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So far Jenna has created 31 blog entries.

CNA Equipment Maintenance Program

Do you have a client with service maintenance agreements? A CNA specialist can help you connect them with the CNA Equipment Maintenance Program. As today’s organizations become more sophisticated and reliant on equipment, the importance of properly covering that equipment becomes increasingly critical. To manage the post-warranty risk of equipment maintenance and repair, many organizations purchase individual service and maintenance contracts. While these service contracts extend the life of original investments, they don’t have to be purchased from the Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM). For this need, your clients can rely on the simplicity of the CNA Equipment Maintenance Program. Open the door and a CNA specialist will join you to present, explain and sell the program. What is the CNA Equipment Maintenance Program? The Equipment Maintenance Program (EMP) is an alternative way for your qualifying clients to purchase and manage repair services for all types of equipment they own and operate. Those who purchase equipment are often faced with the high costs of Original Equipment Manufacture’s (OEM) service contracts and do not even recognize they have a choice of other coverage. The CNA EOM Program replaces an organization's [...]

2019-10-22T17:39:30-05:00Property & Casualty|
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2020 Certification Reminder!

Don't lose your commissions! Complete your 2020 certifications. It’s that time of year again when you need to complete your annual certifications. There are two certifications for Health agents: 2020 FFM (Federally Facilitated Marketplace) registration and/or certification must be done by: Independent agent If commissions are paid to an agency, writing sub-agents and principal of agency 2020 Medicare PDP/Medicare Advantage certification must be done by: Independent agent If commissions are paid to an agency, writing sub-agents and principal of agency In order to place new business effective 1/1/2020 and/or receive renewal commissions in 2020, agents must complete the appropriate certification before the end of the year. *Additional Reminder* 2020 BCBS Special Enrollment Period Training must be done by: Writing agent This training will be available early 2019 and is done annually 2020 FFM (Federally Facilitated Marketplace) Certification Before starting any certification curriculum, check to make sure your computer is compatible with the MLMS website.   I advise using the MLMS Check Your System configuration link which quickly shows if you need to do anything.  Log into the CMS portal, enter the MLMS Training website and click on MLMS Check your System link at the [...]

2019-10-08T17:56:22-05:00MIBS Updates|
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2019 Travelers Seminar Recap

Travelers’ representatives came to MIBS and presented the newest products updates in 2019 for both their personal and commercial products. Below is an overview of those highlights for those who missed them in person.  IntelliDrive Program This program offers a way to reduce an insured’s auto insurance by downloading a mobile app that tracks their driving behavior for 90 days based on the following: Time of day Hard braking Rapid acceleration Speed Insured’s have up to 45 days to withdraw if they feel their scores won’t qualify for a discount. There is initial savings for enrolling and the higher the score, the more you save. Ask your Customer Service rep for further detailed brochures.   Smart Home Savings For 2019, Travelers has teamed up with Amazon to offer Smart Home Insurance Solution which includes discounted smart home kits specifically designed to protect property, a free Amazon Echo Dot and valuable insurance and risk management information.  Customers can also receive discounts on their home policy with the purchase and installation of the home kits. Ask your Customer Service rep for further detailed brochures. Quantum Home 2.0 The Quantum [...]

2019-09-24T21:10:40-05:00Property & Casualty|
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Tips: Marketing Medicare

With baby boomers continuing to become Medicare eligible, agents should consider marketing to this consumer base. Remember, you cannot talk about the Medicare Advantage or Part D unless you have completed the appropriate certifications. Research indicates that Baby Boomers are using social media: 84% of Baby Boomers have a Facebook account 58% visit a company’s website after encountering the brand on social media 41% have Pinterest accounts  Social media is a low cost way to reach those consumers and make any additional marketing projects more impactful. Providing informational posts could drive consumers searching for information to you and your website.   Make sure your website is up to date and ready for consumers.   Make sure all of your communications include all of your contact information, social media links and your website address. Post short informational articles with references to contact you as a qualified agent on your social media websites. Ask your contacts to like your articles. Coordinate matching informational newsletters out to your contact list and ask for referrals. To make this easy, I have created 12 small articles you can use to post or create newsletters. Be sure [...]

2019-09-10T14:06:58-05:00Marketing & Sales Ideas, Medical, Patty's Perspective|
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BCBS IL Market Segment 51+

Determine Market Segment Determine Market Segment by averaging the total number of employees including full time, part time, seasonal and union in the year prior to the effective date. If the group has any affiliate or subsidiary companies that are required to be aggregated by the IRS, then all employees, seasonal and union from all aggregated companies will need to be added together. A middle market group can have less than 51 employees enrolled. 1.1.19 -12.15.19 effective dates will use the average number of employees in 2018. If the average in 2018 is 50 or less, than they would stay in the small group market for all of 2019. If the average number of employees is over 51 in 2019, then they would be the middle market in 2020. Major Differences between Small Group and Middle Market The middle market: is underwritten using the GRX database while the small group market is not has different plan options (non ACA) than the small group market. has composite only rates quotes start with a base quote and then firm rates are determined after submitting additional information and underwriting uses different [...]

2019-08-21T15:44:28-05:00Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Illinois, Medical|
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New Cyber Coverage Offering from Rockford Mutual

Rockford Mutual is introducing CyberWay cyber liability coverage, an endorsement built to protect your commercial insureds against cyber threats. Virtually all commercial risks have some type of cyber exposure today, and they are confident that this coverage will help protect your commercial insureds from devastating cyber attack losses. CyberWay will be automatically included on all BOP and GL (both monoline and package) policies with all new business effective 8/1/19 and renewals renewing 9/15/19 and later. Know that this additional coverage may impact the rates on these policies so be sure to contact MIBS directly at 847.631.6658 with any questions or concerns. Rockford Mutual Insurance Company’s CyberWay Insurance provides a package approach to insurance that includes both first party and third party coverage. Click below for an additional look at this very important coverage.  Click Here for Coverage Information The Retroactive Date will be the first date that Cyber Liability Insurance is added to a Rockford Mutual Business Owners policy or Commercial Package policy. If coverage is modified mid-term, the retroactive date remains the same. In some cases where the insured currently holds a cyber policy [...]

2019-07-23T18:52:00-05:00Property & Casualty|
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Boat and Watercraft Insurance

Make it smooth sailing by adding insurance protection! As summer starts, it is a great time for insureds to reassess their insurance coverage, especially on boat and personal watercraft protection. Available Coverage: Fuel Spill and Wreckage Removal Debris from accidents on the water can create environmental and safety hazards. Watercraft policies can cover fuel spills and wreckage removal at the limit of liability Physical Damage Coverage Types: Personal Property and Unattached Equipment Coverage With personal effects coverage, fishing gear and other personal property are covered up to a certain value. Plus, unattached equipment such as water skis, deck chairs, anchors, safety equipment, and marine electronics can also be covered. If needed, the insured can often purchase more coverage for a small additional premium. Some insurance companies offer this additional coverage at no cost. Emergency Assistance Reimbursement is available for on-water towing, labor, and basic emergency services (such as delivery of fuel or a battery) if the boat or personal watercraft is disabled while on the water. Pet Coverage This can cover costs if cat or dog that is injured because of a boating accident. New Boat Price Protection  The insured can get the [...]

2019-07-25T12:56:24-05:00Property & Casualty|
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TASC Landmines for HSAs, FSAs, and HRAs

Recently, MIBS hosted a seminar presented by Nancy Dantzman, Vice President at TASC and Craig Sayers, MIBS' regional director with TASC. It was a very informative and lively event. Nancy jumped right in discussing Flexible Spending Accounts (FSA) which offer variability when setting them up. FSA Flexible Spending Account An FSA is an account employees can use to pay certain out-of-pocket health care costs not paid by other health plans, pretax. The FSA can be set up with the employer and/or the employee contributing. When employees contribute pretax, this lowers the payroll taxes that the employer has to pay so both parties experience savings on their tax liability.   In groups with high employee contribution, the employer’s payroll tax savings may be enough to pay for any administration charges for the FSA.   Employers are not required to make contributions but certainly can. The IRS sets the contribution limit each year and the limits for 2019 are: FSAs are known for their use it or lose it provision, however, groups may offer participating employees more time through either a carryover option or the grace period option to use any funds [...]

2019-06-11T16:42:07-05:00Ancillary, Marketing & Sales Ideas, Patty's Perspective|
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Coming July 1, 2019 for BCBS Mid-Market Groups (51-150)…

The 2019 BCBS Mid-Market Portfolio will launch July 1, 2019 for effective dates starting July 1, 2019 and going forward and there are a few changes. There are 10 new plans and six of the 2018 plans will be removed. Any group that chose a 2018 benefit plan that is being removed, will be mapped to a 2019 plan most similar to their 2018 plan upon their renewal. Included in the new plans is an H.S.A. Blue Options plan. Plans being closed are listed below: For your new 51+ groups effective 7.1.19 or groups renewing 7.1.19 and after, be sure to use the new BPS form for any plan changes. Click Here for 2019 BPS BCBS has changed the plan name for their HSA plans to include A for aggregate and E for embedded into the plan name in the 5th position. Example: Aggregate plans will look as follows: MIEEA### Embedded plans will look as follows: MIEEE### Blue Choice Options HSA compliant plans are both Embedded in 2019 BCBS’s level funded product, Blue Balance Funded for the 51+ market will be ending 7/1/2019. It will still be [...]

2019-04-26T00:45:32-05:00Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Illinois, Medical|
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Fitness and Wellness Insurance with Philadelphia Insurance Companies

Specifically designed to meet the needs of the Health, Fitness & Wellness Facilities, Philadelphia Insurance Companies coverage taps into a unique and growing market. With the driver for healthy habits speeding up at high rates, the demand for the specific coverage has grown. Fitness and Wellness coverage is designed to meet the needs of many categories such as: Health Club Facilities, membership based Fitness and Sport Facilities, training and instruction based Martial Arts Studios Yoga Studios YMCA’s  Keep in mind for Fitness & Wellness, there are quite a few products that the insured can access directly and can obtain quotes and bind coverage themselves with Philadelphia. More specifically for individual fitness instructors or studios, the carrier does not pay commission or use brokers for those policies since the insured can access the portal directly and obtain quotes from the website for $175 in premium. However, for other Fitness & Wellness policies they do accept submission and follow a normal quoting process. Key Benefits General and Professional Liability Comprehensive General Liability and Professional Liability Personal Injury Liability Special Events Insurance for outside the club/facility Coverage extended to contracted professionals Zero Deductible [...]

2019-04-15T16:04:07-05:00Property & Casualty|
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