Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Georgia offers Chamber members Choice and Savings!

One of the health insurance industry's best kept secrets is a product called Employee Elect. Offered by Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Georgia (BCBSGa*), Employee Elect allows a qualified employer to offer as many as 30 different coverage options to each of their employees. Each eligible employee can choose from any plan on the list they wish, allowing them to have the best plan to suit their needs!

In addition to increased employee choice, another benefit of Employee Elect is that business owners can stabilize their health care costs. Most employers know the amount they can afford for health care coverage. With this new product, they can declare the amount they wish to contribute to their employees' benefits, then an employee can choose the plan that best meets their needs by paying the difference between the base amount and the selected benefits. Commonly referred to as a "defined contribution plan", this allows each employee to know how much they are receiving from their employer toward their coverage.

As part of this program, all BCBSGa small business plans are available at reduced premium rates to eligible business members of our Chamber of Commerce! Through the group "buying power" of the MemberCare Alliance of Muscogee CountySM, we are part of a statewide network of over 130 Chambers of Commerce offering discounted insurance products to Chamber member businesses. The MemberCare Alliance of Muscogee County program includes a variety of discounted insurance products, such as: group term, voluntary and dependent life insurance, group dental insurance, group long term and short term disability, accidental death and dismemberment and long term care insurance.

For more information on these insurance offerings, please call the Chamber, one of your participating Chamber-member insurance agents, or Purchasing Alliance Solutions, Inc., (the company that developed MemberCare Alliance of Muscogee County program) at 770-579-1214 or 1-800-782-8254.

As a service of your Greater Columbus Georgia Chamber of Commerce, this is a reminder that the application for Freeport Exemption Inventory by eligible companies must be filed with the Board of Tax Assessors on or before April 1, 2010, in order to be considered for maximum exemption. From April 1 until June 1, applications may be filed but will result in a partial exemption.

The following is from the Columbus Consolidated Government website:

• Class 1 - Raw materials and goods in process of a qualified manufacturer - 100% exemption.
• Class 2 - Finished goods produced in Georgia within the last 12 months - 100% exemption
• Class 3 - Finished goods stored in Georgia at January 1 and destined for shipment out-of-state within 12 months - 100% exemption.

Each of the above referenced Freeport Exemptions must be annually applied for and approved by the Board of Tax Assessors on or before April 1 of each year to qualify for 100% of the exemption. Applications for these exemptions may be obtained from the office of the Board of Tax Assessors. The office of the Board of Tax Assessors located at 100 Tenth Street (East Wing/2nd Floor).