Brooklyn's Progress
February/March 2008

BY JILL D’AMICO

As one of the most volatile issues today, health insurance is an obstacle for many small business owners.

Consistently one of the top impediments to growth as identified by the annual Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce Member Issues Survey, health insurance is often said to be too costly and full of administrative headaches for average small businesses to handle.

The industry has listened, however, and responded with a swath of different plans and ideas to make it as painless as possible.

To showcase some of those options to its membership, the Chamber’s Small Business Seminar Committee put together a presentation to de-mystify some of the options available to small businesses in Brooklyn.

Informative presentations were followed by a question-and-answer period where insurance representatives were able to answer specific questions and offer options for busy small business owners.

Melissa Seeley, director of private health insurance initiatives with the New York City Office of Citywide Health Insurance Access (OCHIA), talked about special health insurance options for small businesses, sole proprietors and freelancers.

She gave an overview of factors to consider when choosing coverage, such as simplicity of billing and price.

“You want to bear in mind how to ease the administrative burden as a small business,” she said.

Some options of money-saving plans are health savings accounts with a high deductible, in-network only plans, high point-of-service plans and enrolling children in public plans, like Child Health Plus.

OCHIA features a user-friendly Web site that helps businesses calculate what they can afford, based on a few questions. It is available at www.nyc.gov/healthstat.

Doctor-owned Atlantis Health Plan also presented at the seminar. Garey McKinnon and Steve Denes explained how their health plan was formed on the basis of keeping patients healthy as to avoid doctor visits. Atlantis features fast claims processing, aimed to cut down on administrative headaches.

Yvette Rosado rounded out the presentations with an introduction to Health Plus, the public HMO that provides free of low-cost healthcare for eligible children and adults.

For more information about health insurance for your small business, or to learn more about Brooklyn HealthWorks, the Chamber’s small-business health insurance product, call Dean Mohs at 718-875-1000 ext. 122.