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Preschool and daycare facilities focus on keeping their staff and the children in their care as safe as they can possibly be, however accidents do happen. In the unfortunate event that a preschooler is injured while on school grounds, or when participating in a covered school event, the school’s preschool and daycare insurance policy from The Hartford can help cover the medical expense costs associated with the care and treatment of the injured child. Coverage includes things like hospital trips, doctor appointments, bandages, casts and medicine to prevent illness or infection.

Preschool and daycare insurance from help protect students, teachers and supervisors when they are involved in a covered accident that occurs on school grounds or during supervised school activities.

Who Is Eligible for Preschool and Daycare Insurance?

The types of schools and programs that are eligible for coverage for preschool and daycare insurance program include the following:

• Kindergartens
• Nursery schools
• Licensed daycare centers
• Project Head Start

All registered students or enrollees of the insured school are included in the coverage. Teachers and Head Start supervisors may be insured at the option of the policyholder. If the policyholder chooses to cover teachers and Head Start supervisors, all teachers and Head Start supervisors employed at the school must be included in the coverage.

What Activities Does Preschool and Daycare Insurance Cover?

Preschool and daycare insurance covers students, teachers, Head Start participants and supervisors that are:

• Participating in daycare activities that are sponsored and supervised by the policyholder school.
• Traveling with a group in connection with such school activities or while traveling directly between school and home.
• Traveling in a vehicle designated by the Head Start program director and driven by an appointed licensed driver.

What Coverages Are Included in Preschool/Daycare Insurance?

• Accident Medical Expense (AME) pays for the reasonable expenses incurred by an insured person, in excess of the deductible amount, for medical care due to injury.
• Accidental Death and Dismemberment (AD&D) helps pay a benefit to the insured parties in the event that a death or dismemberment occurs from a covered accident.

What Are Policy Requirements for Preschool/Daycare Insurance?

All daycare children must be included in the preschool and daycare insurance program. Though a name list is not required, a premium must be paid for each person to be insured. Those persons joining the group while the policy is in effect are automatically covered until the policy expiration date – without an additional charge. The total premium for the policy is payable when the insurance becomes effective.

The preschool and daycare insurance program can provide coverage for children age 7 and older for after school day care center activities only, provided the number of children age 7 and older does not constitute a substantial portion of the total number of children to be covered. It is not the intent of this program to provide coverage for the age 7 and older age group while they are participating either in normal school time activities in public or private schools, or in after school "latchkey" activities.

Some carriers’ offer insurance programs for preschools that either specialize in the care of children with disabilities, or where children age 7 and older make up a substantial portion of the total enrollment. Ask your insurance professional or a representative from The Hartford for more information on these programs.

If you are over the age of 65, how much income can you receive, aside from social security, before you have to claim it on your taxes?

Up to 85% of your Social Security benefits can be taxable. There is no age limit for having to pay taxes on Social Security benefits if you have other sources of income along with the SS benefits. When you have other income such as earnings from continuing to work, investment income, pensions, etc. up to 85% of your SS can be taxable.

What confuses people about this is that before you reach full retirement age, if you continue working while drawing SS, your benefits can be reduced if you earn over a certain limit (for 2017 that limit is f$16,920). After full retirement age, no matter how much you continue to earn, your benefits are not reduced by your earnings; your employer will still have to withhold for Social Security and Medicare.

To see how much of your Social Security was taxable, look at line 14b of your 1040A, or line 20b of your 1040.

You have injured yourself, and have been hospitalized and am currently doing physical therapy.

What happens to you, and your family? Who pays your rent? Your mortgage? Your out-of-pocket medical expenses?

Unfortunately for hygienists’ either there was no carrier, and/or the insurance was not cost effective. I have located two “A” rated carriers to provide coverage either on a group basis and/ or on an individual basis.

Disability income insurance is an insurance product that provides supplementary income in the event of an illness or accident resulting in a disability that prevents the insured from working at their regular employment. Benefits are usually provided on a monthly basis so that the individual can maintain their standard of living and continue to pay their regular expenses.

Disability income insurance provides a solid foundation for their financial future. It can help protect against the unexpected while ensuring your future.

In 2050, the number of Americans aged 65 and older is projected to be 88.5 million, more than double its projected population of 40.2 million in 2010. The baby boomers are largely responsible for this increase in the older population, as they began crossing into this category in 2011.

Financial planners and insurance providers have been warning baby boomers to be prepared for the cost of nursing home care for years, but just how much should they expect to pay? On average, U.S. nursing homes now charge $54,900 a year, and this could reach as high as $190,000 by 2030, when the last of the boomers reach age 65.

The five costliest areas are Alaska, New York City, Connecticut, New York State, and Washington DC, with costs ranging from $88,000 to $106,500 per year, according to a new study by GE Long Term Care Insurance. The survey evaluated costs of caring for a person with a debilitation such as Parkinson’s disease. The lowest average annual cost was in Louisiana, at $36,000 per year, according to GE. “Nursing-home costs have been rising 5% or more a year, outpacing inflation,” said Herb Perone, spokesman for the American Council of Life Insurers. “The elderly population is starting to grow. It’s the simple law of supply and demand.”

The American Council of Life Insurers estimates that one out of every three men who live beyond 65 will require nursing-home care, compared to one out of two women. Medicare will only cover short periods of nursing-home care after a hospital stay, for example, if a patient needs therapy to recover from an accident. As a result, some Americans take out long-term care insurance policies to meet nursing-home costs, while others will simply pay out of pocket. About 70 percent get help from Medicaid, the government health program for lower-income Americans, according to AARP.

Financial planners are now urging more Americans, especially those in their 50s, - to take a hard look at their financial situation and determine if taking out long-term care insurance should be part of their overall retirement-planning strategy.

In the meantime, some workers will be able to apply for long-term care insurance through an employer. About 20 million federal employees and retirees will be eligible to apply starting March 25 through the Federal Long-Term Care Insurance Program that’s being serviced by Metropolitan Life Insurance Company and John Hancock Life Insurance Company.

No retirement plan is complete if it has not addressed long term care. We work so hard to accumulate assets for a secure retirement. Additionally, many of us fail to build a fence around those assets so that health care events won’t needlessly erode our family’s lifestyle.

Think of how you started your day. You bathed, dressed, had breakfast, drove to work or used public transportation. But what if you couldn’t do these things for yourself whether as the result of an accident, an illness or the onset of a chronic condition? Who would be there to help, and how would you pay for it? What would the consequences be to you and your family if you were to require care for an extended period of time?

Some people think they have enough assets to self-insure the risk of requiring care but fail to understand the extensive costs that can result from an extended need for long term care support.

The best way to address this important financial issue is to answer some basic questions:

1. What would the tax consequences be from selling assets to pay for care?
2. What would happen if you were forced to prematurely dispose of assets in a down market?
3. What would the consequences be for my family if I required care for a long period of time?

If you properly plan ahead and fund your strategy based on your particular financial picture, then the above questions can be resolved.

It is easy to identify which of the many solutions available works best for your particular financial situation. Whether a traditional long term care policy is best for you or combined life/long term care or annuity/ long term care can be determined by working with an insurance agent who focuses on long term care and works with a number of different insurance carriers.

The fact is long term care doesn’t just happen to you, It happens to those you love and the earlier you take steps to address the long term care risk the lower the cost.

Take advantage of your age and your health. Doesn’t it make sense to find out more now?

PPO (Preferred Provider Organization):

A PPO group health plan offers employees convenient access to quality medical care with effective medical management, a large and diverse network of primary care physicians, medical specialists, hospitals, and clinics. An employee can see any health care professional in the network any time they choose to make an appointment. They do not need referrals for specialist, and other services. An employee can see a doctor or specialist outside the PPO network; however, the employees’ portion of the costs will be higher.

HMO (Health Maintenance Organization):

HMO group health insurance helps your business control health care costs through a closely managed plan. Each employee selects a Primary Care Physician (PCP) from a network of providers. The PCP can coordinate the total care of the employee to help ensure appropriate care is received. Often times, a referral from the PCP is necessary for the employee prior to seeing a specialist. Any employee may also seek care from any provider in the network without a PCP referral; however, most plans will not pay for the services rendered.

POS (Point of Service):

POS group health insurance plans allows employees the option of accessing any medical provider without a primary care physician referral and receive the highest benefit level. A POS health plan also pays benefits for out-of-network care, but at a lower level than for in-network care.

HSA (Health Savings Account):

HSA’s are an indemnity health plan that allows the employee to visit any physician of their choice. The basis of an HSA is two fold: 1) a high deductible health plan (HDHP), 2) and the HSA portion which is a saving account that can be used for qualified medical expenses. The high deductible health plan will place a larger financial responsibility on the employee, but all money used for qualified health care expense can be paid with pre-tax dollars. Each year the IRS determines what the maximum amounts are to be set aside in the tax deducible fund for the HSA. An HSA has the initial two cost factors, 1) the premium for the health insurance 2) the money to fund the HSA account. Money set aside in the HSA account, if not used in a calendar year can be carried over and can grow tax free through investments earnings. Funds distributed from the HSA are not taxed if the money is used to pay for qualified medical expenses.

The above information is a brief overview of the available major medical plans.

The Virginia General Assembly passed House Bill 315 on April 10, 2010, which is an act to amend and reenact {38.2-3541 of the Code of Virginia, relating to conversion or continuation of group health coverage upon termination of eligibility.

The bill expands the ability of a person who becomes ineligible for coverage under a group health insurance policy to exercise the option to continue coverage under the group policy. The measure (i) extends the maximum length of continued coverage from 90 days to 12 months; (ii) allows premiums to be paid monthly; and (iii) requires the policyholder to inform the persons insured under the group policy of the option. The notice shall be provided within 14 days of the policyholder’s knowledge of the covered person’s loss of eligibility under the group policy. The measure also retains the policyholder’s option to have the issuer issue an individual policy to the covered person who loses eligibility, and the maximum period for applying for such a policy is extended from 31 to 60 days after the loss of eligibility.

The legislation does NOT apply to HMO policies. Additionally, it does not apply to groups with 20 or more employees, as they would be subject to federal COBRA requirements.

As a reminder, State continuation coverage is a state law under which group health plans sponsored by employers with 20 or less employees must offer continuation of coverage to employees and their dependents.

What Does Travel Accident Insurance Cover?

Travel accident insurance is a specialized type of travel insurance plan. Essentially, it acts as life insurance and insurance against accidental death and dismemberment in the case of a travel accident. The benefits are paid regardless of whether the traveler has other life insurance and AD&D coverage.

Specifically, travel accident insurance plans limit their coverage to the following:

• Accidental Death and Dismemberment
• Emergency Evacuations
• Repatriation
• 24/7 Travel Assistance Services

Some travel accident insurance plans include a little coverage for emergency medical expenses. A few travel accident insurance plans give the traveler a maximum benefit range to choose from and several are designed specifically for the frequent business traveler and include coverage for non-medical emergency evacuations.

What type of traveler buys travel accident insurance?

Travel accident insurance is specialized insurance to cover a specific need, i.e., the loss of life or limb. It’s ideal term life and AD&D coverage for business firms who want to offset the loss of a key employee, for example.

• Other travelers who buy travel accident insurance include:
• War correspondents
• Journalists
• Government employees
• Frequent business travelers
• Missionary and aid workers

Should the insured traveler die on their trip or be seriously injured, their beneficiaries or the traveler would receive the benefit of this plan.

Travel Accident Insurance Exclusions

Some travel accident insurance plans limit the death benefits to flight accidents only, and some travel accident plans place limits on where the traveler can travel, i.e., specific countries and territories. Nearly all plans require the traveler to be at least 100 miles from home before the coverage is in effect.