Tuesday, January 24, 2012

Healthy Lifestyles

Commercial Risk Service is proud to announce …


To say that we have a problem with Healthcare in this country is a ridiculous understatement! Every aspect of our healthcare system is faltering:

---Heathcare costs are continuing to rise every year (although this last year was the first one in a long time where the rate of growth actually was less!)

---Health insurance carriers are in a state of pandimonium, not knowing where to turn next. We are seeing consistent increases in monthly premiums, both for Group Benefits and individual family health insurance.

---Our Government has gotten more and more involved. Enough said- that’s enough to screw everything up just by itself!

Our politicians and everyone else wants to lay the blame on everyone else, but nobody is doing anything about it, other than driving up costs. The truth is that all of the problems listed above are merely symptoms of the real problem. I believe that our true problem is the deteriorating health of the peole in this country!!! We at CRS want to attack the problem, not the symptoms. We are introducing our “CRS Healthy Lifestyles” to do just that- improve the health of our clients and improve their knowledge of how to live a healthier, happier life.



What is the Program about:




CRS will work with you and your employees to create awareness of critical health issues that affect all of us in today’s environment. Some of the major health factors we will address will include:

• A better understanding and awareness for your employees of how to combat obesity and the horrible side effects it creates, which are consistently increasing your health insurance premiums.

• More awareness of the horrible effects of tobacco use, as well as overuse of alcohol, and the effect it has on your employee benefits.

• Increased opportunities for your employees to have 1-on-1 conversations with healthcare providers concerning their individual health issues.

• Opportunities for your employees to see how much you care about them as a person.



Tangible Goals of the HL Program:

• Reducing obesity and owerweight lifestyles for your employees

• Reducing demand for medical services over time

• Reducing absenteeism

• Reducing on-the-job injuries and Worker’s Comp costs

• Reducing disability management costs

• Ultimately, reducing premiums for Group Health and Worker’s Comp Insurance



Intangible Goals of the HL Program:

• Increased productivity

• Helps to recurit and retain the most effective and productive employees

• Improved Morale

• Project a message of good will to your employees and foster the message of self-responsibility



HL POINT OF ATTACK- OBESITY!!!

We want to go after all areas of health improvement. However, make no mistake about it- we believe that by focusing a lot of our time and effort on reducing obesity in our clients and their employees, we will show the most success. We have an epidemic on our hands as it relates to obesity in this country, and the healthcare issues that obesity and being overweight create are literally strangling our healthcare system.

The  HL Program is only getting started right now, but we believe that this program is the right way to attack our Healthcare issues. As our workforce becomes more and more unhealthy each year, we as employers lose more and more control over our benefits program.

Look for more information on this tremendous program in the near future!




















Thursday, January 5, 2012

How to Protect Yourself against Yourself

Many times we as business owners can be our own worst enemy. It is sometimes easier (and less expensive in the short run) to buy our teenage children a vehicle in the company name and let them drive it as much as they need (or just let them drive our expensive company-owned vehicle). This sounds like a good idea at first, but upon further examination, not so much!

We have had a couple examples of this lately- one specific incident especially comes to mind. One of our commercial clients has a son that turned 14 and got his learner’s permit. Instead of buying an old beat-up car to allow his son to learn the nuances of driving in this fast-paced world (which I highly recommend for every family), he let his son drive his company-owned vehicle (Dad was in the car with him, thank goodness!). As they were driving, his Dad told him to pull up to the building where the business was located (they don’t own the building, just leasing it). As the 14 year-old pulled up to the building, he pushed on the accelerator instead of the brake, and ran through the outside wall of the building, damaging the building and the vehicle. Ouch!!!

There are lots of issues here:

---Fixing the company vehicle will be paid for by his commercial auto policy- no problem. Except- having a 14 year-old driving your company vehicle will more than likely get the company non-renewed (or worse- cancelled) by thecarrier. At that point, it becomes more difficult and more expensive to find commercial auto coverage the next time around.

---Since the business owner is leasing the building and has care, custody and control of the building and he ran into his own building, his auto policy would not cover the damage to the building. That part of the claim was denied.

---In addition, since he has possession of the building, his General Liability policy denied coverage as well. As a matter of fact, none of his policies will cover the cost of the damage to the building (approximately $15,000-$20,000).

---The business owner has a Personal Auto Policy and a Personal Umbrella policy as well. However, neither policy will cover the claim either.

As a matter of fact, no coverage is available for fixing the damage to the building. This all stemmed from allowing a teenage driver to drive a company vehicle, remember. The business owner will probably have a lawsuit on his hands from the building owner, whose insurance will have to pay for the claim.

This could have been worse. What if the 14 year-old had been involved in an at-fault accident in the company vehicle and someone had died? This business owner could have been putting his entire business at risk just to let a 14 year-old drive for a little bit. It’s just not worth the risk. There are other, more reasonable alternatives.

The best practice is to call you insurance agent for solutions BEFORE you make these decisions rather than AFTER!!!

Bobby Bland PWCA, CIC
Vice President
Commercial Risk Service