Imagine going to a very nice restaurant. You sit down at a table and the waiter asks for your order. After you place your order he points to the kitchen and says “Please pick it up in 10 minutes. And when you’re done, kindly bring your dishes back to where you got them.”

Is this the type of service you expect from a high quality restaurant?

As the owner of a medical practice, we don’t have to tell you that providing group benefits for your employees can be costly. In fact, you could be paying a significant part of your revenue for employee benefits. So it makes sense that you are entitled to ask this question – am I getting the service that I’m paying for?

It’s no secret that today’s health insurance marketplace can be complex, chaotic and confusing. And as a practice owner, you certainly know that trying to control health insurance costs can be a challenge.

But we found some information that might surprise you. It’s not very well publicized but it could be extremely helpful if you want to gain more control over your health insurance costs.

Liz West is an experienced advisor on health insurance under the Affordable Care Act here at TMA Insurance Trust. She has worked here for nearly three decades, so she understands the marketplace and the particular needs of physicians in our state.

As the date for open enrollment nears, we sit down with Liz to discuss the health insurance marketplace and solutions to some of the issues our members are facing.

As Texans, we treasure our independence, and it shows. In Texas, 63% of physicians are independent, either in a solo or small practice of no more than three physicians. But as the saying goes, ‘responsibility is the price of freedom.’ The burden of financial responsibility can be a heavy one for physicians, especially independent or solo practitioners.

Many factors are involved in getting good employees to fill the seats at a medical practice, but job candidates consistently rank group benefits as one of the top factors impacting their decision to accept a job offer. Benefits packages matter; a robust package can make their lives much easier, while a barebones offering forces them to bear most of the monetary or administrative costs themselves.

Medical practice owners have a great deal of overhead expenses for which they are responsible. In fact, according to the 2014 MGMA Cost Survey Report, practice operating expenses range from 50% to over 80% of total medical revenue. Additionally, Modern Medicine cited rising operational costs as one of the top 15 challenges facing physicians in 2015. So, what happens to the practice you’ve built if you became disabled?

When you own a successful medical practice there are many people that have helped you grow it. Your amazing team, the ones your practice couldn’t survive without, have had a hand it your success.

According to the National Association of Insurance Commissioners, small businesses are extremely dependent on just a few key people for their success, and 71% say that they are “very dependent” on only one or two key people.

That’s why you should consider purchasing key person life and key person disability insurance for your practice.

Have you ever asked yourself, “Can my business survive if I’m not there”? Most physicians would say no since their practice relies on them so much. Whether you are just starting your own practice, or you are growing an existing one, it’s important that it keeps running smoothly even if something should happen to you.

Like most physicians who own a small  or midsize practice, you are the key player in keeping your practice profitable, and if you’re not there to see patients, your practice will quickly fail. Well, that’s what Office Overhead Expense Insurance is there for – a way to keep your business functioning even when you can’t be there.