One of the cons of switching from being an employee of someone else to being the "Chief Cook and Bottlewasher" of your own small or home-based business is health insurance. If you've actually had good health benefits from a company job, it can be scary (and dangerous) to switch over to being uninsured or underinsured. That's why one of the first things you should do is find some sort of insurance to cover yourself and your family. Some folks are able to do this by switching over to a spouse's policy through their employer, or by budgeting expected start-up costs to include insurance premiums. Still others use start-up funds to purchase a catastrophic policy, which will at least cover emergency needs if they occur.
Unfortunately still others (myself included, for over a year) don't have any of those options. That's why it's always exciting to hear about other resources that may be an option, and that's why the following press release caught my eye.
Nothing is perfect for each and every business owner, so do your due diligence as to whether this company's offerings will even be worth your while. But do check it out if you're uninsured or underinsured, because it really is dangerous to remain in that boat, no matter how "lucky" you may have been in the past with your health. Let me know if you know of anything else along these lines, so we small biz folks can band together to make sure everybody's covered somehow.
Small Business Network of AmericaTM (SBNOA) and National Health Partners Sign Joint Sales and Marketing Agreement
SBNOA Expects to Generate Thousands of New Members For National Health Partners
HORSHAM, Pa.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--National Health Partners, Inc. (OTCBB:NHPR), a leading provider of unique discount healthcare membership programs, announced today that it has entered into a joint sales and marketing agreement with the Small Business Network of AmericaTM (SBNOA), a national association of small businesses, through which SBNOA expects to generate thousands of new members for National Health Partners. Under the agreement, National Health Partners and SBNOA will be targeting the 25.9 million small businesses in the U.S.
The Small Business Network of America, LLC (SBNOA) is a national membership association of small businesses that uses its group buying power to negotiate discounts and rebates on behalf of its members. SBNOA is planning a massive marketing effort over the next six months to attract small businesses to its free membership ranks. SBNOA expects a host of prestigious companies to offer their products and services to SBNOA’s small business members. National Health Partners represents an important addition to SBNOA's marketing plans.
National Health Partners' non-traditional approach to healthcare provides an innovative and cost-effective means for uninsured and underinsured individuals to obtain the healthcare they need at significantly reduced costs. Through its co-branding strategy, the company has networked with prestigious leaders such as CareMark and Aetna to create a revolutionary solution that lowers the costs of prescriptions and medical, dental and vision care through relationship optimization for millions of people.
“There is a tremendous demand among small businesses for discount healthcare programs,” stated William J. Ritger, Co-Founder of SBNOA. “The addition of National Health Partners will provide a substantial savings opportunity to SBNOA’s members. National Health Partners has one of the largest networks of healthcare providers in the country, and its product offerings are outstanding. We believe that National Health Partners’ health discount programs will be extremely popular with our SBNOA members and their constituents.”
“Small businesses are in substantial need of solutions to the national healthcare crisis,” stated David M. Daniels, President and CEO of National Health Partners. “Since 2000, employment-based health insurance premiums have increased 73% and the average employee contribution to employer-provided health insurance has increased more than 143%. We are very pleased to be able to offer our discount healthcare programs to SBNOA’s small business members and are looking forward to generating thousands of new members through SBNOA.”
Mr. Ritger added, “National Health Partners has a cost-effective solution to one of the biggest problems faced by the small business community, and it will play a prominent role in our marketing plans.”
Small Business Network of America, LLC
The Small Business Network of America, LLC (SBNOA) is a national membership association of small businesses that is harnessing the group buying power of this country's 26 million small businesses to provide them with a broad range of products and services at discounted prices. SBNOA uses its tremendous group buying power to negotiate discounts and rebates on behalf of its members so as to provide them with the help, support, and information that they need to be successful. The company is headquartered in Juno Beach, Florida. For more information on the company, please visit its website at (www.sbnoa.com).
National Health Partners, Inc.
National Health Partners, Inc. is a national healthcare savings organization that provides discount healthcare membership programs to uninsured and underinsured people through a national healthcare savings network called “CARExpressTM.” CARExpress is one of the largest networks of hospitals, doctors, dentists, pharmacists and other healthcare providers in the country and is comprised of over 1,000,000 medical professionals that belong to such PPOs as CareMark and Aetna. The company’s primary target customer group is the 47 million Americans who have no health insurance of any kind. The company’s secondary target customer group includes the 61 million Americans who lack complete health insurance coverage. The company is headquartered in Horsham, Pennsylvania. For more information on the company, please visit its website at www.nationalhealthpartners.com.
Safe Harbor Provision
This press release contains “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. All statements other than statements of historical fact contained herein, including, without limitation, statements regarding the company’s future financial position, business strategy, budgets, projected revenues and costs, and plans and objectives of management for future operations, are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements generally can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as “may,” “will,” “expects,” “intends,” “plans,” “projects,” “estimates,” “anticipates,” or “believes” or the negative thereof or any variation thereon or similar terminology or expressions. Forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from results proposed in such statements. Although the company believes that the expectations reflected in such forward-looking statements are reasonable, it can provide no assurance that such expectations will prove to have been correct. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from the company’s expectations include, but are not limited to, its ability to fund future growth and implement its business strategy, its ability to develop and expand the market for its CARExpress membership programs, demand for and acceptance of its CARExpress membership programs, its dependence on a limited number of preferred provider organizations and other provider networks for healthcare providers, as well as those factors set forth in the company’s Annual Report on Form 10-KSB and its other filings and submissions with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date made. Except as required by law, the company assumes no obligation to update or revise any of the information contained in this press release.
National Health Partners, Inc.
Alex Soufflas, 215-682-7114 ext. 109
info@nationalhealthpartners.com
It's difficult for a small business to provide health care, because they don't have any purchasing power. What we need to do is allow small businesses to accumulate purchasing power -- it's called associated health care plans. If you've got more people demanding, it means you can reduce the price. We need the associated health care plans.
Posted by: Arizona Payroll Company | April 24, 2007 1:45 PM | Permalink to Comment