CDHPs Save Money Without Compromising Care

Posted on February 28, 2012 by Gibson

A recent study shows Consumer Driven Health Plans (CDHPs) save money without compromising care and employees are increasingly engaged and smarter about their health and health spending. When compared to traditional plans the study found employees:

Spend less on overall medical services
Receive equal or better quality care
Are more engaged in their health and health spending
Are more satisfied with their health care experience

CDHPs are significantly less expensive than traditional PPOs or HMOs – by about 15%, on average. The use of CDHPs has been growing steadily over the past five years, particularly among the largest organizations. In 2010, offerings of CDHPs ranged from 14% among employers with 10–49 employees to 51% among those with 20,000 or more employees.

The keys to successful implementation of CDHPs are communication and education. Studies show that when people have a strong understanding of their CDHP and feel comfortable with the level of perceived financial risk associated with it, they become better health care consumers. Detailing how the plan works and how it differs from their existing benefits are critical communication components before, during, and after implementation.

By employing strategies and tactics designed to create active participants who are encouraged and rewarded for choosing and using quality care, employers and employees come out on the winning side.

Unhealthy, unproductive, unengaged employees are one of the largest strategic risks an organization faces.… Read more..

Password Protected

Posted on February 18, 2012 by Gibson

Do you worry about someone hacking into your computer and stealing your private information? Many of us bank, manage credit cards, report our income taxes online, and use social media websites. All of these sites are password protected and that means we’re all aware of the importance of keeping our passwords to ourselves or sharing with others in a secure fashion.

The key is creating unique and secure passwords. Try using these tips when creating your passwords.

Don’t use real words, but rather letters and numbers that have meaning to you, such as a phrase or acronym. For example, you could use an acronym representing something you think about often or were involved with in the past. Then pair this with a number that is associated with that experience, but that others wouldn’t necessarily know. Let’s say you were involved for 22 years with a charitable organization. A possible password could be Charit22. Just make sure you haven’t posted your charity experience on Facebook!
Use a special character in place of a letter that is relatively easy for you to remember. Examples are * $ # ^ & < >. You can even use the same special characters to replace the same letters across all your passwords making it easier to remember. For instance, $ could always replace the letter S.
Change your passwords at various intervals, such as every six months. Change them immediately if you have ANY suspicion that a password has been compromised.

Pump Up Your Sump Pump Maintenance

Posted on February 14, 2012 by Gibson

Do you ever think about your sump pump?

If you’re like me, probably not. It’s one of those appliances most people install and then forget about. The expectation is that it’ll be there to handle its job when needed.

Its job, of course, is to remove excess water from the basement.

However sump pumps, just like everything else, can’t do the job without proper maintenance. Here are some quarterly and annual maintenance tips to consider performing on your sump pump.

Every three months you should:

Clean the pump inlet screen.
Check the power cord and make sure the cord is connected to power.
Pour a bucket of water into the sump to raise the float and make sure the pump turns on, adjusting the float if required.

At least once per year you should:

Remove the pump from the sump to inspect and clean it.
Clean out the sump.
Check the owner’s manual to see if the pump bearings require grease or oil. If you do not have the manual, look it up on the Internet using the manufacturer and model number of the pump. Otherwise, contact the manufacturer to get a replacement copy.
Replace the pump in the sump.
Check the electrical cord and make sure the cord is connected to power.
Pour a bucket of water into the sump to raise the float and make sure the pump turns on, adjusting the float if required.

Three Ways to Shuttle the Kids with Confidence!

Posted on February 9, 2012 by Gibson

While many of us are glad school is in session, the countless extra-curricular activities that go hand-in-hand with the school year are in full gear. From football practice to French Club, each day brings new opportunities for parents everywhere to practice our favorite avocation—family shuttle service operator. And if your family is like my family, you’re probably shuttling not just your own kids but your kids’ friends as well.

While we’re mostly concerned with just getting our brood and their belongings sanely and safely from home to activity and back again, have you ever thought how those additional passengers would be covered by your auto insurance policy in the event of an accident? For instance, if you were held liable as a result of an automobile accident in which one of your kids’ friends got hurt, would your policy provide coverage for that child?

Fortunately, most personal automobile policies will provide coverage for injuries that occur to non-family vehicle occupants as a result of an accident that is your fault. Keep in mind though, that serious injuries often mean tens of thousands of dollars in medical bills. Plus, the more people injured in the accident, the greater the cost. It’s not uncommon for a serious automobile accident to exceed several hundred thousand dollars in bodily injury expenses.

So how can a family shuttle service operator best protect him or herself from the financial risks of their avocation?… Read more..

How You Can Help Speed Up The Claims Process

Posted on February 6, 2012 by Gibson

When you need to file a claim, your insurance company wants to reach a fair and quick resolution as much as you do. Here are a few tips that you can follow to help speed up the claims process.

Prompt notice. Report the claim or an incident that may result in a claim to your insurance advisor as soon as it happens. The information will be fresh in your mind and you’ll be able to assist with any questions the adjuster may have.

Mitigate your damages. If you need to patch a roof or have a temporary repair done to prevent further damage, go ahead and do it. Your adjuster and insurance carrier will thank you.

Complete a personal contents inventory. If there was a fire and you lost everything, an inventory of your personal contents would speed up the claims process.

Have a written inventory of the contents of your home.
Go around your house room by room and take photos of your contents. A video camera works great for this!
Store your inventory and photos or video in a safe place. This could be somewhere away from your premises, such as a safe deposit box. If you store the information on your premises, make sure it’s in a fire/waterproof safe.
Keep receipts of higher priced items, which will help the adjuster replace your damaged or missing contents with items of like kind and quality.