Business Wire - Kasich, Krol and Wilcox Join Board of Norvax, Inc

Anyone who thinks it looks like health-insurance rates are dropping should probably have their eyes, and wallets, examined.
HMO rates nationwide jumped 10.7 percent in 2008 after rising 9.9 percent in 2007, 15.8 percent in 2006 and 14.6 percent in 2005, according to The Kaiser Family Foundation, a nonprofit that conducts studies for the health-care industry.
The average cost for health insurance premiums nationwide was $4,479 for individuals and $12,106 or families in 2007, according to the foundation. The average amount paid by employees was $694 for individual coverage and $3,281 for a family.

Most Popular
5 Regular Mistakes In Public Speaking
Today’s Best Part-Time Jobs
Five Ways To Successfully Negotiate A Salary
Eight Major Job Trends For 2008
10 Jobs That Pay $30 An Hour

And rates aren’t expected to drop anytime soon. But that doesn’t mean everybody’s losing the battle to hold rates down without cutting benefits.
While many firms face soaring insurance rates, some companies are consolidating health policies with one insurer, putting policies out to bid and reviewing and adjusting insurance.
ClearVision Optical, a wholesale distributor of eyewear based in Hauppauge, got the equivalent of a $100,000 check in the mail after switching health-insurance policies. The kicker is that ClearVision actually increased coverage.
ClearVision used to offer policies from Empire Blue Cross Blue Shield, Health Insurance Plan of Greater New York and Oxford. Now the company offers only one Blue Cross policy, the Prism Plan.
“You have more leverage with the insurance company,” Brenda Litzky, director of vendor relations, said of consolidating coverage. “They’re getting all of our business instead of it being apportioned.”
The firm took an aggressive approach, auditing its insurance portfolio and bidding out policies, saving another $15,000 on life and long-term disability, according to Litzky.
“We are now in a position to offer our employees better coverage,” Litzky said, “and still have funds to do the other things we want to do for our employees.”
Reducing risk
Health insurance is causing headaches for companies and consumers. New York is no exception. Health insurance rates rocketed more than 50 percent in New York State since 2008, according to Aon Consulting.
But Randy Shotland, an insurance agent in Melville affiliated with New York Life, said firms don’t need to simply throw up their hands.
“There are plenty of ways for people not only to slow down increases in health insurance, but in some cases even reduce the cost,” Shotland said. “You can’t just sit back and take the increases without a fight.”
The good news is firms may be able to avoid insurance inflation in health and other policies simply by being cautious and taking advantage of insurers’ desire to write policies.
“We’re going into a cycle where insurers are recording record profits, so they want to take in more premiums and make more money. They want to take in more business,” said Ronald Brunell, an agent, broker and consultant at B & B Coverage Ltd. in Valley Stream. “Health care is going up double digits, but property and casualty rates on the business side are declining.”
Despite these declining rates, you need to be vigilant, creative and spend time and money to save in the long run.
Fighting back
The first question is where to find information. Business specialists and groups devoted to the topic of insurance offer advice to executives. Litzky turned to a group called Vistage, a worldwide organization in which businesses discuss insurance issues.
ClearVision also hired a risk management consultant to identify problems, review policies and makes recommendations without taking a commission. “He’s not selling insurance,” Litzky said. “This person can ask the right questions.”
But Alex Canaan, president of Smithtown-based ACS Consulting, said good brokers should provide advice; hiring consultants means additional fees.
Canaan said small companies can get better deals through professional employer organizations that pool companies to negotiate rates. Firms with up to 50 employees pay the same amounts through what’s known as community ratings. Smaller firms, unlike their larger brethren, are not sizeable enough to negotiate their own rates.
“[Professional employer organizations] traditionally can offer a Fortune 500 suite of benefits that the individual small company could not afford,” Canaan said. “They can get benefits at lower prices. Very often the savings on the benefits side outweighs the fee.”
Companies also may get discounts through associations which pool members to get deals.
Steve Schwimmer, Long Island sales manager for Bohemia-based Renaissance Merchant Services, said his firm offers health insurance through the New York Restaurant Association and the National Association of Payment Professionals.
Another way companies are saving expenses on insurance is by altering the plan’s design. Firms are increasingly hiking deductibles and co-pays and offering health savings accounts and health reimbursement accounts.
Shotland said, “By changing the design of the plan, you can be more cost efficient.” Policies that only pay in-network providers are cheaper. Gatekeepers typically reduce price, but increase bureaucracy.