Offering a small group health plan is one of the best ways to attract and retain exceptional employees. Available for businesses with 2 to 100 employees, small group health insurance is our main focus. We work with our small group clients to find the right mix of medical, dental, vision, life and disability products. Once a small group plan is in place, we are here to help with everything from educating and enrolling new employees to researching claims questions. Every year at renewal, we do the research to make sure our client’s needs are being met and they are in the best possible situation.
We are licensed to sell small group health insurance anywhere in California and we have helped hundreds of companies set up and maintain small group health plans. We look at several different carriers to find the best combination of cost and benefits. We can answer your questions and explain all the details, from enrollment to renewal. We make the process of setting up a small group health plan easy by walking you through each step. Once your plan is up and running we work with you and your employees to make sure everyone is getting the most out of their benefits.
Some of the advantages of offering a small group health plan are improved hiring and recruiting, employee loyalty and retention, and healthier and more productive employees. Employer paid premiums are deductible as a business expense. Employee paid premiums are typically pre-tax.
Small group health plans give you and your employees a cost effective way to get health care and a much larger choice of insurance products to choose from. Use the power of your business to give your employees the ability to pay for their health insurance with tax free dollars and access to plans and doctors not offered to individuals and families.
Unlike individual/family plans you can start a small group health plan any month during the year. You don’t have to wait for open enrollment and there are no health questions to answer.
Please contact us at 805 568-0138 or for a quote or for more information about small group health insurance.
Turning 65 and qualifying for Medicare is a good reason to celebrate getting a year older. Most people who have worked in the U.S. for the majority of their life qualify for Medicare when they turn 65. There are several different parts to Medicare, as well as deadlines on when you can apply. We can guide you through the process of enrolling in Medicare and help you find the plans that best fit your needs and your budget. Click here to get more information about Medicare.
https://www.medicare.gov/Pubs/pdf/10050-medicare-and-you.pdf
Original Medicare Parts A & B
Medicare was signed into law in 1965 and currently covers over 60 million Americans. The two original parts of Medicare are Part A and Part B. In general, Medicare Part A covers you when you are in the hospital and Medicare Part B covers you when you are outside of the hospital. Most people pay no monthly premium for Medicare Part A. Medicare Part B has a monthly premium which is calculated based on your income. Most people enroll in Medicare when they turn 65. You can start the enrollment process as early as three months before your 65th birthday month and up to three months after your 65th birthday month. If you complete your enrollment before your 65th birthday month your coverage will start on the first of the month when you turn 65. If you are still working at age 65, and you have insurance benefits through your work, you can enroll in Medicare Part A, which is free, and delay enrolling in Medicare Part B until you lose your work benefits.
Click here for more information on what Medicare costs.
https://www.medicare.gov/your-medicare-costs/medicare-costs-at-a-glance
Medicare Supplements
Medicare Supplement plans (also known as Medigap plans) fill in the gaps of Medicare Parts A and B to give you excellent, comprehensive medical coverage. We can help you find the most competitive Medicare Supplement Plan available. Medicare Parts A and B and the supplement do not include prescription drug coverage, so you need to buy a separate Medicare Part D prescription drug plan. Additional benefits like vision, dental and hearing are available to purchase separately. Original Medicare (Parts A and B) paired with a Medicare Supplement give you the largest provider network available.
Click here for more information about Medicare Supplement plans:
https://www.medicare.gov/02110-medigap-guide-health-insurance.pdf
Medicare Part D (prescription drug coverage)
In addition to Original Medicare Parts A and B, there is also Medicare Part D, which is the prescription drug portion of Medicare. Medicare Part D is optional, but we highly recommend enrolling in a Part D plan when you first enroll in Medicare. If you choose to forego Part D coverage when you’re first eligible, you’ll pay a penalty for that if you change your mind down the road.
Click here for more information about Medicare Part D plans.
https://www.medicare.gov/drug-coverage-part-d
Click here for information on how to avoid the Part D late enrollment penalty.
https://www.medicare.gov/drug-coverage-part-d/costs-for-medicare-drug-coverage/part-d-late-enrollment-penalty/3-ways-to-avoid-the-part-d-late-enrollment-penalty
Please give us a call at 805 568-0138 or email and we can help you make the transition to Medicare. We are compensated by the insurance company you use for your Medicare Supplement, so there is no charge to you for our services.
For a Medicare Supplement quote, click here
As you age, you may need help with things you’ve always done for yourself such as shopping for groceries, fixing meals, and cleaning the house. Someday, you may also need help with personal services like bathing, dressing, or getting around. Long-term care insurance is designed to help you pay for these types of services.
Most long-term care policies give you the option of staying in your home or moving to a facility if needed. On a basic level, they allow you more independence than you would have without such protection. Long-term care insurance keeps you from burdening family members and helps preserve the assets you’ve worked hard to plan and save for. Policies also come with a care coordinator that can help you with a personalized plan of care.
The national average cost of care is $105,584 per year for a skilled nursing facility (private room), $56,697 per year for an assisted living facility (one bedroom), and $24.45 per hour for home health care. Just everything else in California, costs for these services are more expensive here.
Many people mistakenly believe that Medicare will pay for this type of care, but it does so only under very limited circumstances. Medicare only pays for care for 100 days (100% first 20 days and 80% for next 80) of care if you are recovering from an illness or injury and you have spent at least three days in a hospital immediately beforehand. Health insurance doesn’t pay for any long term care. It only pays to help you get better. It doesn’t pay for maintenance care.
There are two main options when it comes to long term care coverage:
Traditional long-term care insurance are stand alone policies that cover long-term care expenses in your home, an assisted living facility, or a nursing home.
Hybrid long-term care insurance pairs long-term care with life insurance or an annuity. Just like traditional policies, they cover home care and/or care in a facility. One advantage of this type of policy is that if you never need care, your beneficiaries will still receive the annuity proceeds or death benefit when it’s all said and done. You don’t have to “use it or lose it.”
Please contact us at 805-568-0138 or to learn more about this valuable protection. We work with all the most respected insurance companies in the industry and have over 30 years of experience doing so.
What happens when you get sick or have an accident when you are out of the country? Most domestic health insurance plans have very limited benefits once you leave the United States. If you try to use your domestic health insurance for international coverage you will need to pay all the bills up front, bring home your receipts, translate everything and see what your insurance will pay for. We have a much better solution to this problem. Why not buy an inexpensive international health insurance policy that covers you anywhere in the world, with 24/7 assistance that can help you find local doctors that speak English and/or translators that can help you negotiate with local medical providers.
We highly recommend getting an international health insurance policy every time you leave the country. This is why we have partnered with GeoBlue to offer health insurance coverage worldwide. Whether you are crossing the border for just a day or two or you are leaving the country for months or years, we have an international health insurance policy that will cover you.
Click here for an international health insurance quote:
https://www.geobluetravelinsurance.com/product_overview.cfm?link_id=77047&personalized=y&header=y
Please call us at 805 568-0138 or email if you have questions or if you need additional information.
If you have family members that depend on your income, life insurance should be at the foundation of your financial plan. In the event of an untimely death, life insurance can leave your family the tax free cash they need to replace your income, pay off debts, and keep their same standard of living.
There are two main types of life insurance. 1) Term Life Insurance, and 2) Permanent Life Insurance.
Term life insurance covers you for a specific term, usually 10, 15, 20, or 30 years. Your premium is guaranteed level for the term of your policy, but will increase significantly when the term expires. Term life can be a great way to get the most coverage for the least premium in the short run.
Permanent life insurance is designed to cover you for the rest of your life. The two main types of permanent life insurance are whole life and universal life. Whole life policies can be used to save money for long term goals such as retirement or paying for long term care, while providing protection for your whole life. Universal life insurance can be designed for cash accumulation and/or just life insurance protection to a specific age (95 – 120).
We work with the strongest and most respected life insurance companies in the industry to find you the best value when purchasing life insurance.
Please call us at 805 568-0138 or email for a free life insurance quote or more information.
Individual/Family health insurance is for people that do not get coverage through work. Because of the Affordable Care Act, pre existing medical conditions are no longer a factor when applying for an individual/family medical plan. There are a three main ways to get individual/family coverage.
If you do not get coverage through work and you don’t qualify for a subsidy through Covered California or Medi-Cal, then you will need to apply for an off exchange individual/family medical plan. The off exchange application process is much less complicated and there are more plans to choose from. You must apply during the annual open enrollment period (November through January) or within 60 days of a qualifying event.
Click here for a free quote.
Please call us at 805 568-0138 or email for more information.
The Affordable Care Act created health insurance exchanges where you can enroll in health insurance. In California the health insurance exchange is called Covered California www.coveredca.com.
Covered California offers financial assistance (subsidies) to those that qualify. Click here https://apply.coveredca.com/lw-shopandcompare/ to see if you might qualify for a subsidy. The only way to take advantage of a subsidy is to apply through Covered California. You must apply during the annual open enrollment period (November through January) or within 60 days of a qualifying event, such as losing your group coverage or moving to a new state.
Medi-Cal is California’s Medicaid program. This is a public health insurance program which provides health care services for low income individuals including families with children, seniors, persons with disabilities, foster care, pregnant women, and low income people with specific diseases. Medi-Cal is financed equally by the state and federal government. CenCal (https://www.cencalhealth.org/) is the Medi-Cal administrator in Santa Barbara County. You can apply for Medi-Cal at any time during the year.