health insurance

Fear Not - Medical Insurance For Small Businesses Is Worth It In The End

admin — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 05:46:03 +0000

Medical insurance - are there two more dreaded words that can be spoken to a small business owner? Small business group health insurance, however, offers numerous benefits and tax advantages that make it well worth the cost of premiums.

Medical insurance for employees of small businesses is a hot button issue. Approximately 45 million U.S. residents do not have health insurance. Of those, about 20 million are employees, or a family member of an employee; of a business that has 50 or fewer employees. For companies that have more than 50 employees, more than 96% of workers have medical insurance. That number is only about 43% for small businesses.

What accounts for this phenomenon? You hear over and over again that employee healthcare insurance is one of the biggest expenses that a business owner faces. What exactly, though, are those expenses? The business owner is required to pay a percentage of the employee’s individual premium. Typically this percentage ranges between 25% and 50%. If coverage is extended to the employee’s family members, the employer can elect, but is not required, to also pay a percentage of those premiums.

In addition, small businesses typically must pay larger premiums than businesses with more than 50 employees. State requirements that certain conditions, treatments and providers be covered by the group health insurance policy is another reason that small business medical insurance can be costly.

Small business medical insurance applies to businesses that employ between 2 to 50 people. Any permanent, compensated employee that works at least 25 hours per week is typically eligible to enroll in a small business health plan. Despite the costs, small business health insurance has very real benefits. When you’re able to offer health insurance to job applicants, you are guaranteed to have a more talented pool of candidates to choose from. As we’re reminded of daily in the news, quality medical insurance is a major concern for Americans.

Retention is another benefit of small business medical insurance. It costs you less to retain an employee than to seek out and train a new employee. If your employees are getting medical insurance from you, they won’t jump ship to take a job with another employer simply to obtain medical insurance.

Last but absolutely not least, a healthy employee is a more productive employee. Having healthy employees, like the retention issue mentioned above, saves you money. When an employee is out on a paid sick day, you’re shelling out the cash without getting any of the work. So although you’re paying part of your employees’ premiums, you’re saving money in other areas by offering medical insurance. Need more convincing? Group health insurance has tax advantages for business owners. Typically employer contributions to small business medical insurance plans are 100% tax deductible.

Small business medical insurance benefits you and all of your employees in yet another way. Health insurance, as you undoubtedly know, can be very expensive. With a group health insurance plan, you are spreading the risk amongst all of the employees. That means lower premiums and better coverage. The arguments in favor of small business medical benefits are persuasive. Finding affordable medical insurance for employees is possible. It all starts with carefully researching the group plans available to your business. Be sure that you are working with a legitimate, reputable medical insurance company, and you’ll reap a number of benefits that will ensure a strong return on your investment. And medical insurance for your employees really is an investment in your business.

Buying Individual Health Insurance Policies in Florida

admin — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 01:00:58 +0000

Florida, like most states, grants limited guarantees to anybody who wants to buy individual health insurance and, whilst your ability to purchase medical insurance will depend to a certain point upon your current state of health, there are certain situations in which health insurance companies in Florida are bound to offer to insure you.

Usually, health insurance companies are allowed to ask questions about your medical history and to decline to insure you if you are suffering from a current medical problem or have a history of particular conditions. More usually however insurance companies will offer to cover you, although they will either keep out specific conditions from your cover or raise your premium and cover these conditions. In Florida however there is an exception to this rule in the case of a history of breast cancer if you have finished a course of treatment for the condition at least two years prior to your current application for insurance. In cases where this applies an insurer is not allowed to deny you insurance.

When you have been covered by a group insurance plan for at least three months and later lose your cover then, within Florida, you can buy an alternated plan and an insurance company have to offer you the choice of a minimum of two policies. Moreover, companies cannot impose a new exclusion for pre-existing conditions. However, they are allowed to enforce an exclusion clause where you have not completed any previous qualifying period.

Where you do not meet the qualifications for a conversion plan but are HIPAA entitled then once again an insurance company must not refuse to cover you and must once again offer you a choice of a minimum of two policies. To be HIPAA entitled you will need to have had a minimum of eighteen months of worthy and continuous coverage (the final day of which has to have been under a group health insurance policy) and have used up any suitable COBRA or continuance coverage. Additionally, you cannot presently have any health insurance (or be covered by a group policy that is about to expire) and cannot be eligible for a further group policy or for Medicaid or Medicare. An application for cover on the basis of HIPAA eligibility needs to be ended within 63 days of losing your previous cover.

In cases where an insurer or HMO can no longer give cover, because they have for instance become insolvent or you have moved to a location out of their service area, then other insurance companies are required to offer to provide you with cover whatever your state of health.

Newborn children, adopted children and children placed for adoption must be covered under the terms of a parent’s individual insurance plan for 31 day from the date of birth, adoption or placement.

Under Florida law a child who is disabled will carry on to enjoy cover where dependent coverage has been in issue past the age when cover would normally be ended, provided the child is unable to support himself (or herself) as a outcome of mental or physical disability and is principally dependent upon the plan holder for support.

The cover offered by an individual health insurance plan in Florida will be mostly dependent upon the plan that is bought but Florida law requires that all policies provide cover for exact remuneration such as childhood immunizations, mammograms and diabetes treatment. The full list of mandatory benefits is updated every so often and a current list is obtainable from the Florida Department of Financial Services.

Making The Right Decisions on Individual Health Insurance

admin — Tue, 12 Jan 2010 16:51:00 +0000

Now that you realize how important it is to get a California individual health insurance, your next step is to shop around for one. There are a wide number of options for individual health insurance in CA; finding the right coverage for you is a big task. However, you should invest time and effort on making the right choice if you want to get the best value out of the investment you will spend for health insurance. What are some factors to considering when deciding on individual health insurance?First, before you start thinking about how much a California individual health insurance coverage will cost you, evaluate your needs first. Take note of your existing health conditions, evaluate your lifestyle, ask around for medical family history, and so on. Based on the information you collect, find out what type of insurance coverage you need. Predict what kind of medical attention you would most probably need in the future. Bear in mind though that the more expensive the medical bills needed for the medical coverage you want, the more expensive your premiums will be.Having said that, remember that when you get a California individual health insurance, you will pay premiums, usually on a monthly basis. This cost associated to getting a health insurance in CA is something you need to be ready for. The cost you pay to enjoy medical benefits will depend on your coverage. The more you are covered, the more you will pay. Some insurance policies require you to pay some additional costs for getting medical treatment. You may be responsible for a portion of the total cost, or for paying a fixed amount for your hospital visit. These terms vary greatly depending on your policy, the medical problem, whether or not the medical service provider is covered by the insurance network, among others. It is very important that your insurance quote provides information on these.A good way to lessen the financial burden in getting a California individual health insurance coverage is to specify a deductible cost. This is a fixed amount you pay before the benefit payments kick off. Closely related is the out of the pocket cost, wherein the insurance does not cover the entire claim so you have to pay minimal amount straight from your pocket. You need to decide how much deductible and out of the pocket costs you can take. Setting these two to a higher value will go a long way to lessening your monthly or annual payments.Moreover, another important point about health insurance in CA is the network of medical practitioners. You will make the most out of your health insurance if you see a doctor that is covered by the company you chose. If you are choosy with doctors, try to find a health plan that includes the doctor you want to keep seeing. Finally, choosing the right Californiaindividual health insurance is all about proper self evaluation and thorough research. Some effort and time will save you a fortune when a medical emergency happens. If you follow this guideline, youre on your way to the health insurance plan that will work best for you.

Deseret News (Salt Lake City) - Small firms offered an insurance break

admin — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 03:10:58 +0000

Associated Industries of the Inland Northwest says it has seen a sharp increase in membership this year following its decision to dump the longtime health-care insurer that served its members in favor of a provider that enabled it to expand its reach statewide and to serve a broader range of employers.
At the beginning of this year, the Spokane-based nonprofit employers group began offering to members a health-insurance plan provided by United Healthcare, ending a 50-year relationship with Premera Blue Cross, says Jim DeWalt, the organization’s president. Since then, Associated Industries has picked up about 80 additional companies as members, 70 of which have signed up to have the Spokane group offer their employee health benefit package, DeWalt says.

Most Popular
7 Free Work At Home Jobs
13 Job Interview Mistakes To Avoid
3 Questions No Job Seeker Ever Wants To Be Asked?
10 Jobs That Pay $30 An Hour
Public Speaking - Owning “The Skills”

The shift to a new insurer, he says, has re-energized the nearly 100-year-old association.
“We had a decline (in membership) related to a sharp decrease in medical health participation,” DeWalt says.
Associated Industries now has 535 member companies. Of those, nearly 250 companies buy employee health coverage through the Spokane group’s Associated Employers Trust, which now covers 5,980 people, counting both employees and their dependents, up from 3,510 people at the beginning of the year. At its peak six years ago, the trust was covering 313 member companies and more than 8,000 people.
The trust is expected to collect $20 million in health-care premiums this year from its member employers, up from $14 million in 2007, DeWalt says.
The gains in membership and health-care plan participation are both directly related to Associated Industries’ decision to switch to UnitedHealthcare, which is a division of Minnetonka, Minn.-based UnitedHealth Group, DeWalt says.
The switch helped Associated Industries expand its membership base in two ways. First, Premera had 60 percent of the insurance market share in Washington, both through direct sales and through its relationship with other associations, limiting Associated Industries’ opportunity to market the product, says Ted Blotsky, Associated Industries’ senior vice president. He says the Spokane organization had no ability to compete for established Premera customers. Since UnitedHealthcare is new to the small-business market, it offers a new competitive edge to previously limited choices, he says.
“With a company that has only 10 percent of the market it opens up our ability to market the health plans,” Blotsky says.
Secondly, UnitedHealthcare provides Associated Industries with plans that can be offered to companies that have five to 99 employees. Premera’s plans only could be offered to companies with 50 or fewer employees.
“Over time, our needs were different than what could be met by Premera Blue Cross of Washington,” DeWalt says.
To continue growing in the future, the association can sell UnitedHealthcare benefits outside of Washington, which it could not do with Premera Blue Cross’ plans, Blotsky says.
DeWalt says UnitedHealthcare hadn’t previously offered health plans to small businesses, and has agreed to limit the number of associations it deals with in the small-business market to three, giving Associated Industries less competition to market plans statewide than it faced when offering Premera’s plans.
That, in turn, is helping the employers group to expand its statewide footprint in other ways, by selling its other services to the companies that sign on for the health-care plans. In addition to health plans, Associated Industries offers electronic payroll, training, and other human-resources services. DeWalt says the robust response to the new health offering gives the association greater confidence that it can sell its services statewide.
Blotsky says 50 percent of the new business it’s now doing through its Associated Employers Trust is from the Interstate 5 corridor in Western Washington. The nonprofit has added two employees in the last year, and expects to hire two more staff members to help it handle the growth and expected increases in other services it offers.
DeWalt says participation in the association’s health plans had dwindled in recent years partly because Premera’s plans didn’t allow Associated Industries to continue to cover member companies when they grew beyond 50 employees.
Seeing UnitedHealthcare enter the market was a welcome addition, he says. Before that, only Premera Blue Cross and Asuris Northwest Health were offering small-group plans to associations, he says.
“If you believe in a free market, you’d believe that’s not a healthy environment,” DeWalt says.
New approach
DeWalt says UnitedHealthcare’s different approach to marketing has helped it regain momentum.
Rather than flooding the state by offering its new product to a number of similar associations, UnitedHealthcare is collaborating with Associated Industries to offer a new product that gives it a competitive boost in the state, with the possibility of future expansion into Idaho, Oregon, and Montana - something that was not possible with Premera, Blotsky says.

Illinois Health Insurance Not Complicated

admin — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 15:17:03 +0000

If you have the ability to be able to compare health insurance plans and premium payments by seeing them online all in one place, its not that hard to make a decision on what to buy.

Usually when shopping for health insurance, the people you talk to say the prices are the same. In most instances, this is the case, but with one exception shopping for Medicare Supplements will save you money, as quotes on supplements are quite variable.

That’s good news that you will actually save money on health care insurance, or to be more specific, save money on Medicare supplements. This is just about the only area in the whole Medicare health insurance business where you will save money by calling around for quotes. And not just save nickels and dimes either, but enough to make a difference over the year.

It’s possible to save money on Medicare supplements and still be able to get decent health care coverage. Without getting too complicated here, this is doable because in all states Medicare supplements are priced the same; priced the same, however, also means that insurance companies don’t have to offer anything more than Part A period.

The other letters of the alphabet B-L are optional. So, because the B-L parts are optional, insurance companies tend to charge what the market will bear, if they offer them at all. This is why when you compare Illinois health insurance online at a site that offers side-by-side quotes and all the other information you need, you will see right away which carriers offer the better deals. It doesnt get any easier than that.

Sometimes the market will bear a higher rate and sometimes not. While this may sound a bit capricious, it’s actually more of a business decision rather than prompted by competition. So here’s the thing. Say for instance you are 70 years old and are asking about Part F or J (which covers all expenses). Call big brand name company number one and the quote is $115.00 a month. Call slightly less well known company two and the quote is $100 a month and presto there’s a savings of $180 a year.

This is just an example of savings that can be had by comparing health insurance rates online at a website that shows all the carriers, their design plans, requirements and pricing. Choosing Illinois Medicare supplements has never been easier. The savings could even be larger and rack up a bigger amount by the end of the year. It’s really well worth the time to surf online and get some quotes. Really, saving money in this day and age is a delightful bonus while still getting good health insurance coverage.

News. Health Insurance Industry Report spreads the LIES on coming raise in paid premiums as result o

admin — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 04:10:58 +0000

Stream Information Brokers(Washington,DC,October22,2009)International Experts on Healthcare are laughing worldwide at both Republican Party and Democratic Party with proposed in USA Healthcare Reform. Third world countries China,Russia got Free Universal for all citizens and paid by taxpayers, managed by Governments Healthcare!
Most industrialized Nations in the World like Great Britain,Canada has Universal Healthcare ,Got RID of whole Health Insurance Industry(as middle man) between their citizens and Hospitals with Governments in management of Taxpayers Money and paying from those money healthcare bills for individuals.
Yes it is True what said in report! Untill US Government and US Taxpayers Got the Restraints on Health Insurance Industry(as middle man) between their citizens and Hospitals the Insurance Premiums could Skyrocket in order to fulfill demand by insurance companies in lager profits, larger salaries and bonuses(like on Wallstreet),larger houses,cars,…
Special Interests Group for Health Insurance Industry distributed Report on Large Increase of Health Insurance costs as result of proposed legislation! Let say Health Insurance Industry has 100 millions customers. The CEO, top management got now largest salary and bonuses as percent from 100 millions monthly premiums. If in future 10 millions or more customers will switch to the Public Health Insurance Option, than Health Insurance Industry companies will collect less money.. Then the smaller than before pool of customers(90millions) would be charged much higher payments to make CEO, top management happy with SAME SIZE largest salary and bonuses and profits for companies.
Who said to Health Insurance Industry ,that their profits,salary must remain the SAME after Reform?
It is FREE MARKET - supply and demand! Proposed Reform will introduce additional Health Insurance companies! The supply of services will become larger than demand! In Free Market increased number of Insurance companies will be forced to compete for same size as before Reform Pool of customers.
Only Those Insurance companies with lowered insurance premiums rates, lowered expectations in larger salaries and bonuses(like on Wallstreet),larger houses,cars will Survive!
As Result US Consumer will see the insurance premiums rates Go Down.
They never increase in Free Market only because or Competition as Health Insurance Industry wishes and Falsifies Research Results in Released Reports!
Those Insurance companies ,that would dare for 1 day raise in paid premiums as Report suggests, will go broke and disappear!
Stream Information Brokers www.streaminfobrokers.com company is in business to provide small and middle size businesses also individuals with affordable #1 Best Marketing ,Advertising and Management problem solving complete solutions and stand alone campaigns. We are the Major Providers of Always Best Money Making and Life Saving Info!
Keywords:US Congress, Healthcare Reform, Healthcare Reform Costs, Public Option, Health Insurance Industry, Healthcare bill,Health Insurance, Health Insurance Costs, Healthcare Reform bill,
###

Family Health Insurance

admin — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 06:01:58 +0000

Find health insurance, for your family can be complicated as it is always changing. About forty seven million people in America are uninsured, this includes both wealthy and impoverished. If you want your health expenses covered you should really make health insurance your priority. This will ensure that your medical needs are covered at a reasonable cost to you. Always look for the plans with the most coverage and the least out of pocket expenses.
An important decision for your family involves providing them with adequate health insurance. Families with adequate insurance receive more preventative care and also protection from large medical bills due to unforeseen incidents.
Employer-provided coverage the best method of finding affordable coverage. Family premiums will be less since the cost is shared by the employer and yourself. If your employer does not offer family plans you will need to purchase your own. Although this may cost you more, you have the advantage of choosing your network of doctors and deductible.
To find the insurance plan with the best value, consider: Between $2,500 and $5,000 for the deductible A provider network with your preferred physician and hospitals Affordable co payments Prescription drug coverage for generic and standard brands
If a lowest cost is priority over value you should consider a plan with more than $5,000 for the deductible. These plans will also have limited doctor visit coverage and will often give you a prescription discount card, instead of prescription coverage.
For lower premiums you need to choose a plan with higher deductibles. You would want to have a family deductible instead of an individual deductible. The difference is that all medicals bills go towards the deductible in the family deductible plan, but in the individual plan each person must me a certain deductible. Either way, once the deductible is met your insurance company will pay 100% of you medical bills.
Health Savings Accounts are a great way to help a family meet their insurance plan deductible. This functions outside of the insurance plan and has a limit of how much you can put into the account for whole the family or each individual. You are then able to keep your money in this account and only use it when a medical situation arises.
health insurance can take a large amount of research to ensure that you are not only staying in budget but getting the adequate insurance that is needed. Most health insurance are all similar but come with various premiums and hospital associations.

Florida Health Insurance for Students

admin — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 02:50:56 +0000

Quotingand Saving on your insurance coverage has never been easier. You’re a few seconds away from obtaining detailed quotes forlow cost studenthealth insurance programs. Florida Health Insurance for StudentsDecember 02, 2008Graduates of Florida A&M and Florida State University have received numerous speeches and congratulatory gifts, but one real-world need many of them have and did not receive as a gift is health insurance. With a myriad of short-term insurance policies available, young adults are now stuck between their diploma and a hard place.”Many of them do not know there is an affordable insurance solution for them because they never had to buy health insurance,” said Ellen Laden, public-relations director for Golden Rule Insurance Co. “Basically, each year hundreds of thousands of students join America’s uninsured.”According to research compiled by the Commonwealth Fund, 38 percent of college graduates go through some uninsured period in their first year after graduation. Golden Rule Insurance is an Indianapolis-based individual insurer affiliate of UnitedHealthCare. For more than 20 years it primarily has provided short-term insurance for graduates and adults going through a transition from one insurer to another.www.EasyToInsureME.com offers short-term insurance policies for terms as brief as 30 days. Its owner, Chad Levin, started writing the policies more than 5 years ago because of the recent increase in college population.Last month, Latoya Harris graduated from FSU with a degree in English. Unlike her classmates, Harris was without health insurance before graduation. When she turned 22 in January 2006, her parents’ insurer, Kaiser Permanente, dropped her, even though she could show identification proving she was a full-time student.”Thankfully, I haven’t had any major medical emergencies, so I haven’t had to worry about paying a huge amount of money,” Harris said. “Clearly, it can happen to anyone, so it’s just been a blessing that it hasn’t occurred.”A representative from Kaiser Permanente said it is up to an individual employer when dependents are dropped from coverage, even if they are full-time students when their policy expires.To get by, Harris said she visited the clinic at FSU where she only had to pay for prescriptions. She said it can be scary to graduate and not have health insurance and that “it kind of kicked in for me: ‘Hmm. I need to find a job and get health insurance.”Harris has found a position in Clearwater and does not have a probationary period before her health insurance begins. She may be one of the fortunate graduates. According to a 2006 article, “Rite of Passage? Why Young Adults Become Uninsured and How New Policies Can Help” (Commonwealth Fund), adults between 19 and 29 are the fastest-growing demographic without health insurance. In 2004, the most recent year available, 13.7 million adults in that age group lacked health insurance, which is 2.5 million more than was reported in 2000. The Commonwealth Fund will release statistics this month updating the figures.”Because most students are under their parents’ insurance, they don’t take the time to research it,” Harris said. She added it’s “definitely wise” for students to educate themselves.Kylan Chavious is one who educated himself. Before he graduated from FAMU with a degree in computer information systems and taking a position at Lockheed Martin, he researched the possibility of a short-term policy. He does not have to worry about a lapse in health insurance because his parents’ policy with WellPath, a subsidiary of Duke Select, covers him until he begins at Lockheed in late June.”It’s like the saying ‘better safe than sorry,” Chavious said. “That could not only be for your sake, but that could be for future children of yours or your spouse.”Do business with a well-known company that has an extensive network both in Florida and across the country. (Network discounts can make health care much more affordable because rates are negotiated for the consumer.)Find a plan that offers a wide range of deductibles (the higher the deductible, the lower the cost) and choice of months of coverage.Determine which payment options (one time, monthly?) best fit your budget.Make certain that you understand the plan and that the application process is a simple, quick one.Make certain that you can drop the plan at any time without penalty if you become eligible for coverage by an employer.

Business Wire - Australian Health Insurer Medibank Private Chooses Teradata

admin — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 13:10:59 +0000

Enterprise data warehouse will deliver accelerated analytical business intelligence
MIAMISBURG, Ohio — Teradata Corporation (NYSE: TDC), the global leader in enterprise data warehousing, announced today that Australia’s largest health insurance provider, Medibank Private, has selected Teradata for a company-wide enterprise data warehouse (EDW). The project is part of a larger legacy replacement program being undertaken by the insurer which operates over 100 retail centers nationally.
Andrew Clark, manager of Medibank Private’s Business Intelligence Competency Centre, said the new EDW will include the Teradata MPP 5500 server providing up to five terabytes of user data. Clark said that in addition, a development and test system will use the Teradata SMP 550P server with up to one terabyte of user space.

Most Popular
10 Jobs That Pay $30 An Hour
5 Regular Mistakes In Public Speaking
Public Speaking: 7 Secrets Of Great Public Speakers
13 Job Interview Mistakes To Avoid
3 Questions No Job Seeker Ever Wants To Be Asked?

As a completely integrated data warehouse with “optimized system performance,” he said the solution “will form part of Medibank Private’s Business Intelligence (BI) capability.” After extensive evaluation of EDW providers, Clark said this solution was selected to support its multi-faceted business through faster information delivery and reporting. He said a major factor in the selection was Teradata’s Health Care Logical Data Model (HC-LDM), which reduces the time and cost for implementing the EDW. An LDM serves as a blueprint for building an enterprise data structure that provides common business definitions for all entities, resulting in a single, integrated view across the organization. It also documents business rules at the corporate level, supports consistent reporting and analytical results, and helps eliminate data redundancy.
“The implementation is part of a larger legacy replacement program which includes replacing reporting systems based on IBM dB2 and MS SQL databases,” Clark said. “We expect a significant improvement with the implementation of the Teradata EDW. It will provide a range of regular reports in a timely fashion as well as enable staff to perform ad hoc analysis with self-service access to information.”
Noel Pettitt, vice president of Teradata Australia and New Zealand, said this project highlights a trend by Australian businesses to view the data warehouse as an essential business tool and part of their wider IT infrastructure.
The healthcare industry is experiencing broad transformation, driven by pressure to improve the economics as well as the quality of health care. This begins with more complete visibility to all relevant detailed data needed to identify opportunities to improve quality of care as well as opportunities to increase efficiencies and reduce costs. Health care organizations are striving to provide vital healthcare data to the right professional at the right moment.
Core initiatives clearly underscore the industry-wide shift from being transaction-based to consumer-centric and increasingly require collective cross-organizational intelligence. These initiatives include:
* greater customer involvement in health care decisions
* more accountability by health care professionals
* the global move to electronic medical records and interoperability of health information
Teradata’s momentum continues in the healthcare and pharmaceutical industries as companies centralize and integrate critical information. Teradata’s presence in healthcare and life sciences industries is global and includes such organizations as the BKK Health Association (Germany), BUPA (U.K.), and in the U.S., the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, Highmark Inc., Harvard Pilgrim Health Care, WebMD, Kaiser Permanente, WellPoint and a number of pharmaceutical companies.
About Medibank Private
Medibank Private is Australia’s largest and only national private health insurer covering nearly three million people and representing about 30% of the private health insurance market. The insurer operates over 100 retail centers across Australia, offering private health coverage for hospital and ancillary services and travel insurance. For more information please visit the web site at http://www.medibank.com.au/About-Us.aspx
About Teradata
Teradata Corporation (NYSE: TDC) is the world’s largest company solely focused on raising intelligence through data warehousing and enterprise analytics. Teradata is in more than 60 countries and on the Web at www.teradata.com.
Teradata is a trademark or registered trademark of Teradata Corporation in the United States and other countries.
COPYRIGHT 2008 Business Wire
COPYRIGHT 2008 Gale, Cengage Learning

Health Insurance, Health Care Issues Now Top Rated Topics for Radio Listeners According to Arbitron

admin — Sun, 27 Sep 2009 01:30:49 +0000

The Health Insurance Advocate Show, With Cary Hall, Achieves One Year Ratings Increase of 119 Percent in Western Missouri, Eastern Kansas Market and 576 Percent in Wichita, Kansas, Market By Delivering Clarity and Eliminating Confusion

Kansas City, MO (PRWEB) August 16, 2007 — Cary Hall announced today that the Health Insurance Advocate Show, featured on Talk Radio 710 KCMO in Kansas City, Missouri, 9 a.m. Saturdays, has recently experienced a significant Arbitron ratings increase of 119 percent, more than doubling its listenership since this time last year. The program also airs on News Radio 1330 KNSS Talk Radio in Wichita, Kansas, noon on Saturdays, and has experienced an Arbitron ratings increase of 576 percent in the past year - an increase Hall says is a direct result of teaching listeners to feel confident in their understanding of healthcare coverage. Listen to program podcast or live.

Cary Hall

People don't gain clarity on Medicare changes or child-only coverage or caring for elderly parents and so many other very personal issues by reading a boring conventional brochure

“With so much change in the industry and the relentless cost increases that can often drive consumers away from even having healthcare coverage, we believe we know why the show has had such incredible gains in popularity,” Hall said. “Simply put, it's desperately needed.”

Hall is host of the Saturday morning program as well as president of Benefits By Design, a health insurance and consumer advocate company. The radio program is now the number one rated Saturday talk show in the region according to Arbitron Winter Book Ratings for 2007.

“We're ending the myth that health insurance is not affordable with a cutting edge program designed to educate and raise awareness in the group and individual policy markets,” said Hall. “We're helping everyone from sole proprietors who are trying to raise their families to HR executives at large corporations who are trying to make sense out of poorly performing group policies. The show teaches them to understand the market and how best to protect their employees and loved ones with incredible savings and coverage efficiency.”

“People don't gain clarity on Medicare changes or child-only coverage or caring for elderly parents and so many other very personal issues by reading a boring conventional brochure,” Hall says. “We teach our listeners by conversing with knowledgeable experts, healthcare professionals and community service organizations every week in order to put a human face on what we all face together — the need to protect ourselves and our families and the need to conserve and protect our dollars.”

Hall cites the fact that the health insurance industry can be complex and often leads to confusion, frustration and even heartache in the market place. Breaking down industry terminology and government regulations, demonstrating cost efficiency and giving consumers confidence in the purchase of healthcare coverage is what the Health Insurance Advocate Show strives to deliver.

The new Arbitron ratings come at a crucial time as the Health Insurance Advocate Show reaches its fourth anniversary on the air in Kansas City, touching most of western Missouri and eastern Kansas. The program is in its second year in the Wichita market.

The Health Insurance Advocate Show, heard in Kansas City on Talk Radio 710 KCMO Saturdays from 9 a.m. to 10 a.m. and in Wichita on News Radio 1330 KNSS Talk Radio Saturdays from Noon to 1 p.m., is Kansas City's and Wichita's only source for the latest information on the health insurance industry.

Listen to program podcast or live.

Contact:
Vicky Bisby
913.385.2224

The Health Insurance Advocate - 10540 Marty, Suite 200 - Overland Park, KS 66212