Anyone heard of a Private Health Services Plan?

[photon]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Private..._services_plan

Our accountant is trying to sell us on getting this. We had quite a bit of medical expenses last year, and from what I understand this would make all of those tax deductible (rather than just 20%).

They want to charge $250 to set it up and then a 10% fee per claim.

Not sure how advantageous this is, especially since in 2010 it looks like we'll have employee benefits again.

Any input/gotchas/etc is welcome.

[macker]

http://www.hubfinancial.com/HWTFlexS...S/Default.aspx
or
http://www.customcare.ca/index.html

One of the single best things you can do to lower your taxable income! The list of covered expenses is very extensive with either of the above. Check over the above sites and they will tell you everything you need to know.

[Slava]

Those two sites probably tell you everything you need to know. Basically though the way to think of it is that you are setting up a health plan that you administer for all of the employees of your business. Assuming you are the sole employee you set the plan up and decide on what the coverage will be for each area and things like that.

Most commonly I think that the annual limit has been set at $15k per employee, but I don't know of any reason why this couldn't be higher.

[photon]

Why do the sites that talk about it all feel so shady lol.. they all look like those "work from home" business sites.

Thanks for the feedback, good to know it's not a scam or something.

[Slava]

Well first let me say that there is nothing shady and it's legit!

Now let me mention that it's not really rocket science to set a compnay up to do this. Basically you send them your medical fees, plus a fee on top and the receipts. They keep track of this and send you back the medical fee. In otherwords it's pure bookkeeping/accounting.

[Shazam]

Yep, it's totally legit.

I'd actually love to set one of these providers up myself, they look like pretty good moneymakers.

[Merlot]

I have a friend with a small company that swears by Custom Care. He has been raving about them for months and after opening my Blue Cross reimbursement cheque in the mail today and seeing their terrible coverage I am really thinking about making the switch.

[Slava]

They are pretty sweet. You are spending the money anyway and this let's the company pay instead of you paying personally.

[MoneyGuy]

I've put some of my clients into PHSPs. They are totally legit and a great way to insure a mom-and-pop shop. I'm currently in a health plan for myself but may be on the outside looking in as of October 2010 and then I'll be setting up a PHSP for myself. The problem with conventional insurance is you pay for it even if you don't use it. This option is self insurance, you only pay for what you need and it's very tax efficient.

[Slava]

^ Plus you get 100% coverage if you use it for things, whereas under a conventional plan there are all kinds of copays and limits to certain coverages to be concerned about.

[macker]

Originally Posted by photon

Why do the sites that talk about it all feel so shady lol.. they all look like those "work from home" business sites.

Thanks for the feedback, good to know it's not a scam or something.

Hub is a much bigger organization in scope. Hub International is an insurance broker that provides property/casualty, life and health, employee benefits, and investment products in the US and Canada. Focusing on midsized commercial clients and affluent individuals, Hub operates throughout the US and in six Canadian provinces. The company was acquired by private equity firm Apax Partners, along with Morgan Stanley Principal Investments, in 2007.
Custom Care is much smaller, in fact on one of the marketing documents I saw from them, they said that they had over 5,000 clients which I don't think I would really brag about. Maybe you have heard one of their commercials "get out of the stone age, me can see etc. but that was a few years back iirc...Both companies can get you the exact same tax savings and are a much better value vs a traditional health plan. I guess Hub is bigger and has a lower set up fee of $200 vs Custom Care which is over $300 but otherwise there is not much difference between the two.

[trew]

I use Puhl. They only charge 5% (instead of the usual 10%). I've been very happy with their service.

Website: http://www.puhlemployeebenefits.com/

[SelfPromoter1]

You might want to consider <removed>. There are no administration fees and no set up fees with this Private Health Services Plan.

[Slava]

lol, a four year marketing bump. That's awesome.

[photon]

Originally Posted by Slava

lol, a four year marketing bump. That's awesome.

Yeah not funny, I emailed them before approving their account and they said they were going to offer some insight / quality answer to a question on the forum, I thought maybe someone was discussing their company. But no, just spam