Financing > Financing Solution

Financing Solution

by: Stephen Russell

In this era of creative financing and cost management tools, many employers are looking for new ways to help employees finance their health care expenses.

As an employer, you want to provide good coverage, but the cost increases in recent years have been tough to handle. A typical response to these increases may be to select a high-deductible insurance product that lowers your cost. However, there is a better solution.

Think HMO. That?s right ? health maintenance organizations. The HMOs of today offer a whole new generation of health care financing tools that every employer should consider.

It?s not your father?s HMO.

You may have heard bad stories or had a rough experience in the past. However, times have changed. HMO plans today offer extensive provider networks, excellent coverage for preventive care, the ability to frequently change a primary care physician and outstanding prescription drug coverage through broad pharmacy networks.

HMOs take the surprise out of the bill.

With most health insurance plans, an employee is responsible for a percentage of the cost of care, often 20 percent or 25 percent. This can add up very quickly, and employees can?t predict what their expense is going to be.

With an HMO structured co-pay plan, an employee knows up front the expenses associated with most covered services. For example, an employee may have a $20 copay for a primary care physician (PCP) visit, which will include all services provided in that visit. Each time employees go to their PCP, they can expect to pay $20 ? no surprises there.

Higher co-pays offer savings.

The days of nickel sodas and 25-cent phone calls are long gone ? and so are $5 and $10 co-pay plans. It?s time to rethink the value of co-pays. New HMO plans have higher co-pays, some as high as $30 for a primary care visit and $50 for a specialist. But that covers all services provided during that visit. That?s a valuable cost limit these days.

HMOs offer bold new designs.

New HMO plans have fresh cost-sharing strategies that provide low employee out-ofpocket expenses in some areas while controlling your costs by increasing employee expenses through deductibles in other areas.

In most deductible-based plans, employees have a high deductible that applies to all services. However, with these new focused-deductible HMO plans, the deductible is limited to specific services, such as hospital care or prescription drugs. After the deductible is satisfied, a co-pay also applies to that service.

Furthermore, with these plans, employees continue to have a co-pay instead of a deductible for highly utilized areas such as physician or specialist visits.

HMOs are FSA and HRA compatible.

Many HMO plans can be used with flexible spending and health reimbursement accounts, enabling employees to decide how some of their health care dollars are used. Many carriers are also developing health spending account-compatible HMO plans.

HMOs offer more than health insurance.

Today?s HMO plans offer health improvement programs such as discounted fitness club memberships and valueadded options that let employees take charge of their own health.

There are two primary reasons to revisit today?s HMO ? savings to you and savings to your employees.Rediscover today?s HMO ? you?ll be pleased with what you find.

About The Author

STEPHEN RUSSELL, a health care industry veteran with more than 35 years of experience, joined VISTA in 2002. As vice president of product development, he is responsible for product design and implementation, and contract compliance activities for all lines of business, including Medicare, Medicaid, large and small employer groups and individual. Reach him at stephen.russell@vistahealthplan.com. © 2005 Smart Business Network Inc. Reprinted from the April 2005 issue of Smart Business Broward/Palm Beach.

http://www.vistahealthplan.com/

Financing Solution

Financing Solution

by: Stephen Russell

In this era of creative financing and cost management tools, many employers are looking for new ways to help employees finance their health care expenses.

Think HMO. That?s right ? health maintenance organizations. The HMOs of today offer a whole new generation of health care financing tools that every employer should consider.

It?s not your father?s HMO.

Financing Solution

Financing > Financing Solution

Credit Card Debt

Credit Card Debt

by: Jeanette Joy Fisher

If you can't sleep at night because of credit card debt worries, you're not alone. Many people get in over their heads charging things they think they can't live without.

You don't need to cut up all of your credit cards. Save your major bank cards, but stop charging needless temptations on them. You need a couple of major bank credit cards to maintain or build strong credit scores.

The credit cards you should cut up, department store credit cards, cost you too much in interest. Plus, these types of credit cards lower your credit scores. When mortgage lenders compute your credit worthiness for real estate financing, they deduct points for unfavorable department store credit lines.

Here are a few things you shouldn't charge on your credit cards:

1. Gasoline. Why charge something that gets burned up before you pay for it? Think about how much per gallon you pay when you pay interest. ...

Credit Card Debt

Financing > Credit Card Debt

Avoid Playing Auto Financing Poker

Avoid Playing Auto Financing Poker

by: Daniel DeHaven

Finance departments are where dealers make most of their profit (well, financing and after-market products).

Their profit lies on something called the "Finance Reserve." That is the difference between the interest rate the dealer is offering you and the lower interest rate (called the "buy rate") the bank offers the dealer.

For example, lets say you have a credit score of 700. The finance manager offers you a conventional loan through Generic Bank at, say, 6.9%.

But what you don't know, as you sit there negotiating, is that the dealer already has a standing arrangement with the bank that says that any buyer with a credit score of 700 can have a loan at 4.9%. If you go for the 6.9%, the dealer keeps the other 2%. That's the "Finance Reserve." For the dealer, it's just gravy. Cash in his pocket.

Most banks cap a dealer at 3% over the "buy rate," but not all do. According...

Avoid Playing Auto Financing Poker

Financing > Avoid Playing Auto Financing Poker

Financing Sources and Types to Ensure Successful

by: David Arnold Livingston

Money is of extreme importance nowadays. Almost everything that we do involves money. The same is true if one wants to venture into business or buy a home which is one of the basic needs for survival. Financing or supplying of funds in business is a must to make it grow and achieve the desired expected profit (together with the right planning and managing). Common mistakes encountered by new entrepreneurs are wrong financing sources, underestimated amount needed for capital and inflexible financing types. These problems however can be prevented by careful planning and analysis of the various factors involved in starting a business.

In general, business people can choose from the two types of financing, the debt and equity financing. Equity financing is the type commonly used by small or growth stage entrepreneurs. The sources for this type involves the center of influence...

Financing Sources and Types to Ensure Successful

Financing > Financing Sources and Types to Ensure Successful

Bad Credit Home Financing - Choosing A Subprime Mortgage Lender

Bad Credit Home Financing - Choosing A Subprime Mortgage Lender

by: Carrie Reeder

In the early nineties subprime mortgages accounted for about five percent of all mortgages. Today the subprime mortgage loan sector comprises more than twenty percent of the mortgage market. With this explosion of subprime mortgage lenders and brokers, it is important to know what to look for when choosing your lender. Not only do you want to be sure that you are getting the best deal possible for your subprime mortgage, you also want to know how to avoid falling prey to a predatory lender.

What makes a person a candidate for a subprime mortgage? Bad credit is the predominant reason but there are others. Fluctuating income and even the type of property being purchased can also necessitate an unconventional mortgage. If your unique situation requires a subprime mortgage do the following when choosing your loan agent or broker.

Know your credit history, particularly...

Bad Credit Home Financing - Choosing A Subprime Mortgage Lender

Financing > Bad Credit Home Financing - Choosing A Subprime Mortgage Lender

Purchase Order Financing Overview

Purchase Order Financing Overview

by: David Springer

Knowing the ends and outs of purchase order financing is an asset to almost any small or medium sized business owner. In the sections below you will learn just exactly what purchase order financing is, the benefits, drawbacks, who can benefit the most from it, and would be likely to qualify for it.

What is purchase order financing?

Purchase order financing is another way to get a loan for the capital you need to finance the supplies, production, and shipping of a product after you have received a purchase order from a buyer. Once you produce the finished goods and are paid, you can then pay off your invoice to the company who provided you with funding.

This is a perfect solution for small start-up businesses who have orders coming in but don't have the finances required to order supplies, pay their workers, and ship the finished goods. This would also be a great opportunity for...

Purchase Order Financing Overview

Financing > Purchase Order Financing Overview

Bootstrap Financing Your Way To Business Success

Bootstrap Financing Your Way To Business Success

by: Stephen Pope

Do you need to start or grow your business but have little money? Before you look to banks and similar sources of financing, why not bootstrap your way to business success?

A bootstrap is a small loop of leather or other material that is found on the top rear or sides of a boot. The purpose of the bootstrap is to help you pull your boot on.

In business, bootstrapping has come to mean helping oneself without seeking outside help. It means using your own resources to finance, promote, and develop your business.

Here, then, are some ways of financing your own business by using your own initiative and depending less on outside bank financing.

1. Operate a Home-Based Business

Operating your business from home could save you a fortune. First of all, you eliminate the costs of expensive commercial rent, commuting, et cetera.

As well, your business use...

Bootstrap Financing Your Way To Business Success

Financing > Bootstrap Financing Your Way To Business Success

Financing Solution incorporate

Gift Baskets - Create Simple Easy Gifts For the Person Who Has Everything!

by: Donna Hamer

Have you ever thought about giving a personalized Gift Basket?

Is it just me or do you also get excited when you give a gift to your friends and family and you know they love it!

The downside you give a gift and you just know they hate it! Unfortunately you can?t always get it right because what seems right and the appropriate gift for you isn?t always right...

gift basket Gift Baskets - Create Simple Easy Gifts For the Person Who Has Everything!

Financing > Gift Baskets - Create Simple Easy Gifts For the Person Who Has Everything!

Time For Clocks?

by: Jeff King

How can a person get through life without a time clock? We use them constantly, from watches to alarm clocks to grandfather clocks, we function through the use of a time clock, we all do. There are many different kinds of time clocks and I am willing to bet that you have more than a few of them in your home right now, probably in your car as well.

Electronic time clocks are pretty much the only kind that we see on today?s...

Financing Solution

Financing > Time For Clocks?

A Guide To Writing Successful Website Copy

by: Steve Hattrick

We all know that the lion?s share of web traffic comes through the search engines. We also know that keywords and links to your site are the two things that affect your ranking in the search engines. Your keywords tell the search engines what you do, and the inbound links tell them how important you are. This combination is what determines your relevance. And relevance is what the search engines are...

A Guide To Writing Successful Website Copy Financing Solution incorporate

Financing > A Guide To Writing Successful Website Copy

5 Tips To Avoid A 10Lb Christmas Weight Gain

by: Janice Elizabeth Small

The average person puts on between five and ten pounds between November and January and it's pretty easy to put on more if you let yourself feast on all the delights of the season. But who wants to be miserable and diet through Christmas? Follow these tips to have fun without piling on the pounds.

1. Have the right attitude

If you go into Christmas with the idea that you'll just...

Financing Solution

Financing > 5 Tips To Avoid A 10Lb Christmas Weight Gain

Perform Your Own Automobile Maintenance

by: David Maillie

Today?s cars can typically be expected to pass the 200,000 mile mark with consistent automobile maintenance. With the price of automobiles, you will want to protect that investment by performing regular maintenance. If you can do much of the work yourself, you will save a lot of money in labor. Invest in a good set of tools and choose quality parts when performing your own automobile maintenance.

If...

Perform Your Own Automobile Maintenance Financing Solution

Financing > Perform Your Own Automobile Maintenance