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About Caffrey Insurance Solutions
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Best Broker in the
East Bay
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Group Coverage Could Help Your Next Tax Day
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If you are currently considering small group coverage for your employees, you may not know that in addition to tax-deductibility of premiums, there are also tax credits available to groups of 2-50 employees.
One of our clients, a group of six people, said, "Can you believe we saved $1,500 last year because you let us know about it?" For more information, please feel free to check out the provisions of the act.
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Review us on Yelp!
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Thanks to your great reviews, we now have a five star rating on Yelp. If you have received good service from Caffrey Insurance Solutions over the years, please drop by and let prospective customers know about your experience. We really appreciate your time! Thank you.
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| Free California Prescription Discount Card |
As a resident of California, you and your family have access to a FREE Prescription Drug Card program. Simply download your Prescription Drug Card and receive savings of up to 75% at more than 50,000 national and regional pharmacies. You may create as many cards as you need.
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| Do You Like This Newsletter? | |
Some of you may be receiving this newsletter for the first time. We have been expanding our outreach efforts, but by all means, if you are not interested in receiving future newsletters, please click the unsubscribe link at the bottom of the page. If we haven't spoken in a while and you have concerns about health insurance that we can help you with, please let us know.
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| New Associates | |
If you would like quotes for your group or individual investment plans, Lynn recommends Frank Pare of PF Wealth Management.
If you are seeking individual homeowners' or auto insurance, Lynn recommends Jain Williams of State Farm Insurance.
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| Testimonials | |
"Once again I commend you on your efficiency and professionalism. Thank you for getting to the heart of it and getting my son covered."
--Taron Caine
"Thank you SO MUCH. You are truly offering service, not just selling insurance. I recognize and appreciate that."
--Miki Kashtan
"It's been a while since I encountered such superb client service in any area of business or life. Lynn is incredibly patient, super responsive, AND can translate insurance lingo.
She is also friendly and genuine without being intrusive, overly chatty or fake, navigating the sometimes challenging boundary between professionalism and human interest with natural ease."
--Yelp.com Review247
"Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! I would probably still be on the phone with my insurer if it wasn't for you. Thanks so much, you're a life saver."
--Michelle Ruiz
"If any friends out there are heading toward navigating the path to Medicare...call Lynn at Caffrey Insurance Solutions in Oakland. She's great.
--Elisabeth Schlessinger
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Greetings! 
As of July 1, 2012, group and individual policies will be required to cover autism or pervasive developmental disorder treatments that follow a treatment plan set out by a qualified autism service provider. In addition, individual policies will be required to cover maternity services as of July 1 as well.
If you're seeking a comparison on your individual and family cover age, you can also go to our website and run a quick quote to see some options. We're glad to run these as well but the website can be a time saver for you.
We strive to provide the best service and the best products at the best prices we can find. We are always grateful to you for our success and growth.
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Health Care Industry Update
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Paging Dr. Dot Com...
We're going to discuss something a little different this month. While the Supreme Court is mulling various aspects of health care reform law, there isn't much we can report on at present.
So in other news, we have been hearing about an interesting new trend that may allow some people to get basic medical guidance and patient consultation online for relatively minimal fees.
In a story published by Kaiser Health News in cooperation with USA Today, there is an active discussion of a number of providers of what is commonly known as "telemedicine", in which a live doctor or nurse practitioner can interact with someone far away, and, via a series of diagnostic questions, determine the nature of a medical issue and prescribe medication as necessary.
"Insurers such as UnitedHealthcare, Aetna and Cigna, and large employers such as General Electric and Delta Air Lines are getting on board, pushing telemedicine as a way to make doctor "visits" cheaper and more easily available. Proponents also see it as an answer to a worsening doctor shortage."
Although telemedicine is in no way a replacement for proper coverage or a full visit to your doctor, it can be a straightforward way to answer simple questions and get access to medical services that would be otherwise out of reach.
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What Would Lynn Do?
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Q: We are a small non-profit facing a rate increase of more than $20,000 per year, a whopping 23.3%. We have already reduced our benefits quite a lot, but we do have two carriers, Kaiser and one other. What can we do?
A: Here are some options that may occur to you:
- Ask for more contributions, which would average an additional $125 per month per employee.
- Eliminate the non-Kaiser plan, forcing everyone to go on Kaiser.
- Reduce the benefits further on the Kaiser plan.
- Create a lower base plan and allow people to buy up.
- None of the above.
None of the above.
Although all of these choices would be good to explore, and we might recommend one or more in some situations, this time there is a much better option that is often overlooked. You have an employee who is on the cusp of turning 65. To keep her on the group plan would cost $1800 per month. To allow her to take Medicare with a supplement and a drug plan would cost approximately $270. Her coverage approaches 100%, and the 23.3% increase you face reduces to 3.19% without doing anything to the existing plans or contributions.
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How Long Will You Live?
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This easy and fun calculator estimates your life expectancy. It was developed by Northwestern Mutual Life.
They try to predict how long you're likely to live. It does say that it won't work if you have a long term health issue, but generally it works well. Barring long-term health problems, we're going to live a long time, most of us into our late 80's or 90's.
How will we ever pay for the insurance to cover such long lives? Smarter folks than us are working on these issues. When they figure it out, we'll be here to explain it to you. We promise.
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10,000 People Turn 65 Every Day
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An individual between 60 and 64 costs four times as much to insure as a thirty-something.
Fortunately Medicare exists and most people aged 65+ are eligible for its services whether they are working or not. Signing up for Medicare can easily be done by phone or online up to three months before one's 65th birthday.
If you know anyone on the cusp of turning 65, please refer them our way. We do our best to make a very confusing process straightforward and to your financial advantage. We help with everything from initial Medicare enrollment to supplemental policies and prescription drug plans.
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As You Grow, We Grow With You
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Please ask about additional services and value-added products such as HR administration and online policy management tools.
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About Caffrey Insurance Solutions
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Lynn Caffrey and Caffrey Insurance Solutions is a family business employee benefits brokerage firm that provides insurance expertise for small companies (fewer than 50 employees) and individuals seeking Individual coverage.
Caffrey Insurance works with you to find the best insurance benefits that provide the best value, tailored to the unique needs of your company.
California License Information
Individual: 0557451 Corporate: OG80281
336 Lenox Avenue, Oakland, CA, 94610
510-444-5447
Email: lcaffrey@caffreyinsurance.com
 Gabriel Caffrey (CA License: 0H66348) is interested in hearing from small groups, particularly innovative tech companies just getting started in the world. He is technically savvy with data management and is glad to help with infrastructure projects as well as ensuring efficient HR and benefits management for you.
Email: gabriel@caffreyinsurance.com
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