Established in 1929
Health City Sun
The
www.healthcitysun.com
New Mexico’s Legal & Financial Weekly
October 10, 2014
Vol. 4.85 No. 41
FORECLOSURE SALES: 2
PROBATE: 18
NOTICE OF SUITS: 2
OTHER: 21
Take Time To Understand Your Benefits Choices
AUCTIONS: 3
SPANISH NOTICES: 1
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hoosing the right health insurance plan is one of the most important decisions that Americans make every year, but most spend more time planning a vacation or shopping for a computer. Survey Discoveries In fact, the 2014 Aflac Open Enrollment Survey found that 41 percent of workers spent 15 minutes or less researching their benefit options during open enrollment and 24 percent spent five minutes or less.
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Yet, according to the Zillow Mortgage Marketplace Survey, they typically spend: • 10 hours researching new car purchases.
their health care options to ensure they select the right insurance coverage.
• Four hours shopping for new computers. • Two hours deciding what television to buy.
Money-Saving Suggestions
Workers who don’t set aside time to research their insurance options may make hasty decisions and end up wasting money. For instance, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation 2013 Employer Health Benefits Survey, employees spend an average of $4,565 a year in premiums for employer-sponsored health plans. Even though life circumstances change and benefits options may change, according to the Aflac survey, the majority (90 percent) of workers choose the same benefits year after year. By not taking the time to understand their benefits choices, workers may be faced with a financial crisis and unprepared to cope with unexpected medical expenses. In fact, the Aflac survey found that 42 percent of workers estimate they waste up to $750 each year on mistakes with their insurance benefits. The survey also found that 73 percent of workers say they sometimes, rarely or never understand everything that is covered by their policy; and 64 percent say they sometimes, rarely or never understand the changes in their policies. It’s important for people to educate themselves about
Consider these four tips to avoid making costly mistakes: 1. Carefully review and compare all available benefits information. Take time to look up terms you don’t understand, such as voluntary insurance, deductibles, out-of-pocket expenses and others. 2. Understand the financial implications your choices have on your budget. 3. Ask your employer to arrange meetings with health care insurance agents or brokers to answer questions. 4. Attend on-site seminars, participate in webinars and read the relevant education materials. Learn More For more information, visit www.AflacWorkForcesReport.com. -(NAPSI)
How Much Backup Power Do You Need During An Outage?
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ith more and more choices available in automatic home standby power, selecting the right backup power system can be confusing. Here are three important things to think about when considering an automatic standby power system: • Backing up only the essentials. Are there a couple of rooms, or maybe a handful of appliances—your refrigerator, freezer, sump pump, furnace, and well pump, for example—that are the most important items for you to have during a power outage? You can work with your generator dealer or electrician to back up only the circuits that power them. This means investing in a relatively small home standby generator—perhaps a 7- or 11-kW unit—to protect your home. • Backing up your whole home with a smart power management system. If you want all your lights and appliances running just as they would on a normal day, you can invest in an automatic standby generator with a smart power management system. This system can monitor the power you’re using, and if there’s a risk of overloading the generator, it will simply turn
off the most power-hungry appliances. Most of the time, these are central air conditioners. When generator capacity returns, the system will turn those appliances back on. Such systems are ideal for homes up to about 3,000 square feet with no more than two three-ton central air conditioners. The generators can be as small as 11 kW, with 20- or 22-kW generators among the most popular. • Complete whole-house backup. Want to back up your entire home, with the ability to power every appliance all the time? You can invest in an automatic standby generator that delivers enough power to do just that. For homes up to 3,000 square feet, a 16- through 22-kW unit can suffice, while others—large custom homes and those with many power-hungry appliances such as two or more central air conditioners—will require generators that are larger. To learn which backup power solution is right for you, visit the Generac website at www.generac.com. -(NAPSI)