Health insurance remains one of the most talked about topics when it comes to products that are indispensable for residents of Virginia. With continued increase in healthcare costs, the importance of health insurance plans keeps increasing.It goes without saying that residents of Virginia without insurance coverage are at a greater risk of experiencing financial insecurity during illness or injury. No doubt health insurance plans involve costs but affordable health policies are easily available and with the implementation of healthcare reforms, lots of options will be available to the Virginians.Traditional indemnity insurance plans in VirginiaTraditionally, indemnity health insurance plans in Virginia offer reimbursement against the claims made by an insured person. The level of coverage provided by these plans could vary from basic to comprehensive depending upon the needs of the insured person. Accordingly, the costs of the health plans vary-premiums, deductibles, copays and coinsurance, etc.Managed health care plans in VirginiaUnlike indemnity health plans, managed care health insurance plans involve a group of medical providers that offer comprehensive medical services. They are called preferred or participating providers.There are basically three managed care options:• Health Maintenance Organization or HMOHMOs allow the insured person to select a primary care physician from the plan’s list of medical service providers. If it is necessary, the primary care physician will refer the insured person to a specialist.• Preferred Provider Organization or PPOPPOs allow the members to avail large medical care network. At a slightly higher cost, a PPO generally allows its members to receive care outside its network of providers• Point of Service feature or POSPOS medical plans are special types of HMOs that allow the members to select a non-network provider at a slightly higher cost.Impact of the Affordable Care Act of health insurance in Virginia• Around 109,000 small businesses in Virginia will be helped with tax credit.• Medicare beneficiaries will be mailed a check automatically to defray the costs of their prescription drugs.• Early retirees would be provided options for reinsurance.• $113 million federal dollars will be made available to Virginia starting July 1 to provide coverage for people with pre-existing conditions.• With the new Act, Virginia enjoys the option of Federal Medicaid funding for coverage for all low-income populations, irrespective of age, disability, or family status, for the very first time.• 4.7 million people in Virginia with private insurance won’t have to worry about lifetime limits on the coverage.• 344,000 individuals will not have to worry about to get dropped from insurance policies when they get sick.• Children would be able to stay in their family health insurance policy till the age of 26 years.What to look for while buying affordable health plans in Virginia• Virginians should note what is the maximum coverage level offered in the health insurance plan. This should be the prime deciding factor.• The second point should be the costs involved in a health plan. This could include premiums, deductibles, copays and coinsurance. Consumers can adjust these costs as per their budget.• Virginians should make sure, if needed, that the health insurance plan offers prescription drug coverage, doctor visits and hospitalization benefits. There is no need to buy a health plan if it does not offer such coverage benefits given that consumers need them.• A High Deductible Health Plan (HDHP) with a Health Savings Account (HSA) is a very good option to make sure that consumers get affordable health plans. Virginians should check about this.• Virginians, who need to see a specialist, should make sure that the health insurance plan does not require them to get referrals.• An affordable health insurance plan should have an easy reimbursement procedure. Virginians should make sure that they do not buy from such companies whose reimbursement process is too much complicated. Such plans could actually waste a lot of money and time.

The average business commercial payment time frame is currently around 60 days, a statistic which has steadily increased over recent years. A business trading on credit terms with other businesses, will over time accumulate a substantial asset on its balance sheet called Accounts Receivable, or Trade Debtors.Debtor Finance is a broad description which describes a type of finance which uses trade Receivables as security for a cash advance. In technical terms there are a variety of legal models for debtor finance. In some situations it is structured simply as a loan, with the Receivables asset acting as security, much like a home mortgage.On the other hand, factoring usually involves legal ownership of the debts passing to the financier, possibly on an undisclosed basis – i.e. the debtor is not informed – or more often fully disclosed where the debtor is made aware of the financing arrangement.When debtor finance is in the form of a debt factoring arrangement, the cash advances available can be flexibly adjusted according to a percentage of debtor sales which provides a high level of convenience for a business which is expanding, and needing more cash to do so.Security Requirements of Debtor FinanceAll debtor finance arrangements carry some security requirements, firstly directly over the Receivables, but also possibly (less desirable from the borrower’s point of view ) supported by collateral assets and/or personal guarantees.As with other forms of credit which are linked to the value of the underlying security the amount borrowed or financed will depend on the asset values. Typically debtor finance funding is permitted for about 70% to 90% of the value of the debtor invoices.Advances and Cash FlowsA factoring arrangement which involves the financing of the entire debtors ledger, can effectively operate just like an overdraft. This means that within the overall financing limits, and taking into to account such factors as bad debts when they occur, the borrower can effectively draw and repay any amount at any time.Smaller financing arrangements which include Invoice Finance or Invoice Discounting arrangements will generally split the financing into two cash flow lumps:
The first lump is the advance, for 70% to 90% of the invoice value
The second lump is the balance, from which the financiers recovers fees.
Each financing method has its pros and cons. Financing the entire debtors ledger will usually involve some contractual commitments for a period of time, at least 6 months, often a year or more. Invoice finance on the other is generally shorter term, and may not require a fixed term commitment. Invoice finance be very flexible when used on an ad hoc basis, helping to keep costs down, but closer monitoring of actual cash flows would normally be necessary.When Is Debtor Finance The Best Option?Debtor finance is most useful for a business which has relatively long cash conversion period, when compared to the cost of its major supplies. This is best explained by way of example: Simplistically if a business has to pay all its bills in an average of, say 21 days, yet the settlement terms of most of its customers are 45 days or more, then expanding the business will always absorb more cash than is available from the business in the short term.This kind of cash flow stress most often arises in manufacturing companies, wholesalers and labor hire companies; in effect any business where the cost of sales is made up to a large extent by labor costs, and/or inventory.If other sources of finance are not available, or are more expensive, then reaching into the company’s balance sheet for a debtor financing arrangement can release cash to the next project or job, while valued customers can still take advantage of their normal payment terms.