utah health insurance Archives - Salt Lake City Insurance Agents

Try a Fake Commute For Your Mental Health

May 9, 2021/by Rebecca Yates

Rebecca Yates Talks Health Insurance on the Cre8tivity podcast

May 4, 2021/by Rebecca Yates

Photo courtesy of Cre8tivity

CEO Rebecca Yates recently sat down with the hosts of the Cre8tivity podcast. They talked about all things health insurance, focusing on freelancers and businesses, as well as family coverage.

Get to know Rebecca and learn how you can get the best health insurance plan to meet your needs.

Listen in here:

http://utahpodcastnetwork.com/2020/09/20/cre8tivity-107/

From Cre8tivity:

REBECCA YATES is a superhero! Running over half a dozen businesses, being a single mother of two daughters, and helping everyone she can to get health coverage, in case anything unexpected happens (Illness, COVID, Etc)!

We hope this episode is helpful to freelancers, families, & businesses!

Benefits Breakdown

March 22, 2021/by Rebecca Yates

Understanding Prescription Drug Pricing Trends

In 2019, the United States spent nearly $370 billion on prescription drugs, keeping trend with significant increases year over year. Although prescription drug spending has historically been a small proportion of national health care costs compared to hospital and physician services, it has grown rapidly in recent years—comprising about 10% of national health care spending. Below are the two major factors contributing to the rise of prescription drug costs:

Influx of specialty drugs—Specialty medications account for a smaller portion of U.S. prescriptions than non-specialty drugs, yet they command nearly half of the pharmaceutical market. In 2021, experts predict an 11.5% increase in specialty drug prices, compared to a 2.8% rise in non-specialty drug prices. These manufacturer price increases are often cited by insurers as reasons for rising insurance premiums.
Price inflation—According to a Segal report, 40% of new products recently launched by drug manufacturers were specialty medications. These drugs are now being pushed at a higher rate than non-specialty drugs, contributing to price inflation. Specialty drug utilization increased by nearly 6% in 2020, whereas non-specialty drug usage remained relatively the same. And there is little recourse for anyone seeking an alternative to these specialty drugs.

Yet, despite these trends, there are cost-cutting strategies available to employers. These include managing drug usage, utilizing rebates, and educating employees. Reach out to learn more about these and other budgetary tactics.

3 Voluntary Benefits Trends to Watch in 2021

Voluntary benefits have always been great tools for rounding off employee benefits offerings. And that value isn’t lost on employers—at least 50% offer some sort of voluntary benefits, according to an Alera Group report. Employers can expect to see voluntary benefits grow in these three key areas in 2021:

Expanded offerings such as eldercare and critical illness insurance
A focus on financial wellness, including budget counseling and financial planning
Greater customization, allowing employees to pick and choose what’s best for them

Voluntary benefits include dental, vision, critical illness, pet insurance, and similar offerings that are paid for partially by employees. During the COVID-19 pandemic, having additional benefits options like these could be exactly what employees need. Specifically, these trends indicate employees want more control over the benefits that are important to them.

Reach out to learn how to help employees maximize their voluntary benefits.

Identifying Misinformation About COVID-19 Vaccines

March 1, 2021/by Rebecca Yates

Benefits and Me

February 18, 2021/by Rebecca Yates

Balancing Caregiving and Your Career

The demands of caregiving and working a part-time or full-time job can leave you exhausted and stressed. When left untreated, chronic stress can develop into serious health problems, including depression, anxiety and cardiovascular disease.

If you are struggling to balance your career with the demands of caregiving, consider the following employer-provided resources:

Shift flexibility—Talk to your manager about how to make your schedule less burdensome by altering your hours or telecommuting.
Employee assistance program (EAP)—Be sure to discuss your EAP options with your HR representative. They will likely be able to chat about care management and determine if your situation qualifies you for any benefits.
Stress management—Talk to your manager and other co-workers about organizing stress-relieving activities at the workplace.

This balancing act between providing care while working full or part-time can be both stressful and exhausting. For additional resources, contact your HR manager.

Lower Your Health Care Costs by Improving Your Well-being

Taking control of your overall well-being can greatly lower your health care costs. Lifestyle changes can help prevent or lessen the severity of health issues, which may result in fewer health expenses and greater well-being.

Consider changes to address components of well-being:

Physical well-being—Stay physically active, eat a well-balanced diet to fuel your body, and get enough sleep each night.
Mental well-being—Find ways to deal with stress, like journaling or meditating, and consider therapy to talk to a professional.
Social well-being—Join a club or sports team to meet new people.

The Basics of FSAs

Flexible spending accounts (FSAs) provide you with a tax advantage to help pay for health care and dependent care. As an employee, you set aside a portion of your pre-tax salary in an account, and that money is deducted from your paycheck throughout the year. Consider the following types of FSAs:

Health care reimbursement FSAs can be used for your deductible, copayments, and eligible health care expenses, including prescription drugs, dental costs, eyeglasses, and contacts.
Dependent care FSAs let you use pre-tax dollars toward qualified dependent care, such as the cost of nursery schools.

FSAs are beneficial if you have out-of-pocket medical, dental, vision, hearing, or dependent care expenses beyond what your insurance plan covers.

Please reach out to one of our agents if you have questions.

Health Insurance Guide For The Self-Employed

Tip 5, The Singles Mom’s Guide to Health Insurance

August 24, 2020/by Rebecca Yates

Beware anything that looks too good to be true!

Yes, your parents were actually right on this one.

Insurance is just math. If it’s cheaper, there is a reason. I have found that most of the time those reasons look like limits on care.

For example, many “cheaper” policies limit cancer coverage to $500,000. Sorry, but many
forms of cancer can eat that up in a month or less. In those types of plans, you would be
left holding the bag on the remaining cost of treatment, or WORSE, having the hospital or
physician refuse to treat you.

If you are looking at insurance options and one is much cheaper than the others, find out
why before you sign up! They often have clauses that lock you in for a year or may not be
qualified coverage so you can’t get in through the marketplace. It may be cheaper because
it excludes something you don’t care about (like maternity when you are done having kids),
but you need to read the fine print. And I mean the 130+ page document that outlines
everything.

Or ask a knowledgeable local agent who has probably read the contract for fun,
like the insurance nerds we often are.

To download the entire guide, click here.

Tip 4, Single Mom’s Guide to Health Insurance

July 30, 2020/by Rebecca Yates

Know your max liability

So many times, people get hung up on getting a lower deductible and having copays for something to be considered a “good” plan. However, most Americans miss the absolute most important thing in their health insurance documents: The Out-of-Pocket Maximum.

This is the most you would pay in one calendar year if everything went horribly wrong. If
you have health insurance, this is the maximum of liability and it’s a number you need to be
aware of!

For example:

I often have clients tell me they want the “best” plan and are willing to pay for it! They want a
$250 deductible. In my state, the $250 deductible plan has a $7,900 out-of-pocket maximum
and is often 30% higher than an HSA plan for monthly premiums.
However, if they enroll in an HSA they can often get a lower out of pocket maximum. My plan
is a $4,500 deductible, but that is also the out-of-pocket maximum. At 30% less expensive
per month, it’s an absolute bargain! But most people ignore this plan because all the see is
the deductible.

Let’s look at an example:

Johnny needs a $60,000 heart surgery.

Plan 1: He’s paying $500 a month to get the lower deductible. That equates to $6,000 a year
in insurance premiums. When he has his surgery, he will pay $7,900. So, in total he spent
$13,900. Which beats the pants off $60,000 any day! But it’s not the best he could have done.

Plan 2: He is now enrolled in the HSA plan. He is paying $350 a month. That equates to
$4,200 a year in insurance premiums. BUT when he has his surgery, he pays $4,500. That
means he spent $8,700 less than on the “best” plan. But wait! He also got to put that $4,500
through an HSA account and gained the additional tax savings.

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