Ryan Hanley, Albany Insurance Broker - Guilderland Agency, Inc.

Last year health insurance premiums in the State of New York increased ~ 13%, drastically outpacing inflation which generally speaking was between 3-4%. So as a business owner, how do you retain top talent (or at least decent talent) if you can't provide at least minimal health benefits? If you provide health benefits, how do you manage a 13% increase in premium and keep your business a float?

The answer is very simple... YOUR AGENT!

Health Insurance is very similar to Real Estate in one facet, the long-term success of a transaction is completely dependent on the competency and persistence of the Agent involved. What I mean is this; there are literally hundreds of different health programs that an organization can choose to provide its employees. Health Insurance programs are often over simplified by inexperienced Agents in order to make a sale. This can lead to Thousands of dollars in savings being left on table (Don't get me started with organizations that buy Health Insurance through an Association or Chamber of Commerce, terrible decision). Limiting options to simplify a transaction is a sales tactic. Health Insurance is not simple and should not be sold as such. A good Agent will take the time to find out who the employees are that make up an organization and develop a Health Insurance program accordingly.

I am going to list just a few of the options available that help organizations save money. These options are going to tailored to New York State but most states have similar programs.

• Raise Deductibles

We all want to go to the doctor and pay a $5 co-pay and if you employ an older workforce that frequents the doctor's office this might be the best plan. But if you have a healthy group of employees it makes no sense to keep you deductibles low. I recommend something in the $25-$35 range. This simple, common-sense adjustment can save THOUSANDS of dollars.

• Add a Deductible

By adding a $500-$1,000 deductible to your policy (And adding a Health Savings Account) you can rack up savings. Your employees may have to pay the first $500-$1,000 out of pocket but with a H.S.A. the money is saved pre-tax.

• Health Saving Accounts

Advantages of an H.S.A

• • • Higher deductibles usually mean easier underwriting and lower premium.
    • Tax advantaged savings accounts can cover deductibles and pay for non major medical services like dental and vision.
    • Savings balances roll over if they are not used every year.
    • Some savings accounts pay competitive interest rates on the balance.
    • The savings account balance can be withdrawn at retirement (Medicare Age).

Disadvantages of an H.S.A

• • • If no money gets contributed to the savings account, a covered person would have a higher deductible to pay before the insurance company will cover medical services! In these cases, a traditional PPO or HMO may be a better option.

• Type of Plan

The classic HMO plan that 80% of small business owners still provide their employees is on the way out. EPO, PPO, and High Deductible PPO plans are often far more cost effective and still offer the quality benefits employees need.

• • • EPO - An exclusive provider organization (EPO) provides extensive benefits with the freedom to see any physician in-network without a referral. This plan basically cuts out the primary care physician visit to see a specialist.
    • PPO - A preferred provider organization (PPO) gives employees the freedom to visit in-network providers without a referral and see non-participating providers if they choose.
    • High Deductible PPO - A High-Deductible PPO provides employees with the freedom to see providers in-network without a referral, and visit non-participating providers at an out-of-network benefits level. The higher deductibles mean more affordable premiums.

New York State also has a program called Healthy NY. From the Health NY website "The Healthy NY program is designed to encourage small employers that do not currently provide comprehensive group health insurance coverage to purchase reduced cost coverage for their employees." There are certain criteria for obtaining entrance into this program but once in, the program is good and cheap.

These are just a few of ways to reduce premiums. I highly, can't stress enough, highly recommend you contact an independent health insurance agent to discuss ways to reduce Health Insurance premiums. Yearly review and persistence are the only ways to mitigate the effect of rising premiums!

Thank you,

Ryan Hanley

Guilderland Agency, Inc.

The term "Flipping" houses has almost become an obscenity these days. But the fact remains that many individuals and businesses are still buying grossly discounted, short sale, and foreclosure houses fixing them up and reselling. As an insurance broker with the Guilderland Agency in Albany, NY I know nothing about how to properly run a house flipping business. What I do know is how to set up an insurance policy that will cover the individual or business for the vast number of exposures that are present.

I'm sure there are many variations of this business model, but for the purposes of this post I will try to stick to the most common features I have seen with my current clients.

My average client who engages in the house flipping business has at any given time between three and five homes being remodeled. To begin with most insurance carriers do not like the fact that work is being done at multiple locations. Throw in the fact that these houses may only be owned by the insured for a matter of weeks and finding coverage can become a nightmare. Insurance carriers like to see stability, and the pure nature of the house flipping business is not stability. So what is a house flipping business to do?

Most agents would have you set up a individual Dwelling Fire and/or Builder's Risk policy for each property. This is a paperwork nightmare for everyone involved and the short nature of the policies leads to a tranche of unnecessary fees paid for the creation and cancellation of so many policies.

This is NOT the only way to insure a house flipping business. I have access to a company that will write a blanket policy for the course of one year which will cover property and liability on each property you own. How ridiculously easy is that?

Basically this carrier will write blanket liability on all properties. For each property named on the policy there is a blanket $1,000,000/$2,000,000 limit of liability. What this means is that you will only need ONE policy the entire year. When you buy a new property, you call me and we add it to the policy. You now have Property Coverage (Whatever you determine necessary) and Liability Coverage on that property. When you sell the house, all you need to do is call me and we take the address off the policy. You are then no longer charged for that address. This policy flexes throughout the year with number of houses you own.

The best part however is the billing. No more down payments and refunds. Once the initial down payment is made your policy is credited and debited premium based on the number of houses that are named on the policy. So if you start with four houses and sell two, your next premium installment just adjusts accordingly.

I know this is a commercial and some people don't like reading commercial-esk posts. But this product is truly fantastic for house flippers. So anyone interested in discussing this policy further that is based in New York State please don't hesitate to contact me.

Thank you,

Ryan Hanley

www.guilderlandagency.com

www.linkedin.com/in/ryanhanley

I was recently introduced to the President of iZoca, a new networking site located convienently at www.iZoca.com. 

We all probably use numerous networking sites all established for different purposes.  But with the busy schedules that most of us keep its extremely hard to keep up with them all.  So I am sure that signing up for another networking site is not high on your April To-Do list.  But I have to say that after speaking with Jeff the iZoca president there is real promise in functionality of iZoca. 

I currently use AR, Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook as my primary online networking resources.  But what I have found lacking in all four is the "real world" use of each.  I think they all have excellent online use, AR and LinkedIn being my favorites.

iZoca gives real world groups a forum to communicate and interact during the times that they are not physically meeting together.  I use iZoca for my BNI Chapter right now, no more handing out speaker rotations which are just going to end up in the garbage.  I am also a Board Member of a local young professional organization the Capital Alliance of Young Professionals or CAYP.  The board members use iZoca to communicate about meetings, event set-ups, etc.

I may be biased about iZoca because its an Albany, NY startup and I'm a huge Albany Homer... But I think the site has tons of potential and I hope you find it useful as well.

Thank you,

Ryan

I am often approached by business owners throughout the Capital Region for advice on how to ease the cost of workers compensation (WC) insurance, particularly in this economic downturn. My advice is always the same; the best way to save is by taking the time to set up a proper workers compensation program which will protect the business's solvency in the event of an accident.

Setting up a WC program sounds like a daunting and time consuming task, but it's not. I usually spend about a half an hour with a business owner to make sure he or she is properly covered. That half an hour could determine if a company stays open in the aftermath of an unforeseen incident. During the consultation we examine the four primary factors driving the cost of WC insurance; wages, classification, claims, and penalties.

Amount of wages paid to employees is a primary driver in the total cost of WC. The pitfall for many local businesses is a lack of understanding as to who is considered an employee. According to NYS, for the purposes of WC insurance, an employee is defined as day labor, leased employees, part-time employees, unpaid volunteers (including family members, very important), and most subcontractors.

The most common trap business owner's fall into involves employees they don't know about. This monster rears its ugly head when a business hires an uninsured contractor or subcontractor to do work for the company. I'm not just talking about painters and carpenters, but also temporary clerical workers, IT contractors and cleaning contractors may be considered employees according to New York State. If these individuals perform work for your organization and do not carry a WC policy of their own, your business is required to pay WC on the wages you pay for their services.

As a prudent business practice you must require all individuals performing services for your company to carry WC insurance regardless if New York State requires it. If the contractor carries their own WC policy you do not report the wages paid on your WC policy, saving you money.

There are over 500 industry classifications which can be designated to your employees' wages to calculate premium, each carrying its own multiplier. Making the accuracy of the classification assigned to your employees' wages vitally important. Example, if you have a receptionist classified as a carpenter, you are drastically overpaying. Review each employee and their respective job functions, and then call your insurance professional to ensure each employee is accurately classified.

Always keep this insurance industry maxim in the back of your head, "Frequency Breeds Severity." One $500,000 claim will not affect your premiums nearly as much as five $100,000 claims. Workplace safety is the key. If you want to keep your WC costs down, keep the environment your employees work in as safe as possible.

Ultimately, WC penalties and uninsured claims are what debilitate a business, not premiums. The importance of employers properly representing themselves to WC insurers cannot be stressed enough. Too often businesses will try to misclassify an employee to save money. From an insurance professional who has seen the damage this can cause, I am here to tell you that this not a practical savings method if you would like your business to remain solvent. Penalties start at $2,000 for every 10-day period in noncompliance. If criminal charges are filed it can include up to an additional $50,000 fine, not to mention the repayment of owed premium.

The fallout for employers who choose not to purchase WC is even more devastating. If your business is uninsured and an employee gets hurt, expect a penalty of $2,000 per 10-day period of noncompliance, plus the actual award due the injured employee (including compensation and medical costs), plus additional penalties levied by the Worker's Compensation Board, plus legal fees. Considering the medical costs alone for a claim can be in the hundreds of thousands of dollars, an uninsured employee injury can cripple or even close a business.

Set up an appointment with your local independent insurance agent. He or she will be able guide you through the process of properly setting up your WC insurance policy. As of October of 2008 insurers were able to set their own classification multipliers, so a good agent will be able to shop your policy to the insurer with the best rate in your industry. For more ways to save please feel free to email me at the address listed below.

For idea number two let's stay on business cards.  Business cards, even the most jazzed up business cards are very inexpensive.  There is so much competition between business card producers that you can always find a deal.  To that extent, many professionals do not take the importance of business cards seriously. 

I recently met a young woman who sells real estate for Re/Max.  When she handed me her card I immediately felt texture on the back of the card.  Intrigued I flipped the card over and found a profoundly simple, yet incredibly memorable gold and silver embossed sticker that read "Don't Forget, I Always Appreciate Your Referrals!"  Simple and effective I knew two things about this woman: one she is dedicated, because she had spent the money and taken the time to "Trick Out" her business card, two and most importantly she wanted referrals.

The first thing I did when I got back to my office was price these stickers.  You can find them very easily all over the internet and they generally run about $200 for a 1,000.  That doesn't necessarily qualify as cheap.  But this idea is certainly simple and easy and if even one person remembers you or refers you because of that sticker the $200 was well spent.

Maybe I get a little geeky about these types of marketing tactics but I received this business card 3 months ago and still remember that sticker.

Check me out: www.linkedin.com/in/ryanhanley