There’s no doubt that the idea of adding to your business costs is rarely a popular idea. When you’re so focused on seeing through each month and generating a profit, it can feel like every debit you have to make to your business accounts is a huge drain. So being told that you need to think about employee healthcare coverage? That’s probably not the most welcome of statements.

The truth is, however, that the health of your employees is vitally important to your business. Without a healthy staff, you’re going to suffer from chronic problems and a huge loss of productivity caused by sick days and absences. Investing in how healthy your employees are is an investment in the future of your business – so if you try and think of it like that, it might be easier to handle the loss to your finances.

Should you make the decision to invest in healthcare coverage, this gives birth to many additional decisions you have to make. What type of coverage should you offer? What is important to prioritize in the coverages? What exclusions can you expect?

All important decisions that are worthy of your time, but for the moment, let’s focus on a more macro level. While general healthcare coverage is great, you’re also going to need to think about using business senses to give your employees the best healthcare they need. And that’s ‘business senses’ in a very literal way…

Sight

A general healthcare policy might not cover employee vision and sight health. Why do you need this area covered?

• Poor eyesight can cause headaches and fatigue, meaning your employees won’t be at their best.
• If someone is struggling to see properly, they are less likely to be able to spot errors in fine print – which could cost your business substantially.

So it’s always worthwhile to check out business vision insurance rates if your policy doesn’t cover eye and sight costs as standard.

Hearing

If you have an older workforce, then natural degeneration in hearing is an area you need to focus on. It’s also a priority if you work in an industry that involves employees being exposed to loud noises, such as construction.

• If you don’t provide the correct sound-blocking technology for employees, then you could be vulnerable to a future lawsuit. Doing this and offering proper healthcare to ensure the measures you have taken are effective is a perfect way of covering yourself for the future.
• Older employees have a lot to offer in terms of experience. Don’t allow them to be left behind by not being able to hear in meetings or struggling with phone calls.

Try and find a policy that covers not only regular hearing checks, but anything that offers assistance with the cost of a hearing aid.

Taste

If there is anything you can do to ensure your employees are eating a healthy diet, then it’s a great investment. Not only will they be healthier in general, but it also means fewer claims on your company policy.

• While staff can bring their own if they choose, try and encourage healthy eating habits through avoiding sugary drinks and snacks in any vending machines.
• Offer free fruit and vegetable snacks to the office on a regular basis.

By focus on the above areas, you can be confident of a comprehensive coverage for your employees health – benefiting your business in the long run as well!

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Did you know that being smarter about your health can directly affect your health care costs? It’s true! Lower health care literacy has been linked to unnecessary over treatment, fewer scheduled preventative services, and higher hospitalization rates, all of which increase your health care costs and put you at greater risk. In the following article, we review the types of behaviors associated with having a high health literacy and how these behaviors save people money on their insurance rates.

They Learn to Advocate for Themselves

Those of us who are health conscious are smart enough to know which treatments and medications we need and which ones are unnecessary. These unnecessary treatments, including over prescribed medications, fall under a term called “overutilization.” Overutilization occurs when health care is provided at a higher volume than necessary or at a higher cost than is appropriate to the treatment. In other words, if patients don’t have high health care literacy, they may not be able to advocate for themselves and refuse excessive or redundant tests or treatments.

In fact, overutilization is such a problem in health care that the Institute of Medicine (IOM), now known as the National Academy of Medicine (NAM), estimates that 30 percent of US health care expenditures are a waste of money. Of that percentage, the IOM estimates $210 billion stems from unnecessary health care services.

They Schedule Regular Doctors Visits and Use ER Sparingly

Those with high health literacies tend to go to the doctor regularly, which helps them understand their current health status better than those with lower health literacies. This helps them avoid the common traps of overutilization, which we see in doctors over-prescribing medications (such as antibiotics for upper respiratory infections), excessive imaging services, unnecessary surgeries, excessive stress tests, and emergency-room visits for symptoms normally seen at a person’s doctor’s office. Many of these instances of overutilization can be avoided if a patient fully understands his or her health status and the full range of treatment options available. For example, rather than visit the ER for suspected strep throat, a health-literate patient would hold off and schedule an appointment with his or her family doctor. Doing so not only helps you save money, but also reduces the overall costs of healthcare for everyone.

They Take Advantage of Preventative Services

Health conscious patients take their health seriously. They schedule physicals with their primary care provider annually, make other appointments when necessary, and live a healthy lifestyle in order to prevent health problems later in life. Unfortunately, even if you’re trying to live a healthy lifestyle, if you’re not keeping your annual doctor’s appointments, you may still be part of the problem that drives up health care costs.

The yearly physical is often included in insurance plans free of charge because it’s such an essential part of keeping insurance rates down. Preventative services like these can spot illnesses and risk factors early, long before they have a chance to develop into life-threatening concerns. Too often, we hear of cancer patients who didn’t know they were sick until they were diagnosed with Stage 4 cancer, and while many cancers do indeed grow quickly, preventative services have a better chance of spotting them before it’s too late for treatment.

As a health-conscious consumer, you should adhere to your doctor’s recommended visits and consider other areas that positively impact your overall health, such as dental, vision, and physical therapy services. Staying on top of these areas of health ensures you save money on health care costs and don’t strain the system.

Keeping Your Insurance Rates Down

The reality is, many Americans don’t spend enough time researching health insurance benefits options before choosing their plan. Those with higher health literacy will compare their options, perform research beyond the packet their employer has provided for them, ask questions to get a clear picture of what’s included in each insurance plan, and get their questions answered by an expert in the field to make sure they are getting the right insurance plan for them. The same can be said for life insurance.

Health IQ celebrates health conscious consumers by extending special rates on life insurance to those who deserve it most. When you’ve spent a lifetime eating right, exercising, keeping up with your annual physicals, and doing your best to stay healthy, statistics say you should live longer than the average American. Naturally, this means enjoying special rates on term life insurance.

If you’re already a health conscious consumer, enlist the help of an expert to find the right insurance plan for you and your family. Our services are particularly beneficial to endurance athletes and strength trainers with low resting heart rates and muscular builds. Muscular builds can mean having an increased body mass index (BMI) that puts you over a weight limit for discounted health insurance rates, but we take these things into account at Health IQ. Simply verify your activity level to qualify.

Being health conscious has many benefits, so why not reap the rewards? Contact Health IQ to see how much you can save.

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As more people are leaving their very insecure permanent jobs and going down the self-employed route, there doesn’t seem to be many financial preparations for the future anymore. And it’s hardly surprising, given the current nature of unpredictability in the market. People are setting up their own businesses, and approximately 9 out of 10 small businesses are failing because people are ill-equipped, or the financial strain is way too much for them to bear. Living a lifestyle of self-employment can be all about living day to day while working all the hours under the sun. While this isn’t the most fruitful way to live your life, how can you make the most of a delicate financial situation while working for yourself?

Assess The Real Amounts Of Outgoings

Living in a hand to mouth way means that you seldom stop and take notice of how much you’re spending. If you get a big contract, you may feel that you are in the money and spend quite lavishly, which leaves you out of pocket when you’re left wanting for work. The best way to tackle this is to establish a base level of spending and stick to that, though it’s worth doing this when you’re in a good working contract and not when you’re struggling. Look at your outgoings and cut back on what isn’t essential. Have you been to the gym in the last 6 months? No? Get rid of it. Getting a selection of credit cards is handy when you’re self-employed is handy for expenses, but not for buying everyday items. The best way to avoid temptation is to lock them away and avoid remembering the PIN number. If you have pressing payments when you’re in the middle of a contract, you could use a credit card to make the payment and then use your earnings to pay off the card. With costs like insurance, you can pay insurance premium by credit card which helps to spread out the debt over a longer period of time. It all depends on the rate of the credit card you have. It is always ideal to have a 0% card for business expenses. So if you needed to travel to another country, the card could pay for the travel insurance.

Look At What You Can Claim Back

One thing that newly self-employed people forget about is what they can claim as expenses. Depending on where you live it varies, but if you operate out of your home, you can make the most of cutting back on your energy bills if you use one of your rooms as an office. So if you have a phone set up, the internet, and of course, all your electricity usage for your business coming out of this one room, you could try and claim some money back on your bills. The rules differ, but you can always speak to an accountant to get the bearings on this situation. Self-employment is a feast or a famine, but saving money is possible in light of circumstances. Just do your research, and make the most of what you are entitled to.

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A home insurance policy is a great way to secure one of your biggest investments. That said, a lot of us are quite apprehensive about the home insurance premium. But it is essential that you get a proper home insurance policy to safeguard yourself against any distress caused in the event of a mishap. It’s all about doing some homework and get your basics right when it comes to home insurance requirements.Don’t know how to go about it? No need to worry, read on.

Today you can find a lot of home policies from insurance providers, offering different types and levels of coverage. Naturally, the first thing therefore to do is to analyze your coverage requirements carefully. With this understanding in place, you will be in good position to know what to look for and make an informed decision.

Another thing on similar lines is to identify what type of coverage is needed for your house. Basically, there are two types of home insurance coverage one can opt for. A home insurance that covers just the structure will only insure your house against structural damages. While on the other hand, a home contents insurance policy will cover your household items against loss and damage. For instance, if you happen to live in an area that is prone to floods, go with structural home insurance. In case your house is susceptible to theft and burglary, it makes sense to go with the cover that offers content protection.

In the event that you need both types of coverage, it is advisable that you subscribe to the same home insurance company. This will help you save on the policy premium as well save the troubles and hassles arising during claims.

Another great tip to get the best home insurance deal is to compare policies online. You can find several aggregators and comparison sites on the internet that present you with in-depth comparisons. This is a great idea to avail the best offer. Additionally, there is a high chance that you will get a good discount on the premium too. This makes it a win-win for the customers.

Next, you should ponder about something called as the ‘excess’. Simply put, it is the amount that you pay out of your pocket during a claim settlement. The simple calculation here is that the excess is inversely proportional to the premium. However, this needs to be thought through as it is all about striking the right balance between the two.

You can also reduce your premium costs by installing safety equipment such as fire and smoke alarms. An anti-theft alarm is also something that’s gaining popularity these days. With such precautions in place, the insurance company will reduce the perceived risk for insuring your home and will in turn reduce the premium.

Once you have finalized the policy, you can aim for the no-claim-bonus. When you don’t file a claim for a certain period of policy coverage, the insurance company will offer a discount on the premium during renewal. However, this varies across companies and thus needs to be checked before buying. That’s it! With the help of the aforementioned pointers, you will be able to get the most out of your home insurance policy.

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In today’s internet savvy world, we all purchase something or the other online. From apparels, airline tickets, to gadgets, literally EVERYTHING is only a few clicks away! Even while writing this article, I ordered for a purple kurta to be worn in my office Holi party!

In fact, it’s not just clothes and groceries that are selling like hotcakes in the internet world, as people are buying insurance online as well.

Either you or someone in your acquaintance might have bought bike insurance online. After all, as per the research across 18 cities, more and more people are buying insurance online. Of the 3007 respondents,24% purchased motor insurance online.

However, if you are reluctant about going ahead with the online mode and prefer the conventional mode of arranging a meeting with various insurance agents and visiting their offices for detailed discussion, this article is meant just for YOU!

Benefits of online buying/renewing bike insurance:

Buying or renewing bike insurance online can prove advantageous in various ways, such as:

1. Automated servicing: The online platform is not meant for buying insurance only. As a prompt and efficient servicing channel, current policyholders can adopt the online mode to renew their policy as well, regardless of whether they purchased their policy online or not. Further, with just one click, you can download product literature like brochures, policy wordings, etc. and get instant premium quotes online.

2. Online assistance: If you are purchasing the insurance online, it doesn’t mean you will not get any assistance. Most of the insurance companies have live chat facility on their websites where customers can seek clarification in case of any query. Also, customers can call on the toll-free number of insurance companies to clear all doubts. You can go further and ask the insurer for a face-to-face meeting. The insurer will send an executive for further assistance.

3. Paperless transactions: Getting into paperwork is both time consuming and boring. But when you go online to buy an insurance policy, it requires just a few easy steps. Besides being efficient, you are protecting the Mother Nature by going paperless!

4. Time-saving and convenient: To purchase insurance offline, you need to go through the tedious task of filling long insurance forms. However, when you buy insurance online, you need to submit only a few details. Also, at the time of policy renewal, it’s easy to reload your information. As the insurer already has your details, you only need to submit your policy number. Further, insurance companies have designed an easy-to-understand user interface which has made the entire process of buying the insurance quicker and easier. And who wouldn’t love to cut the hassles of going out and standing in long queues, when buying and renewing of bike insurance can be done from the comfort of home. While watching the ‘Friends’ season on television, or during the office break or even from your mobile, bike insurance can be purchased in a hassle-free manner.

5. Cheaper premium rates: It is disheartening to see that nearly 75% of two-wheelers plying on roads are uninsured even when it is mandatory to have a third-party insurance to ply your vehicle on roads. Many times, people avoid the insurance to save some penny.However, buying a bike insurance online ensures additional savings. The insurance quotes are given for free, and in fact, you can ask for as many quotes as you want. Moreover, there is no obligation to purchase either! As there is no involvement of any agent and the insurer saves on paper and administrative cost, the same is passed on to policyholders in the form of cheaper premium rates.

6. Away from nasty agents: Though, an insurance agent plays an important role, sometimes they may not be helpful. Often, insurance agents prove to be pushy and may even have vested interests in a particular insurance policy. But when you go online, you get an option of comparing and choosing the right insurance policy after analyzing every aspect carefully. Also, there will be no interference or biased suggestion from insurance agents!

7. Instant policy issuance: When you buy a policy offline, the insurer takes a lot of time in processing physical documents. Whereas, in the internet world, the processing of information is instant and so is the issuance of your bike insurance.

8. Storage of policy documents at one place: When you go online, you will always have the soft copy of your insurance policy in your email. It means, you can access your policy anytime and anywhere. Did you know the Insurance Regulatory Authority of India (IRDAI) has introduced a digital motor insurance initiative known as e-VahanBima?It says that you don’t need to carry your motor insurance policy document every time you take out your vehicle on the road.

9. Check policy review: As you do it at the time of purchasing other things on the internet, you can check the reviews of previous customers and their experience with the insurance company before going ahead. It means, you can compare features of different policies and know about the reputation of a company before zeroing in on.

10. No impact of demonetisation: I know, the ‘demonetisation phase’ is over, but what if the government comes up with its second season? As it is said, ‘once bitten, twice shy’ so, go for the online mode to ensure that any cash crunch scenario doesn’t affect the process of buying or renewing bike insurance. All you would require doing is, log on to the insurer’s website and fill the important details, including policy information, vehicle registration number, add-ons, if any, and make payment via net banking.

Remember, accidents happen unannounced.Therefore, the least you can do is, apply for a comprehensive bike insurance that takes care of the associated expenses and ensures your financial security.

Further, it is reassuring to know that buying bike insurance online doesn’t pose any serious safety threats as every step is taken by an insurer to keep your personal information confidential.

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