The Web offers convenience and greater access to medical care, but with innovation, comes risk. Doctors practicing over the Web may face more malpractice claims if they're not examining some patients in person. There could also be complications in state medical licensing. Also, basic questions have to be answered: How will doctors be compensated, and on what basis will managed care organizations and insurance companies pay for Web visits?

When mixing the Internet with the field of medicine, it's important to understand legal distinctions between medical information and medical advice. Advice implies a doctor-patient relationship; information is more general.

Expect to hear more on this subject!

The cost of Workers Compensation coverage is expected to increase substantially as the industry pulls out of a soft market in which competition drove prices to unprofitably low levels. You can keep your costs down by paying attention to safety procedures, fraud control, and employee recovery practices.

Safety programs can help reduce all kinds of injuries and accidents. Educate your employees on return-to-work programs, the importance of reporting accidents and injuries early, and indicators of Workers Comp fraud.

Examine emergency medical arrangements and review your list of medical and disability care providers. Frequent review will help you keep up with the rapidly changing medical field.

Call us for a comprehensive look at keeping Workers Comp costs under control.

Package Business policies offer some protection against crime losses. But you'll want a Crime policy if you have especially high exposures.

Retail establishments and offices commonly need Crime policies. Storekeepers' and Office Burglary and Robbery plans provide coverage for money, securities, and other property. Coverage can be on a blanket basis for several locations or on a schedule basis for named locations.

It's important to understand that burglary and robbery are two independent crimes. Burglary involves breaking and entering, while robbery is the act of forcing another to turn over money, securities, or other property - as in "Stick 'em up!" "Theft" is a broad term that includes many acts ranging from shoplifting to embezzlement.

Depending on your business activity, you should consider other forms of Crime coverage as well, including safe burglary, robbery, and employee dishonesty, forgery, or alteration. If your business caters to guests, you might want to insure against loss from guests' property in safe deposit boxes and elsewhere.

Crime insurance policies can be tailored to your company's exposures. Now is the time to consider Crime insurance - not after a criminal has struck.

You may find your next great employee in your own family. If so, a personnel consultant can help ease the transition to a working relationship. You'll have to furnish payroll taxes on their earnings, and you may need to alter your insurance arrangements. Salaries and employer-paid benefits are tax deductible to the business and taxable to the employee. Of course, the family member must be legitimately employed and actually working at the job to satisfy the Internal Revenue Service.

If you're thinking of hiring your niece, it's a good time for an insurance review. We're here to help.

Risk Management

Bulletproof Kidnap Protection

Kidnappings are on the rise worldwide. Leading hot spots are Colombia, Mexico, and the former Soviet Union. In response, BMW introduced the 740iL Protection, an armored car with a bulletproof body and thick distorted glass. A more conventional form of protection is Kidnap & Ransom (K&R) insurance.

K&R sales are robust. The coverage is carried by more than half of the Fortune 500 companies, and it's gaining in popularity among smaller firms.

Unfortunately, criminals are finding out about the insurance and are demanding higher ransoms for American citizens. The insurance industry is secretive about the number and dollar amount of kidnapping policies written, and corporations are tight-lipped about their coverage. They often keep kidnap insurance under wraps to prevent employees from taking foolish chances.

A typical K&R policy ranges from $1,000 per million dollars of coverage to $50,000 per million dollars for corporations with employees in some of the more dangerous places on earth.

Policies usually cover all employees, not just top executives, and they may include coverage for employees' families. K&R insurance includes ransom, the cost of professional kidnapping negotiators, counseling for victims, lost salary, and vacation time for returning victims.

The 1996 Mental Health Parity Act was supposed to establish greater access to mental health benefits for Health plan members. But it only applies to annual and lifetime dollar limits. Some plans have begun restricting office and hospital visits to restrain costs. Congress' General Accounting Office found that as of December 1999, 87% of compliant plans contained at least one provision that was more restrictive than envisioned by the Parity Act. Congress is expected to pass more legislation to increase access to mental health benefits.

More than half of the states have enacted tighter parity laws affecting service limits, cost-sharing requirements, or both. The laws tend to hike the cost of employer-sponsored Health plans by 2%-4%.

We'll help you review your business' Health plan and make sure it's up to date.