New To Us, News To You

Alternatives and Substitutes from Sugar to Naturopathic Medicine

Just like any other day, I was sitting at the breakfast table this morning eating my ho-hum, bland cereal. Wanting to “spice” it up a bit, I reached for the fake (supplemental) sugar – after all, I'm a grown up now and it's evidently better for me than the real stuff. It then dawned on me that it seems in the last several years, we are hearing more and more about alternatives and substitutes. Food substitutes and alternatives, alternative energy and alternative medicine just to name a few.

Alternative energy has made a lot of headlines as the oil crisis seems to continue to grow. These energy alternatives are those that don't use up the Earth's natural resources and are, therefore, more environmentally sound. Interestingly enough, these technologies have been available for many years, but are just recently becoming further developed. The reason these methods aren't already the norm is because the need has only recently become more recognized, especially by the general public. This is very similar to the alternatives available in health care and medicine.

Many of the common alternatives in medicine are considered naturopathic, which generally refers to the use of natural and holistic remedies in combination with more modern treatments and applications. This ideology has been around for centuries, but has gained a lot of attention in the last several years as the public becomes more informed and seek out these types of health restoration practices and treatments.

There are now thousands of highly educated physicians that primarily focus on naturopathic medicine by combining both modern science and nature. These doctors are fully licensed health care practitioners that have studied the same curriculum as traditional medical doctors. They can diagnose the same as MD's do, but bring a myriad of other solutions and possible treatments to their patients.

While much of the naturopathy ideology focuses on preventative care including diet, exercise and lifestyle changes, it is also used in treatment of various afflictions and illnesses. Although preventative care is generally not included as a deductible medical expense, if a service or expense is the result of treatment or analysis of an existing condition, it can and should be deducted as a medical expense on income taxes. These types of expenses and services are also eligible for reimbursement through a BASE^® FSA (Flexible Spending Account) as well as the BASE^® HRA (Health Reimbursement Arrangement).

To inquire whether a particular service or expense is includable and/or eligible for reimbursement through a BASE^® benefit plan, please contact a BASE^® Benefit Specialist at 888-386-9680.

Matt Decklever

BASE - Benefit Specialist

Do you make time to save your business money?

As a Benefit Specialist at Base® I have the opportunity to talk with business owners from every walk of life, from truck drivers and farmers to the young entrepreneur with the latest technology to sell. There are a few things consistently mentioned by all; they have no time to spare and need to save every dollar they can. Unfortunately some do not have the time to stop and learn new ways to save their businesses money!

It generally takes 10-15 minutes for me to be able to qualify a business to use a HRA. I also calculate their tax savings, which averages at $3,800 each year. Think about what a business could do with that extra money each year? What is 10 minutes out of your day when it can save you thousands? In these times we are living in, where our struggling economy is swallowing businesses whole, it pays to find the time in your day to talk about how to better deduct your healthcare expenses. Sacrifice a few minutes out of your lunch, while you walk your dog, or between clients. We know your time is money, so when you talk to us we'll pay you back and then some with the HRA deduction reducing your taxes by thousands each year.

I talked to a gentleman recently who pays $1600 per month for his family's health insurance. By enrolling in a HRA, he will save $600 each month! When we figure in his family's non-insured expenses also, his savings will be over $8000 this year! What could your business do with an extra $8000 this year? Without the deduction, this client informed me that his family would go without health insurance and his business wouldn't survive another year.

Unfortunately, more and more people in our country are making the tough choice to go without insurance. By administering an HRA for my clients I know I'm making a difference and helping their business grow rather than fail. I go home each night knowing that what I do will help families keep food on the table and makes their climbing insurance premiums more affordable. I am very passionate about helping the new and longtime business owner take the time to realize they have options to keep much more of their hard earned money in their pocket, where it belongs.

I hope that after you have taken the time read this, you will also think about how you can make difference too. Take the time to talk with other business owners you know and ask what they are doing to contain their healthcare costs. If they tell you they let their CPA handle it, do them a favor and have them give us a call. It will be worth their time, if they will take it!

Emily Reynolds
Benefit Specialist

Spring

With spring peaking around the corner at us I have to wonder, will it ever make that turn? Looks like we may be in for more snow here in Iowa today and this weekend. We are already in the record books by having the 5^th snowiest winter on record. I guess if you are looking for a positive for this winter this is where it would be… "YAHOO we set a new snowfall record!" I don’t think that is what most people are saying.

As I get older, each year the snow seems to lose some of it’s appeal to me. Maybe it’s the fear of falling and getting hurt or just the thought of getting into a car accident. I have not fallen this winter but did perform several moves that would rival any of the figure skaters at the Olympics! I think I would have been better off to just fall. I twisted my ankle (nothing severe) but I did break several small blood vessels in my ankle. From what the doctor said there are tiny blood clots in those veins (not the kind that can travel through your body with a fatal effect – thank goodness!). These are very painful and I will be happy when they are healed.

It’s a wonderful thing that here at BASE® we have a great Health Insurance plan and flexible spending account. I didn’t hesitate to take some time over my lunch to see the doctor about my ankle and have it checked out. I know many small employers can’t or don’t offer health insurance or a flex plan for employees. Maybe cost of the health insurance is just too much or there is a high out-of-pocket cost.

Call us to see if we can help. Maybe you and your employees won’t have to choose if they should wait the pain out or go to the doctor. If you have one employee or five hundred, we have something to help you!

Have a wonderful last month of winter and stay safe and healthy!

Laura Radebaugh

BASE Administration/Adjudication Specialist

Life Lesson – A Big One

In college I was one of those kids that balanced my checkbook by how much the ATM told me I had. Scratch that – there was no "balancing" of a checkbook, my statements came in the mail and I threw them unopened in a drawer. When I went to the ATM and it spit that little piece of paper at me, that’s what I figured I had to spend. (And I made sure I spent it) It was an easy way to live…for a little while. I got caught in a jam with an overdraft toward the end of my freshman year. I was horrified and dug out my wadded up ATM receipt – it had lied to me! After comparing it to the first bank statement I’d ever opened, I realized what had happened. Because my friends were as broke as me and I was determined for my parents to not find out about my mistake, I reluctantly took my 4 new pairs of shoes back to the store and got my money back. And then I actually walked into the bank to make a deposit and wipe my tarnished record away.

Slowly I got better at managing my money and once I got married, gladly turned over the entire responsibility to my husband to handle. Today I’m the girl in the grocery store with a calculator, an envelope full of coupons and competitor ads, the one who buys generic items from the store with the best possible price. And I’m happy to see there are a lot of other people just like me who are stretching their dollars as far as possible.

We can all benefit from saving money where ever it can be saved - in the grocery store, buying a car, or getting the best deal on that much-needed snowblower. If you are self-employed, you may qualify to save even more money by setting up a Health Reimbursement Arrangement (HRA) for your business. By enrolling in an HRA you can deduct your health insurance premiums and qualified out-of-pocket medical expenses on your business tax return. Our average clients save over $3,800 a year by using a BASE HRA. For me, that equates to a lot of new shoes….what could you spend $3,800 on?

Call to speak to one of our BASE Benefit Specialists today to see if an HRA will work for you or someone you know!

Ann Greenslade

Director Internal/External Customer Care

Health Reimbursement Arrangement Saves Employer’s Group Health Plan

The days of affordable group health insurance seem to be in the history books in the eyes of business owners and employees. With the ever-increasing insurance premium spiking on an annual basis, companies are looking for alternative ways to contain the costs of premium and deductible expenses shared by the employer and the employee.

The traditional $500 or $1000 deductibles are going by the way side and Employers are choosing to move to higher deductibles and share the cost of the deductible in order to maintain a premium that is feasible.

The Health Reimbursement Arrangement (HRA) is allowing employers to do just that!

I recently worked with an insurance agent on a case in which his client was experiencing a 38% increase on their group health coverage. The employer previously had 71 employees participating in the three plan choices available: a $500/$1000, $1000/$2000, or $2000/$4000 deductible plan. With the 38% increase the company was looking at a monthly premium of $62,750 and an annual premium of $753,010! Yikes.

The employer needed options and the HRA was just the remedy to this issue. They changed the insurance plan choices to a $2500/$5000 and $4000/$8000 deductibles, and implemented an HRA+ to share the burden of the deductible between the employee and employer. By eliminating the lower deductible options and moving to higher deductibles, and in addition to implementing the HRA+, the premiums were significantly lower. In this case, the employer is saving $16,352.28 monthly on insurance premiums. That is a total savings of $196,227.36 on premium dollars in 2010.

In this plan design, the employer is assuming some risk by sharing the cost of the deductible with its employees. The employee’s have a certain level of deductible/co insurance responsibility and the employer is funding the HRA to pay the remaining expenses if needed. The average utilization rate within an HRA is 13%, making the risk versus reward of utilizing such a plan design very favorable for both the employer and the employee.

By utilizing the HRA+, the employer is able to save premium dollars by changing plan design, and is still able to maintain the same levels of medical coverage at an affordable rate for their employees. The above mentioned plan design reduced the annual increase of 38% (that the employer would have experienced with their renewal of the existing plan), to a 16% increase from their 2009 rates.

Increasing healthcare costs are allowing or demanding that employers and their agents/brokers become a little more creative and look at "choices" or "options." The HRA+ is the link to solving the puzzle of "how can we afford this coverage." It is possible to continue to have affordable health coverage, but we must all be willing to look outside of the box from time to time for the answers to more difficult questions.

Joe Havenhill BASE - Group Products