Tag Archives: health insurance

ChamberCare Business Resources Provides Long-Term Solution for Your Groups

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In March, we shared information about ChamberCare Solutions, an enhancement to the partnership between the Indiana Chamber and Anthem. Now we’d like to tell you more about ChamberCare Business Resources, part of ChamberCare Solutions.

What is it?
ChamberCare Business Resources is a Professional Employer Organization (PEO) that allows Indiana Chamber members with 2+ employees to outsource human resource tasks like worker’s compensation, payroll and tax filing, employee benefit programs, compliance, and more. Using a PEO frees up time and resources so small businesses can focus on the well-being and direction of their company. ChamberCare Business Resources is administered by Human Capital Concepts (HCC), a leader in innovative technology and administrative solutions.

In addition, ChamberCare Business Resources offers affordable health benefits along with comprehensive human resources (HR) services that can help you keep your workforce healthy and save time and money. As a member of the Indiana Chamber of Commerce, you can choose a high-quality, affordable health plan from Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield (Anthem), with a wide range of options designed especially for small to medium-sized companies.

Why use ChamberCare Business Resources?
According to the National Association of Professional Employer Organizations (NAPEO), businesses that utilize a PEO grow 7% to 9% faster, enjoy 23% to 32% lower employee turnover and are over 50% less likely to go out of business.

Another benefit for Indiana Chamber members is access to high-quality, affordable health plan from Anthem, with a wide range of options designed especially for small to medium-sized companies. Through the PEO, Anthem pools membership so it can offer lower premiums on the same great head-to-toe coverage members expect from Anthem including medical, dental, vision, life and disability. As trusted organizations and pillars of the community, Anthem brings 73 years of experience coupled with the Chamber’s 95 years of service and HCC’s 125 years of combined staff experience offering a long term solution for your clients.

For more infomation about Anthem plans and benefits, check out our ChamberCare Business Resources Product Guide.

Need help finding the right solution for your clients?
Contact Indiana Chamber Director of Membership, Brock Hesler, at (317) 264-7539 or bhesler@indianachamber.com.

Small Businesses: Avoid These Mistakes When Buying Health Benefits

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It’s a tough world out there for small businesses. That’s one of the big reasons Chambers like ours exist, I suppose. But in recent years, the burdens of health insurance have grown remarkably, often being a key reason some have had to close their doors. So here’s a valuable blog from Forbes about the top 10 mistakes small businesses make when buying health benefits. Here’s the list, but read the full article for more detail:

  1. They fail to hire a qualified agent, broker or consultant to help.
  2. When selecting an agent, broker or consultant, they rush through the interviews.
  3. They fail to decide in advance what they can afford.
  4. They do not research the market.
  5. They release their employees’ personal information while shopping.
  6. They’re afraid of high-deductible medical plans.
  7. They offer their employees “free” benefits.
  8. They forget to make parts of the plan optional.
  9. They are careless when discussing healthcare options with employees.
  10. They enjoy shopping for health care plans too much.

 

Add Chamber Membership to Your 2010 Business Plan: It Costs Less Than You’d Think

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When times are tough, many members turn to the Indiana Chamber for unique membership benefits and discount programs to help their businesses. ChamberCare, our discount health insurance program with Anthem Blue Cross & Blue Shield, is available to businesses outside of Marion County with 2-99 employees. Over 2,200 member companies currently enjoy a significant discount on their Anthem insurance as a result of our partnership. (Read about the benefits here.)
 
Members also have three free resources available with just one quick phone call or e-mail. The HR Helpline answers employment law and HR questions. The Business Research Center provides customized business lists, quarterly new/expanding business reports, demographics and wage information. The Communications/PR Resource Center provides the ability for members to post press releases on our web site, answers questions on press releases and social media and gives updated media list information.
 
As 2010 begins, we’d like to remind our members that our dues are 82% tax deductible. To join the Indiana Chamber, please click here.
 
Have a prosperous year!

Solve the Nation’s Health Care Challenge — Win $10 Million

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Think you know the solution for our country’s serious health care system challenges? If so, you could win $10 million. Indianapolis-based WellPoint, the WellPoint Foundation and the X PRIZE Foundation teamed to develop a $10 million or more competition to generate new ways to address these challenges.

The competition was announced last month, and rules, guidelines and exact prize money will be announced in early 2009. WellPoint has agreed to test the viability of selected solutions in its markets.

WellPoint, Inc. (NYSE: WLP), the nation’s largest health insurance company in terms of medical membership; the WellPoint Foundation, one of the largest corporate foundations in the United States; and the X PRIZE Foundation, the nation’s pre-eminent philanthropic organization focused on innovation through competition, today announced a landmark collaboration to develop a $10 million or more competition designed to generate new ways to address the nation’s serious health care system challenges.

"WellPoint and its Foundation recognize the challenges facing our health care system are substantial, which is why it’s critical for health benefits companies, health care providers, government leaders, and consumers to work together to identify real-world solutions that will create the most benefit for all Americans," said Angela F. Braly, president and CEO of WellPoint and member of the WellPoint Foundation board of directors.

To learn more about the competition, see what key opinion leaders are saying about it, and to participate in the development of the prize, please visit www.xprize.org/wellpoint.

Columnist: Liberate Employers and Health Care by Letting Them Thrive Separately

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Boston Globe writer Jeff Jacoby recently scribed an interesting column stating the case for the separation of employment and health care. While most of us have accepted this as an inevitable reality during our lifetimes, he says it simply stems from World War II wage controls that are no longer relevant:

With more than 90 percent of private healthcare plans in the United States obtained through employers, it might seem unnatural to get health insurance any other way. But what’s unnatural is the link between healthcare and employment. After all, we don’t rely on employers for auto, homeowners, or life insurance. Those policies we buy in an open market, where numerous insurers and agents compete for our business. Health insurance is different only because of an idiosyncrasy in the tax code dating back 60 years – a good example, to quote Milton Friedman, of how one bad government policy leads to another…

Unconstrained by consumer cost-consciousness, healthcare spending has soared, even as overall inflation has remained fairly low. Nevertheless, Americans know almost nothing about the costs of their medical care. (Quick quiz: What does your local hospital charge for an MRI scan? To deliver a baby? To set a broken arm?) When patients think someone else is paying most of their healthcare costs, they feel little pressure to learn what those costs actually are – and providers feel little pressure to compete on price. So prices keep rising, which makes insurance more expensive, which makes Americans ever-more worried about losing their insurance – and ever-more dependent on the benefits provided by their employer.We thus ended up with a healthcare system in which the vast majority of bills are covered by a third party. With someone else picking up the tab, Americans got used to consuming medical care without regard to price or value. After all, if it was covered by insurance, why not go to the emergency room for a simple sore throat? Why not get the name-brand drug instead of a generic?

Chamber Gets Fiscal AND Physical: Here are Some Tips Related to Wellness Programs

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A corporate wellness program (learn more about wellness at the Chamber’s Business of Health web site) is a great tool to improve employee health/performance, reduce health insurance costs and recruit/retain young talent.  At the Indiana Chamber, we are in the second year of our program.  I’d like to share a few of our initiatives for you to consider at your workplace:
 
1. Annual health screenings and flu shots
2. Walking Club – Tuesday, Thursday at 11:30
3. Yoga – Monday during the lunch hour
4. Guest speakers – motivation, nutrition, healthy cooking and exercise
5. Wellness Wednesday – free healthy snacks for staff members
6. Corporate health club membership – educational material and discounts for staff members
7. Chamber-sponsored kickball team
8. After hours functions – bike ride on the Monon Trail, hiking at Brown County and basketball games
9. Monthly wellness newsletter
 
Our wellness points rewards system offers up to two additional wellness days each year if the employee reaches a certain point threshold every six months. The top point recipients receive wellness days and gift cards to health food outlets.
 
If you find these to provide great returns for your company, feel free to buy me lunch.  And, no, a deep-fried Snickers from the State Fair is not acceptable.

Indiana’s Anthem Plan for Uninsured Adults

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Does the collective health care predicament have you feeling as uneasy as Britney Spears at a Mother of the Year Award presentation? If so, you might note that uninsured adult Hoosiers may qualify for a low-cost option sponsored by the state. Healthy Indiana Plan (HIP) is available to adults ages 19-64 who do not have access to other health coverage, earn less than 200% of the federal poverty level and have not had insurance for at least six months.

Coverage is provided by Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield and sponsored by the state. Also noteworthy is that individual contributions are based on a percentage of gross family income and employers who do not offer health coverage can pay up to one half of an employee’s required contribution.

For more information about HIP, call (877) GET-HIP-9.

ChamberCare Could Aid Your Health Care Woes

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ChamberCare

In a shaky economy, most small business owners are searching for new avenues to be more frugal and to cut costs. The Indiana Chamber recognizes the need to save in these rollercoaster times. We’ve introduced a number of value added tools in recent years to help your bottom line. Health insurance continues to be at the top of the spending list for Indiana businesses. We encourage you to consider our ChamberCare health insurance discount program. Members of the Indiana Chamber have the opportunity to save 5% off of Anthem Blue Cross & Blue Shield health insurance just by keeping their Indiana Chamber dues current. The program applies for new Anthem accounts with 2-99 employees who are located outside of Marion County.

The savings from ChamberCare could allow you to reinvest the money in a variety of areas. Numerous members have mentioned the savings with ChamberCare allowed them to offer salary increases, Christmas bonuses and reinvest the money in equipment and training.

Membership with the Indiana Chamber also provides you with a number of free services like the HR HELPLINE and the Business Research Center. A discount on health insurance, questions answered on HR topics at no charge and free lists from our Business Research Center can provide a strong ROI to your company in just a matter of days.

Contact Abby Hamilton at the Indiana Chamber – 317-264-3793 or ahamilton@indianachamber.com to learn more about ChamberCare. If you do not have an insurance agent, we are happy to connect you with the appropriate regional contact at Anthem.