to employees.  

There are several factors that will determine the list of risks to your business.  The risks to a company that produces large machinery will be very different from a service business.  A caterer who rarely if ever has customers coming to their location will have very similar and – at the same time - very different risks and insurance needs than a restaurant that has customers coming and going all the time.  Each business is unique.

Here are 7 types of risk/loss to consider before purchasing or changing your commercial insurance coverage:

1. Loss of physical assets due to accidents (fires) and nature (floods)
2. Loss of Intellectual Data
3. Theft of physical assets
4. Business liability – customers or employees getting injured on your premises
5. Business product liability – A product that you manufacture/sell causes injury
6. Advertising slander or personal injury
7. Loss of income

How to Deal with business risks and help lower your commercial insurance costs:

Some business risks can be minimized or eliminated with specific actions; many risks are best managed by purchasing commercial insurance.  For example, if you’re concerned about damage to your property, you could lease the property instead of purchasing it - or you could purchase insurance.  If you’re concerned about theft, you could install an alarm system to minimize loss, but you would probably want to purchase insurance as well (the alarm system may afford you a discount).

Business insurance can reduce, mitigate or compensate for exposure to business risks. An insurance agency will do a risk assessment to determine how much insurance you need and what you need to cover, and they’ll do it at no cost.  This assessment might include visiting your business, talking to you about the business or service you provide, reviewing your inventory, and reviewing any procedures to determine all the risks your business could be exposed to. By conducting your own assessment, you can combine your knowledge of your business with your insurance agent’s knowledge of insurance to create the best insurance policy to protect your business. 

Growth is Good, But ..

As your business grows, so do your liabilities!  If you purchase or replace equipment or expanded operations, you should contact your insurance broker to discuss changes in your business and how they can affect your need for expanded insurance coverage. Should disaster strike, you don't want to be caught underinsured.

Getting the Right Business Insurance is Key

For more help creating a risk management assessment and aligning your business insurance needs with your risk, contact American Insuring Group at (800) 947-1270 or (610) 775-3848.

Every home-based business should be protected by commercial insurance. But the growth of the internet and other technological advancements –such as social collaboration tools and communication apps -  have changed the way many of us do business today and significantly influenced the number of small businesses  nationwide.  In addition, the low start-up costs; the reduction in the cost of commuting, meals, and other expenses; the flexibility; and the savings realized from not maintaining a “storefront” are creating more home-based businesses. Sometimes home-based business owners forget that their homeowner's policy is unlikely to cover them for liabilities that can occur in their business.

In 2014, there were 28 million small businesses in operation.  Approximately half of the small businesses today are home-based businesses.   The SBA reports that most of these home-based businesses are operating as sole proprietorships; others are s-corporations and partnerships, and the majority of them are service oriented.

But a home-based business is still a business.  Owners need to understand the financial risks and responsibilities associated with this type of business, including how to protect that enterprise with the right business insurance for businesses run out of the home.  It’s important to understand the differences between personal and commercial insurance liabilities and not assume that your personal insurance policies will always cover your home-based business insurance needs. 

Here are five things every home-based business owner needs to consider protecting with the right business insurance.

1. Home and Property Insurance – Most home owners’ or renters’ insurance policies only cover up to $2,500 for business property losses or damages.  They also tend to exclude business-related liability claims and provide no provisions for any downtime associated with a property loss.  Therefore, if you run your business from home, you may want to consider a business owner’s insurance policy, general liability insurance, business property insurance, and business interruption/continuation insurance.  You may qualify for a homeowners' policy endorsement that modifies your standard policy.
    
2. Auto Insurance – If you own or lease a vehicle almost exclusively used for business – whether it’s a small 10-year-old sedan or a large customized van complete with everything needed to groom a giant Greyhound - make sure your business name is listed as the principal insured. If your business involves transporting people, you should consider commercial vehicle insurance for the higher liability limits and special provisions that are available.
    
3. Life Insurance – If your home-based business is a partnership, you may want to consider Key Person life insurance to ensure the organization’s future.  If one partner dies the other partner (s) can use the life insurance payout to buy out the partner’s heirs, pay off outstanding loans, and continue operations. When considering key person life insurance, be sure to think about staff beyond the business owner. This type of coverage typically focuses on any person without whom the business would cease to exist.
    
4. Health Insurance – Without health insurance, one extended stay in the hospital could mean the end of your business.  Today, it’s much easier for small businesses to acquire health insurance – HMOs, PPOs, EPOs and other group plans.  With the new Affordable Care Act, you may even qualify for a tax credit or subsidy if you purchase coverage through the new healthcare marketplace and failure to purchase health insurance could result in a tax penalty. 
    
5. Income Insurance – Worker’s Compensation insurance and disability insurance isn’t reserved for large companies.  If you have just one employee, many states require that you purchase workers’ compensation insurance to protect your business from claims relating to work-related injuries and to protect the employee’s income.  If your family relies on your income to survive, you should also consider Workers’ Compensation and/or disability for yourself, to ensure that you continue to see an income even if you are injured or become ill and can’t work. 

Getting the Right Business Insurance for Your Home Business

There are also insurance “packages” available -known as Business Owners Policies (BOP) - that usually include property, business interruption, and liability insurance. 

The agents at American Insuring Group can help you determine the best commercial insurance for your home business. Contact us or give us a call at (800) 947-1270 or (610) 775-3848. As independent insurance agents, we're free to shop among many competing insurance companies, so we can find you the best deal on quality business insurance protection. Call or email today to learn more!

Workers Compensation Premium Audits - a necessary evil (some would say) for any employer - determines the final cost of your workers compensation insurance premiums. Sometimes the results of these audits can significantly change your premium compared to the estimated insurance premium originally used in the policy – and not always in a positive way. These audits can be stressful, disruptive and time-consuming for you.

Don’t wait until you receive a notice that you are about to be audited to begin collecting data.  Sometimes you only know a few weeks ahead of time, and you don’t want to scramble around for information, which can cause incorrect, missing or inadequate information. 

Here are a few tips to make a workers comp insurance audit as painless as possible:

Before the Workers Comp Audit:

• Review your original workers compensation insurance policy to see how the initial estimated premium was determined – including classification codes, rates, and payrolls.
• Look at your last audit report to see what information was required and what errors were made.  If this is your first workers comp audit, ask the auditor for a list of documents and information that they will be requesting.
• Review all job descriptions and ensure that the correct NCCI class code descriptions are applied to each job.
• Review all of your payroll records and check that employees are on the correct corporate payroll.  Make sure that any outside contract employees are kept separate from corporate employees and have copies of other insurance provisions for these contracted employees, such as hold harmless agreements or insurance certificates that show the employer as also insured on the contracted employees’ insurance policy.
• If there are unusual situations, such as an unexpected project that required additional over-time, make sure that you understand and are able to explain the situation.
• Place documents and physical evidence in chronological order.
• Ensure that information on your website or any other places a workers compensation insurance auditor would have access to is up-to-date, correct and not misleading
• Secure a private and comfortable room for the auditor(s) and ensure that internet is available in that space.

During the Workers Compensation Insurance Audit:

• Be professional and friendly
• Make sure that the workers comp insurance auditor is comfortable and knows where everything is (coffee, restrooms, photocopiers, etc.)
• Assign a primary contact person from senior management who will act as a liaison between the company and the auditor.   This person should be very familiar with all the work done within each department and by each employee, audit procedures, and the materials prepared for the audit.
• Do not lose your temper.  Be cooperative and answer all questions accurately and to the best of your abilitiy.  Keep your answers short, direct, and to the point.
• Do not invite auditors to lunch or dinner or offer any other items that could be interpreted as a bribe.
• You should have the opportunity to meet with the workers compensation insurance auditor(s) before they leave the premises to go over his or her findings and make corrections if needed.   This wrap-up meeting should be held in a private location.

After the Workers Comp Audit:

If you do not reach an agreement on the published report at the wrap up meeting, immediately prepare a written document along with all the necessary documents to support your position and request that any adverse premium changes be held until the challenge is resolved.  Legal assistance may be required.

Premium audits are a part of being an employer.  In order to see the best results, be prepared and cooperative, and be ready to provide any information the auditor requires. 

Get the Right Workers Compensation Insurance

For more information about premium audits or how to get the best deal on workers compensation insurance, contact an American Insuring Group independent agent at (800) 947-1270 or (610) 775-3848. As independent agents, we're free to find you the best insurance at the best price, selecting from among competing insurance carriers. We serve Phildelphia, Lancaster, Harrisburg, Allentown, Reading, Pittsburgh, Erie, PA and beyond. Call today.

You’re about to become an employer.  Maybe you’ve been in business for a while, but now you’re ready to hire your first employee.  You’re excited; this means your business is growing.  Or, maybe you’re just starting a business and you need employees to help run that business. 

Either way, being an employer comes with many responsibilities, including ensuring that you purchase the right business insurance.  You may be asking yourself, “What insurance is required by law and what is optional?  What’s in the best interest of both my business and my employees?” 

There are four primary types of insurance every employer should take a look at – Workers Compensation Insurance, Unemployment Insurance Tax, Disability Insurance, and Health Insurance.

Workers’ Compensation Insurance

Workers Compensation Insurance coverage ensures medical and wage-loss benefits to employees who are injured on the job. Plus, it helps protect employers against lawsuits filed by injured workers. Worker’s Comp insurance requirements vary by state.  In Pennsylvania, if you employ one or more employees - whether they’re part-time or full-time (including family members) workers’ compensation insurance coverage is mandatory.

If you are a sole proprietor, Workers' compensation insurance is not required by law, which can save you money; however, if you’re ever injured on the job, workers’ compensation insurance can help pay medical bills and supplement lost wages until you’re able to go back to work.

Click here for information about workers compensation insurance requirements in other states.

Unemployment Insurance Tax

Unemployment Insurance (UI) is a joint state and federal program financed through federal and state employer payroll taxes. It provides temporary payments to individuals who are unemployed through no fault of their own.  Each state has its own unemployment insurance program, which includes additional eligibility requirements, but they all follow guidelines established by the federal government.

Most employers must pay federal employer payroll taxes if they pay employee wages of $1,500, or more, in a quarter or if they have at least one employee during 20 weeks in a calendar year.  Most employers are also required to pay state unemployment taxes. In Pennsylvania, all employers providing employment to one or more workers must register Form PA-100 with the Office of UC Tax Services.

Employment that is not covered under the UC law includes the following:

• An individual employed by his or her son, daughter or spouse
• A child under the age of 18 who is employed by his or her parent
• A student in the employ of an organized camp that did not operate more than seven months in the preceding calendar year

Disability Insurance

Some states require that employers provide partial wage replacement insurance coverage to their eligible employees for non-work related sickness or injury. Currently, if your employees are located in any of the following states, you are required to purchase disability insurance:

• California
• Hawaii
• New Jersey
• New York
• Puerto Rico
• Rhode Island

In Pennsylvania, there are two types of disability insurance available if you decide to purchase it for your employees: short-term and long-term.

Again, if you are a sole proprietor, Disability Insurance is not required in Pennsylvania; however, if your family relies on your income, you may want to consider disability insurance for yourself to help pay medical bills and supplement lost wages if you become sick or injured.

Health Insurance

If you have more than 50 employees you are required to provide health insurance benefits to your full-time employees.  If you have more than 50 employees and don’t offer health benefits, you may be subject to a penalty call the shared responsibility payment.  96% of employers in Pennsylvania are exempt from the shared responsibility requirement. 

Contact Us for All Your Business Insurance Needs

If you’re an employer, contact American Insuring Group at (800) 947-1270 or (610) 775-3848 for more information about required and recommended business insurance, including health insurance, disability insurance, workers compensation insurance, or any other insurance your business may need. We've been helping businesses like yours acquire affordable, high-quality insurance for over 25 years.

Safety and Lower Workers Compensation Insurance Costs Go Hand in Hand

Creating a safe working environment for your employees is one of the best things you can do to help control the cost of Workers’ Compensation Insurance.  Whether you run an office, a warehouse, or a manufacturing facility, there are certain steps that apply to the main structure of any successful safety program.  Here are a few:

Set the Standard

Create an atmosphere and culture of safety; it will spread to your workers.  This can be as simple as carpeting that is free of rips and holes, clearly marked hazards, clean floors, and machines with real guards in place.  If you set the right standard, everything will follow.  

Create an Emergency Response Team

Your workforce may be the most efficient and responsive team during the course of regular business, and you may assume that they would react the same way in an emergency, but too often that efficiency and responsiveness turns to confusion and chaos during an emergency situation.  Employees need to know ahead of time what their responsibilities are in the event of an emergency, so they can react quickly like a group of well-trained marines rather than the bumbling Stooges. 

First, create a team that is a mix of serious-minded workers, supervisors, and management that understand that – in the event of an emergency -  lives may depend on them.  Make sure every employee knows who those team members are and how to reach them.  Consider creating a special code for emergencies or maybe a special name tag for members of this team.  Then, establish protocol for reporting an injury along with the chain of command.  Everyone on that team needs to understand what his or her responsibility is – whether that’s calling 911, applying CPR, or alerting other staff.

Finally, stage a few “accidents” for practice drills.  Don’t let employees know ahead of time and start easy, working your way up to accidents with increasing severity.

Communicate!

Your goal with Workers’ Compensation is to report zero claims, but if you do find yourself filing a claim, make sure your adjuster and carrier are good at communicating with the injured worker.  Set standards and make sure they are followed.  An injured worker should receive a call from a triage nurse or the adjuster within 24 hours.  The injured worker’s manager should call him or her once a week to check in on them.  Let the employee know that he or she matters and that you care about their welfare.

Lack of communication has been the down-fall of many marriages and statistically, it’s one of the biggest complaints of insurance claimants.  Too often, injured workers don’t know what is going on, what doctor they can and can’t go to, etc.   Effective communication decreases litigation, gets workers back to work more quickly, and keeps the claim moving forward to a resolution.

Get Upper Management Involved

My dad used to say to me, “Do as I say, not as I do.”  How do you think that went?  Not very well.  Good leaders lead by example.  If upper management repeatedly breaks the rules, you’ll lose whatever cooperation you’ve achieved with your employees.  Safety standards need to apply to everyone, even if that means writing up someone in senior management for a safety violation.  Your safety program needs to be enforced 100 percent of the time.

We Can Help You Save on Workers Comp Insurance

To find out more ways to save on workers’ compensation insurance, contact American Insuring Group at (800) 947-1270 or (610) 775-3848.

Welcome to the Sandwich Generation?

Our world is changing.  The “typical” family has changed and people are living much longer due to advances in medicine.  These two ingredients have created a new generation – known as the Sandwich Generation. Gone are the days when a “typical” family consisted of a working husband, a stay-at-home wife and a couple of children.

Today, only 22 percent of all children under 15 are being raised by the “typical” family, according to a report for the Council of Contemporary Families.  Another 23 percent are being raised by a single mother, 7 percent live with a parent who cohabits with an unmarried partner, 3 percent live with a single father, and 3 percent live with grandparents.  In addition, nearly half of all American married couples are dual-career couples according to the Harvard Business Review. 

Plus, people are living longer.  When the 20th century began, life expectancy at birth in America was 47 years.  Today, newborns are expected to live 79 years. If we continue increasing life expectancy at the rate we have been, people will be living to 100 by the end of this century.  This means an increase in the number of aging parents – who are experiencing changing needs - will require some type of assistance.

According to Pew, “Nearly half (47%) of adults in their 40s and 50s have a parent age 65 or older and are either raising a young child or financially supporting a grown child (age 18 or older).” Nearly 30 percent of those aging parents need some type of assistance.

Long Term Care Insurance: Relief for the “Sandwich Generation”

Today, many individuals are responsible for the care of an aging parent.  Some turn to professionals for help – hiring a caregiver or relocating their parents to a facility that can meet their changing needs – but paying for this long-term care can quickly drain your bank account. Long term care insurance can help ease the financial burden.

Here are some average costs of long-term care in the US, according to Longtermcare.gov: 

$205 per day or $6,235 per month for a semi-private room in a nursing home

$229 per day or $6,965 per month for a private room in a nursing home

$3,293 per month for care in an assisted living facility (for a one-bedroom unit)

$21 per hour for a home health aide

$19 per hour for homemaker services

$67 per day for services in an adult day health care center

This financial burden often forces individuals to take it upon themselves to become the primary caregiver for an aging parent.  In fact, more than 65 million Americans are the care giver for an adult family member.  Before deciding to take this route, you should consider all of the “costs” this decision can create.

Financial Costs

There is almost always a financial impact if you become the caregiver.  Nearly half of family caregivers spend more than $5,000 a year on out-of-pocket caregiving expenses, and about a third spend more than $10,000 according to a recent survey. Those who leave the workforce to provide care lose an average of more than $300,000 in income and benefits.

Health Costs

As you focus on the needs of your loved one, it’s very easy to forget to take care of yourself.  About one in five family caregivers believe their health has gotten worse as a result of their responsibilities.  Between 40% and 70% of family caregivers of older adults have significant symptoms of depression. Other common health problems of family caregivers include increased anxiety, heart disease, hypertension, sleep problems and fatigue. Therefore, quality health care insurance coverage is key.

Career Costs

Becoming a primary caregiver can also affect your job.  Consider these statistics for working caregivers: 

• 60% say their duties have had a negative impact on their jobs

• 68% make work accommodations

• 64% arrive late, left early and/or took time off in the middle of the day

• 17% took a leave of absence

• 9% reduced hours or took a less demanding job

• 5% turn down a promotion

Relationship Costs

Being a full-time caregiver can change your family dynamics and put a strain on your relationships with your spouse and children. It can also create stress and conflict with siblings when it comes to topics like financial support and sharing the caregiving responsibilities.

The Solution: Long-term Care Insurance

Providing long-term care to an aging loved one will always be an emotional and often trying experience for families. If you don’t want to become a burden to your family, you should consider long-term care insurance to protect your family’s finances, provide choices, and alleviate many of the “costs” associated with long-term care.  Most importantly, long-term care insurance provides peace of mind for both you and your family. 

Take the first steps in learning about long-term care planning and find out how solutions like long-term care insurance can protect both you and your family.

For more information, contact American Insuring Group at (800) 947-1270 or (610) 775-3848.