Empoyers get help with health insurance

By Kathleen O'Dell

News-Leader



Missouri employers have a new product for employee health insurance that uses the power of group purchasing to offer cost-effective rates without red tape and restrictions.

AIMCare will waive the health information typically required on each employee, according to Associated Industries of Missouri, or AIM, the state's leading business-trade association, which unveiled the plan Wednesday.



AIMCare will offer small-business owners the same kind of buying power as large corporations, and allow them to provide employees with affordable health insurance, said AIM President Gary Marble.



The plan is open to all Missouri employers with at least two employees. The insurance carrier is American Community Mutual Insurance Co. of Livonia, Mich., which has been in business since 1938.



AIMCare's initial rates will not be based on the health of an individual employee, but will be based on age, gender, resident address, marital status, network chosen, workplace industry and plan design, Marble said.



Under traditional group health plans, an agent or insurance carrier offers a rate or set of benefits and requires detailed health status statements on each employee, said Darren Coffman, owner of Benefits Unlimited in Springfield. The firm will be the insurance writer for AIMCare.



Then underwriters often return with higher price quotes, saying the company needs more money to support the risk level, Coffman said.



"For once, because of the large group (all AIMCare-covered lives), we will show employers a set of rates based on their employees, and that will be the rate they will get and expect," Coffman said.



Through a premium refund program, employers can get up to 5 percent of their premiums returned, based upon the experience of the entire program.



AIMCare will also use online technology to simplify the process.



Employers interested in purchasing insurance can go to www.aimcareon line.com. After answering a series of questions they will receive a quote on the cost of health-care insurance. Employers can then apply online, receive benefits and subscribe to services online, said Marvin Hays, president of Street-Smart Solutions, the technology partner in AIMCare. Employers can administer their plan online, and the system will send e-mail reminders when employees are due to begin coverage or cease coverage.



"This is a great plan for small-business owners," Marble said. "To the person, this is the No. 1 issue."



The Employee Benefit Research Institute says that due to the rising cost of health care in 2003, roughly 60 percent of America's 44.7 million uninsured people were employed. About half of the 26.6 million people working without health insurance were employed at companies with fewer than 24 employees.



In the greater Springfield area, 84.9 percent of businesses have fewer than 20 employees, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.



Springfield-area employees with AIMCare will be directed to use the St. John's Health System network of services and health care providers through two physician-provider organizations, HealthLink and Private Health Care Systems, Marble said.