There are times when your employees or their dependents will be better served with an insurance product outside of your company's group insurance. For this reason BBSI maintains a working knowledge of available individual plans within the State of Georgia as well as associate agents to serve your employees in other states.

We are familiar with both PeachCare (TennCare, Florida KidCare, All Kids - Alabama) and Medicaid. Should an employee be qualified for one of these programs, we have applications available, assist them with completion of the application, and explain to them how to submit it. We are also sensitive to families with one child. There are times when it is less expensive for the child to be on a stand alone policy and we will advise the employee of this and walk them through the process.

As of January 1, 2006 Medicare Part D creates a new opportunity for Medicare-eligible employees and their dependents to obtain complete medical coverage through the Medicare system. BBSI is educated on these new products and the Medicare system and can help these employees compare programs to determine which is more advantageous to their personal situation.

Individual Health Insurance

Individual health insurance is available to people who want to purchase health insurance and either do not have access to a group policy or find they can obtain coverage less expensively on their own. Individual health insurance allows a person to decide what is important and affordable. Plan options will revolve around deductibles, preventative care, doctor's office visit co-pays, prescription drug deductibles and co-pays, and emergency room co-pays.

An individual purchasing health insurance will need to decide if he or she wants to purchase basic health insurance and not pay a great deal in monthly premiums or if it is more important that the individual pay as little as possible when receiving care, which would create a larger monthly premium. This individual would also need to look at his or her healthcare consumption. Does (s)he go to the doctor a great deal or very little? The answer to this question may help an individual determine how much health insurance (s)he wishes to purchase.

Individual health insurance companies can decline to cover an individual or his or her dependent. In the state of Georgia, insurance companies are required to offer coverage for groups of 2 to 50 employees. This is not the case with individual insurance. An individual may be denied coverage. In addition, having an individual policy issued can take time - the underwriting process is detailed and thorough. Group insurance rules regarding pre-existing conditions do not apply to individual policies; an insurance company can issue a policy and exclude coverage for a pre-existing condition. It is always best to give individual policies plenty of time to move through the underwriting process.

We are fortunate in the Georgia market to have several individual health insurance carriers including Blue Cross Blue Shield, Aetna, Kaiser and Humana . Each of these has an on-line application process. When applying on-line, please note Braden Benefit Strategies, Inc. as your agent so that we have the ability to assist you should any questions or problems arise.