|
About Caffrey Insurance Solutions
| |
|
|
Best Broker in the
East Bay
| |
|
|
Group Coverage Could Help Your Next Tax Day
|
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.
|
|
Review us on Yelp!
|
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.
|
| 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.
|
| 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.
|
| New Associates | |
If you would like quotes for your group or individual investment plans, we recommend Frank Pare of PF Wealth Management.
If you are seeking individual homeowners' or auto insurance, we recommend Jain Williams of State Farm Insurance.
If you are seeking some small-business operations coaching or career change guidance, we recommend Susan Urquhart-Brown of Career Steps Consulting Services.
|
| As You Grow, We Grow With You | |
Please ask about additional services and value-added products such as HR administration and online policy management tools.
|
| 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
"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 Review
"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 |
|
|
 Greetings!,
Both Gabriel and his wife and Lynn and her husband spent a week on the East Coast record heat during the July 4 holiday. Although the occasion was a happy family event, it quickly became apparent that Northern California is the place to be. But things are heating up all over the country, especially in the world of insurance.
Here are some of the latest updates.
The US Supreme Court upheld PPACA, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, paving the way to move forward with more pieces of the Act. The full bill will be enacted in January 2014. It will impact millions of people in California, hopefully making coverage more affordable and allowing them to get coverage, denied to them in the past.
This month, beginning July 1, individual plans now cover maternity the same as any other condition.
If you are in need of some guidance for your company benefits or individual health care coverage, please keep us in mind and feel free to pass our name around. of course, you can always visit our website and run individual quotes, or submit a group census for small business needs.
We like solving these problems.
|
|
Health Care Industry Update
|
No later than August 1, 2012 individual and small group insurers must send rebates for 2011 to their subscribers if they spent more than 20% on administration fees. Part of the PPACA requires carriers to spend at least 80% (85% for large groups) of all premiums received on medical claims and the inverse, 20%, on all other operating costs.
Two carriers that you can expect to hear from are Anthem Blue Cross of CA and Blue Shield of CA. Anthem is sending direct rebates; Kaiser is not. Although Blue Shield says their increases are reasonable and that they have spent at least 80% on claims, they are giving their group clients an 18% credit on their September premium. This is a one-time credit.
|
|
GLOSSARY
| |
 Clients can get very confused about the differences between deductibles, coinsurance, co-pays, and out-of-pocket maximums.
Here is a brief run down.
Deductible: The amount you pay before the insurance company begins paying.
Coinsurance: The amount you pay after the deductible, usually a percentage.
Co-pay: A dollar amount that you pay instead of a deductible or coinsurance for things like doctor visits and medications; these are separate from deductibles.
Out-of-Pocket Maximum: The maximum amount you will pay in any one calendar year before the insurance company pays 100%.
|
|
What Would Gabriel Do?
| |
Q: I have a small business and have only just moved it to California. My business partner has health issues. We need insurance. What can we do?
A: Here are some options that may occur to you:
- Hire at least one person and establish payroll for a calendar quarter.
- Request permission to operate your company in CA and file all the usual paperwork.
- Get jobs specifically to receive health benefits, then leave and elect Cobra to buy some time.
- Keep your original company insurance plans, if any, and keep quiet about the move to California.
- None of the above.
None of the above.
At least, not completely. While some of the above options are part of the process, they're not the complete solution.
This issue has come up several times lately. Insurance carriers are very concerned that businesses be legitimate and filed with the state and appear on the state business website. We can help small businesses dot the I's and cross the T's so they can legitimately be established as California businesses of at least two people. This makes a group eligible for guaranteed issue group coverage.
It can take a while to do this properly, but as in any business, the details matter and we will work with you to try to get you covered as quickly as possible.
|
|
How Long Will You Live?
|
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.
|
|
About Caffrey Insurance Solutions
|
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
|
|
|
