Kaiser Permanente offers nine dental health insurance plans through Delta Dental. Small businesses who enroll in a Kaiser group health insurance plan may add dental coverage. The two DeltaCare plans, the DeltaCare 10A and the DeltaCare 13B, tend to be the most popular. These plans offer the lowest monthly premiums, two free teeth cleanings a year, orthodontic coverage and more. Members enrolled on these plans have a smaller pool of dentists to choose from, but many employers and employees feel the lower monthly premiums more than makes up for the limited selection.

There are six rate areas for the Delta Dental Plans. Northern California rate areas include North Valley and the Bay Area. Southern California rate areas include Coachella Valley, Kern County, San Diego and Southern California. The Southern California rate area includes Los Angeles County, Orange County, Riverside County (excluding Coachella Valley), San Bernardino County and Ventura County.

The group DeltaCare plans are broken up into two rate areas: Northern California and Southern California.

Posted: December 15th, 2008 under California Group.
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Durable Medical Equipment: All small group health insurance plans from Kaiser California cover base equipment like canes, crutches, and wheelchairs. However, only the $5, $15, and $20 Copayment Plans cover formulary equipment like C-Pap machines and other breathing apparatus.   

Prosthetic and Orthotic Devices: By law, all California small business medical plans cover prosthetic and orthotic devices. 

Note: For more information click here: http://kaiserquotes.com/california-health-insurance/group.php

Posted: December 9th, 2008 under California Group.
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In most cases, employers who have a Kaiser Permanente business health insurance plan, may not fund or reimburse their employees for healthcare costs. Why not? At first glance, this seems odd. Why can’t an employer help out an employee who is struggling to pay for medical expenses such as copayments, coinsurance, emergency visits before a deductible is met, etc? You would think Kaiser Permanente would want to encourage such benevolence. However, unless your employees are on an HRA Plan or an HSA Plan, this is not allowed.

Let me explain why. When employers fund or reimburse their employees for medical costs, utilization goes up, meaning members go to the doctor more often, stay in the hospital longer, visit emergency more frequently, etc. This higher utilization drives up costs for Kaiser Permanente as employees use healthcare that may not have been completely necessary. When Kaiser determined rates and pricing for these plans, they calculated them based on the understanding that employers would not fund or reimburse their employees. If some employers were allowed to continue this practice, utilization would increase, and ultimately Kaiser Permanente would have to raise prices for all groups on such plans.

Let me make a recommendation for generous employers who want the ability to assist their employees in this way. Offer your employees one of Kaiser Permanente’s deductible plans with HSA. These plans are government qualified so employees can have health savings accounts. Employers may contribute to these HSA accounts. Ask your tax advisor about regulations on employer contributions to Health Savings Accounts.

Posted: November 17th, 2008 under California Group.
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California groups who apply with Kaiser Permanente by the end of November, 2008 will receive substantial savings on their small business health insurance plans.

Apply This Month Before Rates Go Up
After November, rates are going up on average around 10%.

Lock in Low Rates for One Year
Apply now  to lock in the 2008 rates for one year. Choose from Copayment Plans, Deductible Plans and HSA-Qualified Plans. Choose Copayment Plans for richer coverage and more first dollar benefits, or select from our Deductible Plans to save on your monthly premiums.

You May Qualify for Group Health Insurance
Self-employed, husband-wife businesses and small business owners often qualify for group health insurance.

Apply: To go directly to the Small Group Application, click Apply Now.
Support: For live support, Chat Online or call 1-877-752-4737.

Posted: November 11th, 2008 under California Group.
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Kaiser Permanente offers Durable Medical Equipment (DME) coverage for small groups in California. All small group plans cover base equipment like canes, crutches, and wheelchairs. Only the three higher end plans, the $5, $15, and $20 Copay Plans, cover formulary equipment like C-Pap machines and other breathing apparatuses. By law, all small group plans cover prosthetic and orthotic devices. For more information on Durable Medical Equipment and small business health insurance coverage from Kaiser Permanente, call 1-877-752-4737 and select option 3. A group benefits specialist can assist you with your DME questions and make sure you get the medical insurance coverage you need.

Posted: October 29th, 2008 under California Group.
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1. Does the plan cover durable medical equipment? 
Yes for base equipment, such as canes, crutches, wheelchairs.
However, formulary equipment, such as C-Pap machines and other breathing apparatus are not covered.

2. Does it cover prosthetic and orthotic devices?
Under law, all group plans cover these.

3. Are eye exams and hearing tests covered under this plan?  If so, how much per visit?
Yes.  $30 for doctor visits; $10 for lab

4. Does the plan cover allergy injections and immunizations?  How much?
Yes; it’s free.

5. Does the plan cover physical and occupational therapy?
Yes, for $30.

6. What does the $400/day inpatient cover? (room & board, surgery, anesthesia, x-rays, lab tests, medications?)
All of the above, plus the doctor’s services, supplies, and therapies.

7. Is that $400/day copay until the maximum out-of-pocket reaches $3500?
Yes

8. Are non-formulary drugs covered?  What about mail order prescriptions?
No, non-formulary drugs are not covered.
Yes, prescriptions by mail are covered.

9. Does the $10 copay cover all outpatient laboratory and radiology costs?
No. High tech radiology services, like MRI’s, PET, CT scans are $50.

Posted: October 27th, 2008 under California Group.
Comments: none

Are your monthly premiums too high? Kaiser Permanente is offering a special Open Enrollment Period for small groups who want to switch to a deductible or an HSA plan.

In these tough economic times, many small businesses are looking for opportunities to save money. Kaiser Permanente realizes that money is tight for many businesses right now and they do not want to lose customers, so the Kaiser Permanente Insurance Company is making this special opportunity available. Usually, members on a group health plan can only switch plans once a year at the regularly scheduled Open Enrollment Period. However, now until December 15^th small businesses have this special opportunity to downgrade to a lower-premium deductible plan.

For businesses looking to downgrade modestly, they may want to switch to the $1500 Deductible Plan or the $1500 Deductible Plan with HSA. If switching from a copayment plan, you will notice considerable savings. If you just want to go with the absolute cheapest plan, you may choose the $0/$2700 Deductible Plan with HSA or the even more affordable plan, the $30/$2700 Deductible Plan with HSA. Usually, we recommend paying just a little bit more to get the $0/$2700 Deductible Plan with HSA because the out-of-pocket maximum is much lower on this plan than the $30/$2700 plan.

Posted: October 21st, 2008 under California Group.
Comments: none

The $30/$1500 Deductible Plan has become quite a popular Kaiser group plan for small businesses in California. Many business owners choose this plan due to the fact that it covers doctor visits and prescription drugs before the deductible is met, and it has a low monthly premium.

Normally, to be eligible for a multiple plan offering, groups must have a minimum of three employees. However, there is an exception to this rule. Groups of two or more employees may offer the $30/1500 Deductible Plan alongside a Copayment Plan. The Copayment Plan must be offered, but it is not required that any employees actually be enrolled in the plan. Just offering a copayment plan will suffice.

Posted: October 6th, 2008 under California Group.
Comments: none

You can do what I did: Get yourself and your employees on individual plans. Each person does have to apply. Use the Kaiser Permanente Online Application, and it will take you about 10-15 minutes per person.

When I first started a business, we put all our employees on individual plans. I thought it was less hassle. As the business owner, I wanted to contribute to their health plan costs, so each month I gave them each a check for $92 written out to “Kaiser Permanente”. When they paid their bill, they included this check. For some of my employees, $92 covered their entire bill, but others had to add a second check to cover the difference. I deducted those checks ($92 X 6 employees = $552) as a business expense.

Posted: August 11th, 2008 under California Group.
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Kaiser Permanente now offers more solutions for small business groups. Running a small business requires maximum flexibility. With more plan choices, you and your employees can find what you need. Here’s a look at what’s new for your small business clients as of July 1, 2008:
   • A $5 million lifetime maximum for the $40/$1,000 PPO offering — up from
      $2 million.
   • A new HSA-compatible PPO plan — the $40/$2,500 PPO gives employees more
      control over their health. (Must be offered with at least one copayment plan
      as part of a multiple plan offering.)

Posted: July 31st, 2008 under California Group.
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