New Website Launched for Benefits 7!
Benefits 7 began more than 30 years ago and provides service and support to individuals and employer groups throughout Indiana, Illinois and Kentucky. Designing a new website for Benefits 7 allowed us to spotlight the tradition of unique innovation and excellence in the field of benefit plan development and management. Take a look at their newly launched site!
Check out the website at benefits7.com
Contact us to learn more about custom website design, SEO optimization, email marketing, and social media solutions!
New Website Launched for Cowden Associates!
Cowden Associates is located in Pittsburgh, PA and has been recognized nationally as a “Top Small Workplace” by Winning Workplaces and the Wall Street Journal and locally as a “Best Place to Work” by the Pittsburgh Business Times. When designing Cowden’s website, highlighting this great work culture and community involvement on their homepage was a must.
Check out the website at cowdenassociates.com
Contact us to learn more about custom website design, SEO optimization, email marketing, and social media solutions!
Understanding Disability Insurance
No one foresees needing disability benefits. But, should a problem arise, the educated and informed employee can plan for the future by purchasing disability insurance to help cover expenses when needed. (more…)
Check out this awesome custom video from eTekhnos! | Texas Benefits Agency Marketing
Videos are the hottest trend in social media. In fact, Buzzsumo’s research on 880 million Facebook posts in 2017 found that video posts have the highest average engagement and twice the level of engagement of other post types on average. The video team at eTekhnos produces informative, custom videos each month. Take a peek at this one on the Benefits of Health Insurance.
New Website Launch for BJA Partners!
BJA Partners has been providing honest advice & protecting what you value most for more than 35 years! We are thrilled to showcase this through their new website creation.
Check out the website at bjapartners.com
Contact us to learn more about custom website design, SEO optimization, email marketing, and social media solutions!
Website Launch for SBC!
We are so excited to show off Stephens, Bastian & Cartwright, LP’s new website! Based in Decatur, Texas, their approach is strategic, consultative, educational and analytical.
Visit the site at sbcinsurance.net!
Contact us to learn more about custom website design, SEO optimization, email marketing, and social media solutions!
New Website Launched for Nielsen Benefits Group!
We are excited to show off our new website creation for Nielsen Benefits Group! They are a trusted and innovative employee benefits consulting firm challenging the status quo of typical offerings.
Visit the website at nielsenbenefits.com to learn what they are all about! Explore their blog that we post for while you’re there as well!
Contact us to learn more about custom website design, SEO optimization, email marketing, and social media solutions!
New Website Launched for Lamb Little!
We want to show off Lamb Little & Co’s new website that we helped create! Based in Schaumburg, Illinois, they provide Commercial Insurance, Employee Benefits, and Personal Insurance for Clients Nationwide.
The site is easy to navigate, clean and concise, and has everything potential or current clients need to know.
Visit the new website at lamblittle.com
Visit their blog while you’re there to see the postings we do for their site and social medias as well!
Contact us to learn more about custom website design, SEO optimization, email marketing, and social media solutions!
Opioid Crisis Explained | Employee Benefits Blog Content
Lately, there’s been a big focus on America’s opioid addiction in the news. Whether it’s news on the abuse of the drug or it’s information sharing on how the drug works, Americans are talking about this subject regularly. We want to help educate you on this hot topic.
Opioids are made from the opium poppy plant. Opium has been around since 3,400 BC and it was first referenced as being cultivated in Southwest Asia. The drug traveled the Silk Road from the Mediterranean to Asia to China. Since then, the drug has gained popularity for pain relief but it also has gained notoriety as an abused drug. Morphine, Codeine, and Heroin are all derived from the opium poppy and are all highly addictive drugs that are abused all around the world. As the demand for these drugs has increased, so has the production. From 2016 to 2017, the area under opium poppy cultivation in Afghanistan increased by 63 percent. In 2016, it killed some 64,000 Americans, more than double the number in 2005.
We can see that the danger from this drug is growing rapidly. What can we do to recognize potential abuse problems and to get help? Here are some facts about opioid addiction:
- How do they work? Opioids attach to pain receptors in your brain spinal cord, and other areas that recognize pain signals. As they attach to the receptors, it reduces the sending of pain messages to the brain and therefore reduces the feelings of pain in your body.
- Short-acting opiates are typically prescribed for injuries and only for a few days. They take 15-30 minutes for pain relief to begin and this relief lasts for 3-4 hours. Long-acting opiates are prescribed for moderate to severe pain and are used over a long period of time. Relief typically lasts for 8-12 hours and can be used alongside a short-acting drug for breakthrough pain.
- Dependence is common with long-term use of an opiate. This means that the patient needs to take more of and higher doses of the medicine to get the same pain relieving effect. This does not necessarily mean the patient is addicted. Addiction is the abuse of the drug by taking it in an unprescribed way—like crushing tablets or using intravenously.
- Americans account for less than 5% of the world’s population, but take 80% of the world’s opioid About 5% of the people who take opiates become addicted to the drug.
- Help is available through many channels from private recovery centers to insurance providers. The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration helpline is 1-800-662-HELP. This line is confidential, free, and available 24-hours a day and 7 days a week. Family and friends may also call this number for resources for help. Additional resources can be found at drugabuse.com.
Make sure you are educated about the dangers of opioid abuse. But, don’t be discouraged and think that the abuse is incurable! There are many resources that can be used to break the addiction cycle and can make real change in the lives of its victims. Ask for help and offer help.
IRS Changes Course (Again) and Restores 2018 HSA Family Limit to $6,900 | Employee Benefits
Friday, April 27, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) announced that the 2018 annual contribution limit to Health Savings Accounts (HSAs) for persons with family coverage under a qualifying High Deductible Health Plan (HDHP) is restored to $6,900. The single-coverage limit of $3,450 is not affected.
This is the final word on what has been an unusual back-and-forth saga. The 2018 family limit of $6,900 had been announced in May 2017. Following passage of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act in December 2017, however, the IRS was required to modify the methodology used in determining annual inflation-adjusted benefit limits. On March 5, 2018, the IRS announced the 2018 family limit was reduced by $50, retroactively, from $6,900 to $6,850. Since the 2018 tax year was already in progress, this small change was going to require HSA trustees and recordkeepers to implement not-so-small fixes to their systems. The IRS has listened to appeals from the industry, and now is providing relief by reinstating the original 2018 family limit of $6,900.
Employers that offer HSAs to their workers will receive information from their HSA administrator or trustee regarding any updates needed in their payroll files, systems, and employee communications. Note that some administrators had held off making changes after the IRS announcement in March, with the hopes that the IRS would change its position and restore the original limit. So employers will need to consider their specific case with their administrator to determine what steps are needed now.
HSA Summary
An HSA is a tax-exempt savings account employees can use to pay for qualified health expenses. To be eligible to contribute to an HSA, an employee:
- Must be covered by a qualified high deductible health plan (HDHP);
- Must not have any disqualifying health coverage (called “impermissible non-HDHP coverage”);
- Must not be enrolled in Medicare; and
- May not be claimed as a dependent on someone else’s tax return.
HSA 2018 Limits
Limits apply to HSAs based on whether an individual has self-only or family coverage under the qualifying HDHP.
2018 HSA contribution limit:
- Single: $3,450
- Family: $6,900
- Catch-up contributions for those age 55 and older remains at $1,000
2018 HDHP minimum deductible (not applicable to preventive services):
- Single: $1,350
- Family: $2,700
2018 HDHP maximum out-of-pocket limit:
- Single: $6,650
- Family: $13,300*
*If the HDHP is a nongrandfathered plan, a per-person limit of $7,350 also will apply due to the ACA’s cost-sharing provision for essential health benefits.
Originally posted on thinkHR.com