If you’re looking for a comprehensive group health plan for your small business our Empire Blue Cross Blue Shield review explains why this company is one of the best. This insurer is probably one of the most admired insurance providers in the state of New York.  And for many reasons; Empire has one of the strongest provider networks of coverage across the entire state – only second to behemoth, Oxford. Who Is Empire Blue Cross Blue Shield? Empire BlueCross BlueShield (Empire) is the trade name of Empire HealthChoice Assurance, Inc., and Empire Blue Cross Blue Shield HMO is the trade name ..read more

On December 13, 2016, President Obama signed into law the “21st Century Cures Act” which offers relief for employers reimbursing individual health insurance premiums. The new law allows small employers without group medical plans to reimburse individual premiums and other medical expenses of employees under health reimbursement arrangements (“HRAs”) The High Cost Of Group Health Insurance Small employers want to offer health benefits to attract and retain quality employees, but over the years, group health insurance premiums have sky-rocketed. Under Obamacare, small employers with less than 50 ..read more

Our unbiased Insperity PEO review sheds light on one of the best HR outsourcing companies in the industry and how your small business can benefit from working with them. According to The National Association of Professional Employer Organizations, there are more than 800 PEOs in the United States. With so many PEOs to choose from, it’s almost impossible to know which firm could be the right choice for your small business. Over the years, we have worked with many of these companies and in our opinion, only one stands above the rest. Here is what you need to know about working with Insperity. Wh ..read more

Short term disability insurance is mandatory in New York, but not all insurance providers are created equal. Here is our list of the best NY short term disability insurance companies.  As independent insurance agents, we are not beholden to any insurance company. Our recommendations are based on more than 25 years of working with these companies and the following criteria: Financial Strength – Ability to pay claims Most Competitive Price Highest Quality Ease of Doing Business Customer Service In our opinion,  these are the best NY Short Term Disability Companies for 2018: Standard ..read more

Text messaging provides an easy way to make sure your employees understand their new health plans. Here’s how SMS can make your open enrollment process easier. Direct communication speeds up the enrollment process and makes it easier to share information on the various medical plans available. Texts are received within minutes, while most emails are ignored. This is a guest post by Ken Rhie, the CEO of Trumpia. “Text messaging is a quick and cost-effective way to improve awareness of your company’s open enrollment period.” When you want your HR department to have a direct way to reach employ ..read more

Our unbiased Healthfirst Insurance review sheds light on this new comer to the New York group health insurance marketplace. As independent insurance agents we give you the real scoop whether this insurance carrier is worth consideration for your business. About Healthfirst Insurance Company At first glance, most New Yorker’s might recognize the Healthfirst insurance company as a provider of Medicare, Medicaid and individual health plans to lower income consumers. However, their organization has been steadily expanding their insurance products from its start of Medicaid plans, Medicare and now ..read more

Northwell Health, the parent company of CareConnect Health Insurance has just announced that CareConnect plans to exit the New York Health Insurance marketplace in 2018. This news comes as a major blow to the already limited health insurance marketplace available to consumers and small businesses in the state of NY. CareConnect will be winding down their operations over the next year and will no longer be offering individual or group health insurance plans for 2018. In addition, all existing CareConnect individual plans sold on the New York State Health Exchange will expire at the end of this ..read more

The IRS has released the inflation adjusted HSA Contribution Limits For 2018. All limits have increased over the amounts announced in 2017. HSA’s are tax advantaged savings accounts and have become a very popular way for people to pay for out-of-pocket medical expenses. In fact, according to the latest research by Devenir Investments, it is predicted that HSA assets could reach more than $53 billion in 2018. But to fully unlock the benefits of HSA’s, you should understand how they can be a powerful financial planning tool. Background on Health Savings Accounts A Health Savings Account, or HSA ..read more

If you’re like most New York small business owners, you’ve probably heard of EmblemHealth. Now, it is worth mentioning that although Emblem is one of the numerous insurance companies we represent, we have not been paid to give them a review. As independent insurance agents, our reviews are unbiased and are only meant to help you make the best decision regarding a group health insurance program for your business. About EmblemHealth Insurance Company Emblem is one of the Nation’s largest not-for-profit health plan providers and has more than 3.1 million customers as of 2016. The company is headq ..read more

Most employers understand that in order to attract and retain quality employees, they need to offer a comprehensive group benefits program. Nowadays, employees are looking for more than just health insurance benefits. Disability insurance is probably one of the most overlooked types of insurance coverage and yet, it is one of the most important. The ability to earn an income is your most important financial asset. Many people insure their homes, their cars and their valuables but without the ability to earn an income, those precious assets would not exist. According to the Council For Disabili ..read more