Group Special Enrollment – No-Cost Employee Benefit
Each year, there is a Group Special Enrollment period for small businesses. This ACA provision allows businesses to start a group plan in January for their employees at no cost to the business. Since 2017, group medical plans in Illinois are more competitive on price and networks, compared to individual plans. A few years ago, …continue reading
Do I Need Life Insurance?
If you have a spouse or children that depend on your paycheck, then yes, you need life insurance (with very few exceptions). It’s simple – you have a paycheck from your job. When you die, that paycheck stops. If your surviving family would have a tough time maintaining their lifestyle, keeping the house, keeping the …continue reading
Protect Your Home and Rental Properties From Water Damage
My personal home security system protects me from burglaries and fire/smoke damage, but it also has an add-on component to prevent costly water damage. Basically, it is a sensor that you put on a wall toward the floor. When water touches the sensor, an alarm is sounded. I will also receive a text message and …continue reading
Health Insurance Open Enrollment 2015
Open enrollment to apply for 2015 health insurance begins on November 15, 2014! Rates will be available at that time. Help Paying Your Premiums: Government Subsidy Like last year, lower-income households have the option to receive a subsidy from the government to help pay for health insurance premiums. The Affordable Care Act states that people …continue reading
Health Insurance Annual Enrollment Deadlines
The first annual enrollment for health insurance will come to an end on March 31, 2014. Applying before March 15, 2014 will allow you to have an April 1 effective date, and applying between March 16 and March 31 you will have a May 1, 2014 effective date. After March 31, 2014, the next time …continue reading
Shopping your homeowners insurance? Read this
If you ever shop your homeowners insurance, be aware of the following things that affect every quote: Dwelling coverage, other structures, loss of use, liability, the insurance form, water backup coverage, jewelry/collectibles, replacement cost or ACV on personal property, credit history, home cost estimators, replacement cost or ACV on the roof, identity theft, pets, pools, …continue reading
Health Insurance Subsidy – Do You Qualify?
When the final rules of the ObamaCare / Affordable Care Act (ACA) kick in on October 1, 2013, some people will qualify for a government subsidy to help pay for their health insurance premiums. If your adjusted gross income is up to 400% of the poverty income level for your family size (or just you …continue reading
Obamacare and You: In A Nutshell
Here are a few important pieces of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) that will come to fruition in the near future. Many people will have to take action as early as October 1, 2013. Pre-Existing Conditions and Premium Calculation After January 1, 2014, pre-existing medical conditions will no longer be a factor in calculating your …continue reading
Some days you are the windshield…
Windshields! I’ve had three clients have to replace windshields in the last two weeks, each over $500 to replace. Some insurers offer “full glass” coverage to repair/replace the front windshield at no cost to you, but other insurers just cover this under Comprehensive, and is subject to your comprehensive deductible. Often people have $500 comprehensive …continue reading
Business Startups and Insurance
Often I hear from small business owners that look into purchasing business insurance after operating said business for a year or two. It usually happens when they are doing a B2B contract where the other party requires a certificate of insurance, and the business owner is scrambling to purchase coverage in order to satisfy that …continue reading