Life Insurance and Employee Benefits

The B & G Group is completely adept at providing the financial insurance products necessary to protect and secure individuals, families and businesses wealth and assets.

In today's business environment you know the challenges of running a successful business and retaining the quality staff who contribute to its success. You also recognize the benefits that your business can provide to both you and your family. To maximize these benefits you'll need to make come important business decisions.

To prepare for the future and keep your company running smoothly, you need business planning strategies that address, among other things the following concerns:

• Retirement Income
• Executive Compensation
• Business Continuation

The B & G Group can help you make arrangements that allow you to take care of these crucial decisions and let you focus on your own business operations.

Life Insurance can provide some key relief:

• Settle your estate's debts and taxes.
• Provide your family funding to maintain its current standard of living.
• Support your dependents' futures.
• Provide immediate financial relief.

Funding Options during your lifetime:

• A supplement for your retirement income.
• Money for a college education, starting a business or and unforeseen emergency.

The B&G's Benefits coordinators provide full service analysis and support in the following areas:

The B & G Group can provide a cost-effective, easy-to-manage employee benefits program. This has become increasingly important to many businesses and industries. Our knowledge of the employee benefits and healthcare industry, combined with our strong relationships with key employee benefits providers, allow us to offer our clients the highest quality benefits programs at the most competitive premiums. We provide our clients with a superior level of pre and post sale support (enrollment meetings, customized benefit statements, employee benefit websites, claims management, etc.) while maintaining the attentive, responsive service that is so crucial to the effective implementation of an employee benefits program.

• Group Health
• Group Life
• Dental
• Disability – Short & Long-Term
• AD&D
• 401k
• 529 Plans
• Voluntary Benefits

LIFE INSURANCE FAQ'S

What is Life Insurance?
Life Insurance is designed primarily to protect your family's financial security after you die. But some types of life insurance can also help you build assets to meet needs during your lifetime. So it's a smart addition to any financial plan.

What is the correct type of life insurance?
TERM INSURANCE: With term life insurance you are "renting" protection for a period of time. When the "lease" – the term of the policy- is up, you can choose to renew at a higher rate, or the insurance stops without any value.
PERMANENT INSURANCE: With permanent life insurance you own the protection for life and your premium payments (like mortgage payments on a house) build value for you in the policy.

How Much Insurance Do I Need?
One rule of thumb is to buy life insurance equal to ten to fifteen times your annual gross income. However, there is no substitute for a careful evaluation and review of your life insurance needs with one of our financial advisors.

Does an employer have to offer group medical benefits?
NO. The "benefits" that an employer must offer are Workers Compensation Insurance, which is mandated by Federal law, and Statutory Disability Insurance which is required in only five states and Puerto Rico. Employee benefits were offered to attract workers to employers who had a hard time finding employees during wartime. Over time, medical coverage became an expected benefit, especially at larger employers. However, there is no law requiring an employer to offer any type of employee group benefits.

What is an HMO?
An HMO (Health Maintenance Organization) is a health insurance plan that allows you to receive care through a network of participating doctors and hospitals. Generally, you select a primary care physician who coordinates your care and refers you to specialists when needed. Care that is not provided by a network physician or hospital is generally not covered under an HMO plan.

What is a Health Savings Account (HSA)?
An HSA is a way for an employer to reduce costs by offering employees a medical plan with a high deductible while protecting employees from the full affect of that deductible. An HSA allows individuals and families to accrue pre-tax dollars in a savings account from which they can withdraw to cover qualifying medical expenses. The employee is the owner of the HSA account and can take the account with them if he/she moves to another employer or retires.

What is a Health Reimbursement Account (HRA) medical program?
An HRA is a high-deductible medical plan that allows the employer to fund part of the high deductible on an "as used" basis. This allows the employer to implement a health plan with a generally lower premium than a typical medical plan with in-network co-payments and low out-of-network deductibles and co-insurances.
The employer does not pre-fund the HRA expenses so there is a cash flow savings. The employee and his/her dependents are protected from the high deductible and co-insurance out-of-pocket cost by having the employer partially fund this expense.

What is "Community Rating"?
Although this varies on a state by state basis, Community Rating generally refers to group medical plans available to smaller employers with up to 50 non-union employees who are eligible for group benefits. The rates for these medical plans are non-negotiable and are based on the location of the employer. Some states, such as Pennsylvania allow the insurance carrier to ask medical questions for groups of less than 20 enrollees. The carrier can adjust the rates within certain limits based on the answers to these questions. Other states, such as New Jersey, allow the insurance carriers to adjust the plan rates based on the gender and average age of the enrolled employees. New York does not allow any variation of the filed rates based on enrollment, age, medical history, etc.

What is a Flexible Savings Account (FSA)?
It is a separate benefit plan that allows your employees to direct a part of their pay, tax free, into a special account that they can use throughout the year to reimburse themselves for eligible out-of-pocket expenses. The employer saves money on as a result of reduced FICA and Social Security matching payments. There are three types of FSAs and they include: Health Care FSA for uncovered out of pocket medical expenses; Dependent Care FSA for work related child and adult care; Transportation FSA for job-related parking and public transportation reimbursement.