Health & Financial Services

If you're one of the many who are not insured or under-insured, then an individual and family health insurance plan may be the answer to your health insurance needs.

Individual and family health insurance is health coverage specifically tailored to those not covered by employer groups or organizations. A broad selection of individual and family health insurance plans is available. Less expensive plans may provide coverage in case of a major accident or illness, while other plans may provide comprehensive coverage for all your healthcare needs.

• Dental Insurance
• Flexible Spending Accounts (FSA)
• Group Health
• Group Life
• Group Long-Term Care
• Group Long-Term Disability
• Group Vision
• Health Savings Accounts (HSA)
• Key Person Coverage
• Individual Disability
• Individual Health
• Individual Life Insurance
  • Term Life
• Universal Life
• Whole Life
• Individual Long-Term Care (LTC)
• Medicare Supplement Insurance
• Short-Term Disability

Dental Insurance

Dental Insurance is available to individuals and families that are not covered on group dental insurance. For people without dental insurance, cost often stands in the way of getting the care they need to maintain the health of their teeth and gums. Even for routine preventive care, a trip to the dentist's office could mean a substantial amount of money out of your pocket.

A freedom-of-choice plan allows you to see any dentist you wish. However, this plan does impose 6- to 12-month waiting periods for some services. This is not the best plan for an individual who needs comprehensive coverage within the first 12 months. However, if dental coverage is desired for a long period of time, and there is no rush to receive the major benefits, this plan may work for you.

Flexible Spending Accounts (FSA)

Employees' needs are as varied as their lifestyles, and benefit programs need to be flexible to accommodate those differences. At Ducote Insurance Agency, we not only recognize, but welcome this diversity.

There are two FSA options. A Health Care FSA is an alternate way of paying your share of your health care costs. In the same manner, a Dependent/Child Care FSA reimburses you for expenses for dependents and childcare which are necessary to allow you and your spouse to work.

When you create an FSA, you choose to have a specific amount of your annual salary withheld from your paycheck and deposited to your FSA. These withholdings are on a pre-tax basis.

Flexible Spending Accounts (FSA's) are benefit options designed to increase your disposable income by reducing the amount of taxes you pay. An FSA enables you to use pretax dollars to pay for qualified health care expenses which are not reimbursed under any health care plan or insurance plan, and for qualified dependent/child care expenses.

Group Health

At Ducote Insurance Agency, we are committed to health insurance for both our commercial customers, who need group coverage for their employees, as well as the individual or family that needs coverage.

With the changing face of health insurance in today's market, we at Ducote Insurance Agency are staying abreast of the latest developments that will affect the coverage you expect as well as the cost impact upon you.

We have the best health insurance markets available in our area, and we will always present to our customers the best options at the best price available.

Group Life

Life insurance is an integral part of most employee benefits packages. When provided by an employer, employees appreciate the value of life coverage and the additional security it provides to their families.

Employers have a wide variety of optional plan designs to customize a Group Life plan. Optional coverages include Voluntary Life insurance, Supplemental Life coverage, Accidental Death and Dismemberment policies, and Dependent Life insurance. The premium paid for Group Life is generally a business deduction, and this stand-alone contract is usually less expensive than the life coverage provided with medical insurance.

Group Long-Term Care (LTC)

Long-Term Care is the type of care received either at home or in a facility, when someone needs assistance with activities of daily living, such as bathing and dressing due to an accident, an illness or advancing age.

Rising life expectancy means that the potential need for "long-term care" grows with every passing year of your life. The likelihood is that you or a member of your family will need long-term assistance due to a prolonged illness, a disability, or general deterioration of your health and ability to perform routine daily activities. Most long term care expenses are not covered by Social Security or Medicare, Medicare Supplement ("Medigap"), or private health insurance. Medicaid pays for nearly half of all nursing home care, but you must meet federal poverty guidelines and may have to "spend down" most of your assets on health care.

Group Long-Term Disability (LTD)

In the event that an accident or illness prevents an employee from working for an extended period of time, the financial impact can be severe for the employee and employers. Long Term Disability (LTD) protection is designed to help cover the employee's expenses while their regular income is interrupted. Flexible plan design options and benefit alternatives are available to meet specific needs. This valuable protection is available with low-cost, tax-deductible premiums.

Group Vision

A Group Vision plan is especially attractive for employers because it is inexpensive to offer, yet it's another employee favorite. This is a separate plan that provides coverage for eye exams and/or for frames, lenses and contact lenses. Many times the basic health plan may provide for routine eye examinations. However, it will usually not provide any benefit for frames, lenses or contact lenses; this is where a separate group vision benefit would be used.

Health Savings Accounts (HSA)

An HSA is a form of health insurance coverage that includes two parts:

1. A tax-exempt personal savings account to be used for qualified medical expenses.
2. A health plan with a high deductible (e.g., $1,000 for an individual or $2,000 for a family).

Account funds are used to cover medical expenses before the plan
deductible has been met. Unspent account balances accumulate and accrue interest from year-to-year. Once the health plan’s annual deductible has been met, coverage resembles conventional insurance, typically in the form of a preferred provider organization (PPO) with little-to-no cost sharing for in-network services, and limits on total out-of-pocket costs.

An HSA account is much like an Individual Retirement Account (IRA), except that deposits and qualified withdrawals are tax-exempt. Individuals and their employers may deposit money into the HSA up to an annual dollar limit, with extra catch-up contributions allowed for those age 55 to 65. Account balances can be used to pay for a wide range of medical expenses — including some ordinarily not covered by insurance — as well as some insurance premiums. HSA funds also can be used to pay medical expenses of family members not covered by the high-deductible plan. After reaching age 65, you may use HSA funds to augment regular income by paying ordinary income tax on withdrawals for any non-medical expenses.

Like IRAs, HSA funds can be invested in stocks, bonds, and mutual funds. Since you own the account, it is fully portable regardless of any job changes.

Key Person Coverage

Your key employees are your most valuable business asset. Their skill, knowledge and experience are your real profit makers. Without them, the success and growth of your business could be in jeopardy. Key employee insurance is designed to protect your business from the adversities associated with the loss of a key employee, manager or executive. The death or disability of a key employee could result in a substantial financial loss due to hiring and training a replacement, lost sales, and/or slowed production.

Individual Disability

Individual Disability Income Protection is a must for a business owner, and highly recommended for executives. If you are a business owner, you should consider purchasing both group and individual policies, if possible. As an executive, you should be sure to obtain group coverage if it is available. Only fourty three percent of large companies provide group long term disability insurance.

Your chances are even less likely to get long term disability insurance if you work for a small company. The cost of a plan provided by your employer is usually less than you would pay for an individual disability policy and often you can get coverage automatically without having to qualify medically. If your employer doesn't provide disability insurance then you may want to consider an individual disability policy.
Or, you may need a personal disability insurance policy to supplement an employer group plan. Be sure to check the group provisions carefully: How long does the group disability insurance coverage last? How much is the benefit? Does the disability insurance policy cover bonus and commission income? Will the coverage continue if you leave that employer?

A typical Individual Disability Income Protection plan starts to pay benefits after you have been off work for 1 to 6 months, and pays benefits for several years or until retirement age, depending on the policy.

Individual Health

Individual health insurance programs are designed for individuals and families who cannot obtain health insurance through an employer. Due to the continually rising cost of medical care, it has become more important to provide health insurance for you and your families. Ducote Insurance Agency offers health insurance programs to individuals which offer extensive coverage as well as high-deductible programs which are designed to protect against catastrophic financial losses.

As an independent agency, Ducote Insurance Agency can provide insurance plans from numerous health insurance companies. With the health insurance market changing frequently, we are always on the lookout for quality, service-oriented insurance companies for our clients.

Individual Life

Life insurance from Ducote Insurance Agency can help you secure your family's financial future by providing the funds they need to: cover burial expenses, uninsured medical bills, pay off your mortgage and other outstanding debts, and maintain a comfortable standard of living.

There are a variety of life insurance policies that we can provide. The kind of policy you choose depends on your needs:

Term Life

Term Life Insurance is a low-cost way of providing maximum coverage for your family. Protection is provided for a limited number of years. The insurance expires without value if the insured lives beyond the policy period, usually 5 to 20 years. Other policy life periods are available, including 1 year annual renewable term.

Term insurance premiums will not increase during the guaranteed policy time period (term) you select. Term Life Insurance pays a death benefit only if you die during that term. Term insurance generally provides the largest insurance protection for your premium dollar.

Term Life Insurance remains in force for as long as premiums are current, provided there are no misrepresentations on the application. The insurance coverage terminates if you discontinue your premium payments.

Universal Life

Universal Life is characterized by great flexibility. Policyholders can determine the amount and frequency of premium payments - i.e., the more you pay, the less time you will need to pay. Your premiums cover the insurance part also the savings or investment element and the expense part. The stated interest on the investment portion changes along with movement in interest rates; moves in 1/4 % interest steps are typical as banks and other financial institutions make similar moves.

Whole Life

Whole Life Insurance provides permanent protection for the whole of life - from the date of policy issue to the date of the insured's death, provided that premiums are paid. Premiums are set at the time of policy issue and remain level for the policy's life. Unlike term insurance, whole life combines insurance protection and savings or cash value which builds over time. Cash value build-up may provide a source for living benefits, for example, helping pay off a mortgage, or a child's education, or cash surrender value if the policy is ever cancelled.

Other Life Insurance

Other Life Products for estate preservation or survivorship purposes are also available - i.e. life insurance benefits to cover federal estate taxes.

These products are continually changing and we can provide you with the latest information and policies available!

Individual Long-Term Care (LTC)

Long-Term Care is the type of care received either at home or in a facility, when someone needs assistance with activities of daily living, such as bathing and dressing due to an accident, an illness or advancing age.

Rising life expectancy means that the potential need for "long-term care" grows with every passing year of your life. The likelihood is that you or a member of your family will need long-term assistance due to a prolonged illness, a disability, or general deterioration of your health and ability to perform routine daily activities. Most long term care expenses are not covered by Social Security or Medicare, Medicare Supplement ("Medigap"), or private health insurance. Medicaid pays for nearly half of all nursing home care, but you must meet federal poverty guidelines and may have to "spend down" most of your assets on health care.

Medicare Supplement Insurance

With medical rates rising and benefits shrinking, you need a "medigap" supplemental policy to pay the medical bills that Medicare will not pay. Although Medicare pays some of your doctor and hospital bills, it was never meant to cover all of them. If you rely on Medicare to pay all your bills, your out-of-pocket expenses could be a financial disaster for both you and your family should hospitalization be necessary.

Medicare's deductibles and co-payments - the costs you must pay - are higher than ever before. The fact is, a one day stay in the hospital can cost you almost $1,000.00 before Medicare will begin to pay, and an extended stay could cost you an unlimited amount.

Short-Term Disability (STD)

A steady income is essential for most people. If an accident or illness interrupts that income, it affects both the employee and employer. Short Term Disability (STD) protection is designed to replace a portion of the wages lost when a short term disability occurs. An affordable, flexible STD plan can provide needed benefits to both the employer and employee.