On Wednesday, August 19, the American Booksellers Association offered a webinar about its new membership health insurance benefit with LIG Solutions. A recording of the webinar, hosted by LIG Solutions, is now available [6].

ABA’s membership health insurance benefit launched on August 4 [7] in partnership with the Book Industry Health Insurance Partnership (BIHIP), a coalition of now 12 book industry organizations including the Authors Guild and the Independent Book Publishers Association. The offering with LIG Solutions will allow ABA members to gain access to LIG’s extensive knowledge of the health insurance market, which will help members navigate insurance options.

The webinar was led by Tim McNichols, executive director of partnerships at LIG Solutions. During the approximately 50-minute webinar, McNichols answered a number of questions, including: What kind of coverage is included in the ABA health program? What is a Health Reimbursement Arrangement? Who is covered? How does the program work?

McNichols emphasized that one of the benefits of the program is its customizability. Unlike a large group plan that takes on a “one size fits all” approach, the health plans offered by LIG are tailored to members’ unique health and financial needs. Bookstore owners can choose to contribute to their employees’ health insurance costs, or just provide them access to purchase coverage.

LIG Solutions, which has licensed advisors in all 50 states, partners with major carriers to provide a wide array of coverage options. Coverage options include ACA-compliant major medical, Medicare/supplements, short-term policies, vision, dental, critical care, and supplemental coverage, as well as small group/Health Reimbursement Arrangement (HRAs) programs.

McNichols explained that all ABA bookstores and their employees can take advantage of the benefit. Health plans cover individuals and families, independent contractors/1099s, and business owners and W2 employees.

ABA-Members can view the recorded webinar on ABA’s LIG landing page, accessible here [6]. (An ABA login is required.)

Non-ABA Members interested in learning more can access the recorded webinar here [8].

Find ABA’s LIG landing page and unique phone number for members under “For Booksellers” and “LIG Health Insurance” on Bookweb.org. [6] There, you can contact LIG Solutions for a no-obligation health insurance assessment quote. (An ABA login is required to access the landing page.)

For more information about the membership health insurance benefit, see FAQs about the LIG partnership [9]. For questions not answered by this FAQ, please contact David Grogan, ABA’s director of ABFE, Advocacy & Public Policy, at [email protected] [10].