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Informative articles on insurance, safety and risk for you, your family or your business. Each article includes a link for you to share with anyone who may benefit.
Keep Warm Wisely: How to Safely Heat Your North Carolina Home
Is there anything quite so pleasant as coming home to a warm and cozy house on a cold winter's day? Home isn't just where the heart is; in the winter, it's also where the hearth is.
Heat comes to us in many forms: electric, gas, portable space heaters, wood stoves, and fireplaces. All of these can pose a threat to a North Carolina home's safetynot to mention that of its residentsif they are not properly maintained and managed. According to the U.S. Fire Administration, heating fires are the second leading cause of all residential building fires. About 50 percent of all fires that result from home heating equipment are reported during the months of December, January, and February. Fortunately, it is possible to stay warm safely this winter by following a few simple suggestions.
- Have your chimney professionally cleaned before lighting the first fire of the year. Removing all debris from the chimney and opening the flue will ensure that your home remains free of dangerous smoke.
- Use only seasoned hardwood such as ash, oak, or maple in your fireplace. Do not burn trash or cardboard boxes.
- Employ fireplace screens or glass fireplace doors to keep embers off of rugs and carpets.
- If you have a gas heating system, place carbon monoxide detectors in your home. According to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, carbon monoxidealso known as the "silent killer"kills about 300 people in their homes annually. There are small, convenient detectors that plug into electrical outlets and sound an alarm if carbon monoxide is in the air. Keep at least one near every sleeping area.
- Never leave electric space heaters on if they are unattended, and always position them away from flammable objects, as well as from people, pets, furniture, and curtains. Unplug them when they are not in use.
- Maintain a three-foot kid-free zone around all heating sources.
- Pay a professional to examine and clean your home's heating unit annually. He or she can repair potentially deadly leaks.
- Clean your home's air vents by removing their covers and vacuuming out any dust or debris that may have accumulated in them during warmer weather.
- Never use an oven or stovetop to heat your home, and always use gas or charcoal grills outdoors.
- If you ever smell gas, immediately extinguish all flames in your home, put out cigarettes, and do not operate electrical appliances because they may create sparks. Turn off all gas appliances and make sure pilot lights are out. If you still smell gas after opening windows and doors, turn off your home's main gas tap. Call the gas company immediately and evacuate.
- If a pilot light goes out, turn off the gas at that heat source and wait several minutes before re-lighting it.
- If your pilot light produces a red or yellow flame, call for service; the flame should be blue.
- Finally, make sure your smoke alarms are all functioning properly.
Call or contact Webb Insurance today to make sure your home insurance policy is up to date.
In The Spotlight: Halfway to Health Care Reform
Almost two years have passed since health care reform was signed into law, and the implementation process is well underway. A handful of impactful provisions began in late 2010 and several others went into effect during 2011 but 2012 will be altogether different. In addition to the implementation of several provisions described below, this will be a seminal year for the Affordable Care Act (ACA) because it’s when we’ll get clarity about questions which have been on everyone’s mind since the law passed.
· Is it constitutional?
· If it is indeed constitutional, will it get repealed or replaced next year?
· If it weathers today’s constitutional and political challenges, is my state prepared to actually get the job done?
Answers to each of these questions will begin to crystallize in the coming months. They will determine not only the fate of health care reform’s most transformative changes slated for 2014- like the law’s Insurance Reforms and the Individual Mandate- but how the nation’s health care system functions in the short term as well.
Reforms Going Into Effect
Several ACA provisions either go into effect or ramp up throughout 2012. Below is basic information about some of the most important, click on the links for details on each.
| Provision | What it Means in a Nutshell | In Effect |
|---|---|---|
| Accountable Care Orginizations | New models of care cooridination for Medicare | January |
| Annual Fee on Pharmaceutical Companies | Fee of $2.5 billion | Tax Year 2012 |
| Move towards promoting evidence-based medicine | January | |
| Consumer Owned and Oriented Plans | Creation of new insurers created and run by members | January |
| Medicare Advantage Payment Changes | Phasing in or new payment models | January |
| Medical Loss Ratio rebates | Enrolee rebates in insurers fail to meet MLR requirements | January |
| Uniform Summaries of Benefits & Coverage | Introduction of forms intended to help consumers shop | Delayed- TBD |
| W-2 Changes (and other employer impacts) | Large employers must report health benefits differently | Tax Year 2012 |
Rules Needed
Regulations that will serve as the building blocks for many longer-term provisions- like defining “Essential Health Benefits” and final rules on Exchanges and Insurance Reforms, among others – are also expected to be issued by the federal government during 2012. The importance of such regulations being released in a timely and predictable manner cannot be overstated, as insurers and other stakeholders need adequate time to prepare for these seismic changes on the horizon.
Administrative Simplification
In addition to its many new provisions, the Affordable Care Act also amends or expands upon certain existing laws. For example, the Administrative Simplification section of ACA builds upon the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPPA). Among other things, it requires HHS to adopt a set of consensus-based “operating rules” for HIPPA covered transactions – business rules and guidelines for electronic transactions with health plans; assign each insurer with a unique standard Health Plan Identifier; and create a standard for electronic funds transfer. These and other changes, to be implemented between 2012 and 2016, will result in a single format for claims, remittance advice, service authorization, eligibility verification and claims status inquiries- allowing the health care system as a whole to “speak the same language” better than it does today. For more detail, a good source is the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) website.
Clarity on Constitutionality
On the day ACA was signed into law, arguments about its constitutionality began, thus triggering on a pile-on where legal challenges were filed in (and on behalf of) dozens of states and calling into questions various components of the law. More than eighteen months later, amidst judicial disagreements at the federal district court level, the United States Supreme Court agreed to hear the case. Oral arguments will be held in late February or early March 2012, with a ruling expected by June.
The court agreed to address a range of issues but at the heart of the matter is:
· Whether or not it is constitutional for the government to require the purchase of health insurance through the individual mandate or face a federal penalty, and
· Whether or not the mandate is “severable” from the rest of the law. If the mandate is severable, the rest of the law (minus the mandate) can stand. If found “inseverable”, the entire law could be struck down.
What will result is unclear at this point: the entire law could be upheld, certain specific provisions could be stuck down, or the Court may decide a definitive decision is premature.
Public Opinion and Political Uncertainty
A November 2011 Kaiser Family Foundation Poll measuring national support for ACA shows that while Americans generally like the individual components of ACA, they are somewhat more likely to have an unfavorable view of the law as a whole. Support across the country predictable falls among partisan lines. With each Republican presidential front-runner vowing to repeal ACA, health care reform will assuredly be a hotly contested policy issue during the 2012 campaign season.
Federal Elections
Currently, the U.S. House of Representatives is controlled by a Republican majority and the Senate by Democrats. In addition to the presidential race, all 435 House seats and 33 Senate seats are up for grabs in 2012. These election outcomes- coupled with the Supreme Court decision- will determine what happens to health care reform. If the Democrats maintain control of the White House and Senate, the ACA will likely be fully implemented. If Republicans prevail, an effort to repeal and/or replace or defund the law is inevitable.
State Elections
Twenty-six states are embroiled in the constitutional challenge of ACA. Others have passed legislation or resolutions in opposition of the law; many have begun implementation, and others are taking a wait-and-see approach. While generally state laws are preempted by federal law, state legislatures hold considerable influence about how the federal health care reform will be implemented. This is certainly true in North Carolina, since support of the law tracks closely with political affiliation- and because all 120 House seats and 50 Senate seats in the General Assembly are up for election in 2012.
Exchanges: Laying the Groundwork for 2014
Beginning in 2014, health insurance "exchanges” are intended to be the insurance marketplace for millions of Americans; they will provide access to ACA’s generous health insurance subsidies, as well serve as the entry point for state-run programs like Medicaid and CHIP. If states plan to operate their own exchanges in 2014, they must take the necessary steps including applying for a receiving approval from HHS by January 2012. Alternatively, states can opt to take the federal government fun the Exchange in their state.
Given that federal regulations governing the Exchange have not yet been finalized (or in some cases not yet issued) states are operating in a highly uncertain environment with looming deadlines. At this time, the State of North Carolina intended to move forward with plans to apply for a state based exchange in 2012. In August of 2011, North Carolina’s Department of Insurance (DOI) was awarded a $12 million Level I Exchange grant. These funds will be used for focus groups, planning for the NC exchange and meeting the requirements to apply for a Level II grant. Also in 2012, the NC General Assembly will have to determine whether it will pass enabling legislation to provide the legal authority to establish and operate an Exchange. In 2011, HB 115 passed the NC House but was never take up by the NC Senate.
Both states and the federal government will be very focused on Exchanges in 2012. Stakeholders are advocating for the Exchange rules issued and/or finalized by early 2012. Many are also seeking clarity on what a proposed Federal Exchange model and Federal/State partnership model might look like so the federal government will need to provide those details.
Finally, insurers will have plenty of Exchange work in 2012. To be ready for the Exchange to open in 2014 there is a significant amount of work that must be done- regardless of whether it is run by a state or the federal government.
What happens now?
While 2012 is not the big year that 2014 is for implementation of high profile provisions, it is an extremely critical year in terms of politics and planning. No matter how reform takes shape, BCBSNC is committed to continuing our leadership in improving the health care system in North Carolina.
Cyber Liability and Data Breach
The world has changed. We are interconnected through email, the internet and social media. The way we do business also reflects these changes. Your business most likely has exposure to the cyber world. Here is a discussion of this risk.
Cyber and data breach liability is your company’s exposure to loss from:
- Hacker attacks/unauthorized access
- Virus/malicious code
- Denial of service attacks
- Malicious hardware
- Theft or loss of laptops, smart phones, tablets, etc.
- Accidental release of information
- Damage from rogue employees
- Social media
Your loss could be:
- Customers credit card information that is stolen when online retailers are hacked: Regulatory and Class Actions
- Companies unknowingly spreading a worm, therefore facing liability from those parties based on lost revenues as a direct result of the worm
- Disgruntled employees who delete company databases, causing business interruption
- Systems crashing as a result of being overwhelmed by computer hackers flooding the website
- Law suits for defamation and invasion of privacy when private medical information is stolen or disclosed
- Employees laptops and/or smart phones that are lost, stolen, or compromised
- Information being shared on networking sites by disgruntled employees
- Your legal liability for your employees:
- That leaked confidential information
- That borrowed content or data from another website with out permission
- That caused injury through content in a blog or social media
- That spread a virus or malicious code and cause a disruption of service
A standard business property and general liability policy will not cover these risks.
Here are some facts:
- The fastest growing white collar crime in North America is identity theft
- Approximately half of all cyber breaches occur in businesses with less than 1000 employees – it is not just the large corporations that are targeted
- Over half of cyber breaches are carried out by an employee
- Currently 47 U.S. States have privacy notification laws in the event of a cyber breach.
Higher risk business classes include:
- Financial services
- Public entities
- Schools/universities
- Healthcare
- Hospitality
- Social Networking
- CPA’s, Accounting firms
- Law firms
