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NY AG calls Internet discount clubs 'deceptive'
Must read, nothing to do with Access Plans.
http://www.wtop.com/?nid=111&sid=1874449
Great article on Benefit Marketing Solutions in RTOHQ: The Magazine June - July 2008
http://www.rtohq.org/apro-rtohq-magazine-June-July-2008.html
Benefit Marketing Solutions
You might not think there’s much of a connection between University of Oklahoma football legends and federal rent-to-own legislation. But there really is a fairly strong connection—and its name is Benefit Marketing Solutions. BMS (www.benefitmarketingsolutions. com), is the rent-to-own industry’s leading provider of membership programs—rental addon products that allow dealers to extend benefits to customers for an additional fee. Benefits offered might include insurance protection on merchandise during its rental, warranty protection following its purchase or money-saving opportunities wherever customers might regularly spend, from the grocery store to the doctor’s office. BMS currently serves about 65 percent of America’s rent-to-own industry, marketing its packages through approximately 4,500 stores nationwide, via 200 or so dealers. Next year, BMS founders will celebrate a 20-year partnership with rent-to-own.
For the past 15 years, the company has been involved in legislative grassroots efforts at the national level, advocating for the RTO industry. Here’s where OU football comes into the picture: the business, originally known as Foresight, was co-founded by Danny Wright, still the company’s CEO, and Steve Owens, famed OU running back and 1969 Heisman Trophy winner. The pair worked together to persuade Republican U.S. Representative J.C. Watts Jr. to support the Consumer Rental-Purchase Agreement Act, federal legislation to protect both the RTO industry and its customers. Their in? Watts had been a much-celebrated quarterback for—you guessed it—the University of Oklahoma. “J.C. already knew us, trusted us and was open to what we had to say,” Wright recalls. “It wasn’t hard because we already had a relationship with him involving a great deal of trust and if what you’ve got to say is a good thing and makes sense, then it’s not difficult to get involvement.” Wright and Owens not only secured Watts’ support, but the congressman agreed to be the first Republican to lead sponsorship of a rent-to-own bill. Confident with that success, Owens and Wright traveled to Capitol Hill to lobby Oklahoma’s congressional delegation for a favorable definition-and-depreciation treatment as part of the Taxpayer Relief Act of 1997.
They were once again successful, perhaps due in part to a member of the delegation being— yep—another OU football great, Steve Largent. But BMS managers understand that such a soul-to-pigskin connection doesn’t always exist when it comes to gaining legislative yardage, so they depend upon other vital resources, such as good old-fashioned perseverance. “It is all about relationship,” BMS Executive Vice President of Sales & Marketing Susan Matthews says. “In order to create that relationship, you’ve got to stay with it. I may not be one of the more outspoken participants in a large meeting, but my determination helps make sure the deal gets sealed—both on the job and on the Hill.” Matthews is clearly passionate about the important role rent-to-own vendors play in the success of the industry as a whole. “We consider our involvement in getting this legislation passed equally as important to us, as vendors, as it is to rental dealers,” Matthews says.
And she speaks from experience when it comes to the relationship between dealers and vendors; her husband, Dan Matthews, is a rental dealer and president of the Texas Association of Rental Agencies. “What’s good for this industry is also good for us.” “I think a lot of people in the rent-to-own industry don’t realize how much progress has been made by APRO membership going up to Washington, D.C., each year,” BMS Senior Vice President and General Counsel Brad Denison says. “This industry has achieved more than many bigger industries. At BMS, we know that APRO’s Legislative Conference and continuing grassroots efforts are a valuable way to support the industry; that’s why we’re there.”
Health Reform Aside, Healthcare Industry Still Faces Major Challenges
Regardless of how reform legislation plays out, the health care industry still has stormy seas to navigate in the months ahead. Business intelligence technology and regulatory compliance will feature prominently among these navigational challenges.
Expect health information consultancies to benefit strongly, as payers and providers increasingly seek external advice.
Last week, Milliman, an actuarial consultancy, blasted a warning shot across the industry's bow. In its survey on ICD-10 readiness, it reported that 70 percent of respondents, mostly health plans, indicates little or no prepared action.
The International Classification of Diseases, or "ICD", is a coding system that connects the entire $2.5 trillion industry. Payers and providers use it to communicate on reimbursement and administrative transactions, as well as care delivery procedures, including documentation of a patient's visit, research activities, public health reporting, and quality reporting......
Continue Reading at
http://seekingalpha.com/article/183450-health-reform-aside-healthcare-industry-still-faces-major-challenges
One of Access Plans competitors found to be funded by apparent criminal hedge fund operation.
The Amacore Group, who I even posted about here, is being funed by this apparent criminal ponzi type hedge fund. I noted how much they were losing and wondered why this investor would keep dumping money into, well I think we see why.
This is a great read.
http://www.finalternatives.com/node/10148
Bill would cap max rent-to-own interest
This is the kind of bullshit that is taking America business down. The people are being made into such complete idiots who can't make any decisions on their own. This is only in Vermont, but still is a pathetic attempt to kill a legimate business practice. The State Senator clearly has zero understanding of what risk, is all about and why rent to own stores are the only way the poor can get the stuff this idiot says they are somehow entitled to have access to. This bill would quickly make sure they don't have access to it. Why not go to Best Buy and purchase the same stuff with a Best Buy credit card you ask? Because their credit is shot and nobody execpt rent to owns give them the ability to have the merchandise and such favorable terms. Oh, well, hopefully crap like this gets killed before it becomes law.
By BRUCE EDWARDS STAFF WRITER - Published: January 17, 2010
Jeanette White doesn't dispute the need for a business that serves Vermonters who can't afford to buy that flat-screen television, washer or sofa. But what White, a state senator from Windham County, objects to is what she regards as the questionable business practices of rent-to-own stores in the state.
White has introduced S.270, a bill that aims "to strengthen state regulation of the rent-to-own industry."
"What is important is that poor people have the access to the furniture, etc., but that they not be gouged with outrageous interest rates and unfair business practices," White said in an e-mail.
The bill requires that the rent-to-own installments cannot exceed the retail cash price, which is what that item would sell for on the date the consumer enters into the rent-to-own transaction. If the item is not offered for sale, then the price would be based on the estimated cash retail price.
The bill caps the maximum annual interest rate at 25 percent a year.
Rent-to-own stores would be prohibited from requiring periodic payments or fees totaling more than 150 percent of the retail cash price. If the merchandise is returned or repossessed, a consumer would be given at least 30 days to reinstate their rental agreement.
The rent-to-own industry is opposed to the bill and says rent-to-own stores have gotten a bad rap.
"We are always concerned when legislators want to come in and set price controls," said Richard May, public affairs director for the Association of Progressive Rental Organizations.
May took issue with White's bill which caps the annual interest rate at 25 percent. He said since stores rent merchandise there is no interest charged and the customer can return the merchandise at any time without penalty.
Critics like White, however, charge that exorbitant rental payments is the way rent-to-own companies get around existing laws that regulate interest rates that apply to other installment purchases.
May did acknowledge that rent-to-own is a more expensive way to acquire electronics, appliances or furniture but gain he said the customer is under no obligation to buy the merchandise.
"We make no bones about it, if you want to get the best deal, you go to Best Buy," he said. "If you want to make sure you're not obligated, you go to rent-to-own."
He said only a small percentage of customers that rent-to-own merchandise making weekly payments over a two-year period pay what amounts to double the retail price.
Low-income advocates support attempts to reign in rent-to-own business practices.
"This industry and the effective interest rates that they charge and people pay have a definite negative impact on low income people," said Erhard Mahnke, coordinator of the Vermont Affordable Housing Coalition.
Byron Stookey of Brattleboro Area Affordable Housing said while the Senate bill is well intentioned, a House bill that is expected to be introduced by Rep. Sarah Edwards, P-Brattleboro, would be more effective at regulating the industry.
According to the trade group, the rent-to-own industry is a $6.3-billion a year business with approximately 8,500 stores in the U.S. and Canada, serving 3.2 million households a year.
The two largest companies doing business in Vermont are Rent-A-Center and Aaron's.
The Vermont attorney general's office has received 15 complaints against Aaron's and 14 against Rent-A-Center over the last six years, said Jason Duquette-Hoffman, coordinator of the Consumer Assistance Program.
The most common complaints were defective merchandise, excessive estimate/charge and collection practices.
On a scale of A to F, the Better Business Bureau (www.bbb.org/us) gives Plano, Texas-based Rent-A-Center a nationwide rating of B. In explaining the grade, the BBB noted on its Web site that the company had "government action(s) against business."
Atlanta-based Aaron's received a C plus. The BBB noted that 653 complaints nationwide had been filed against the company. Neither company is accredited by the BBB. A company voluntarily applies for accreditation and met BBB standards.
White's bill mandates full and conspicuous disclosure of rent-to-own agreements, the amount and total number of periodic payments required for ownership, any additional fees. The bill also directs the attorney general's office to ensure that rent-to-own agreement are not predatory and adhere to existing laws including the federal Truth in Lending Act and Fair Credit Reporting Act.
Sandi Everett, director of the consumer assistance program, said while Vermont already has a rent-to-own disclosure rule on the books, White's bill appears to enhance the existing regulation by requiring more precise disclosure about the true cost of the merchandise.
Vermont Assistant Attorney General Elliot Burg said the attorney general's office has not taken a position on White's bill, which restricts the maximum effective annual interest rate to 25 percent and caps rent-to-own payments at 150 percent of the cash retail price of the merchandise.
White's bill has been referred to the Committee on Economic Development, Housing and General Affairs.
Company noted that subsequent to the close of the quarter (Sept 30th), it signed two contracts that are expected to contribute significantly to the division's revenue.
Those are selling memberhips similar to the ones they sell in Rent A Center to the 50 locations in the USA of Famsa. It is a rent to own store in traditionally Hispanic areas.
http://www.famsa-usa.com/EN/index.php?modulo_p=458
And Infinity Web Systems. Can't find much about them, so we will see.
More sites selling their memberships.
3 that look like company owned domain names selling the Alliance HealthCard
http://www.choicehealth.com/
http://www.ahcdental.com/
http://healthdiscountnow.com/
A service offered by memberhip
http://alliancehealthadvocate.com/
This is a quality comprehensive site selling a nice range of thier benefits
http://premiersavingcenter.com/
and another
http://www.chirohealthusaplus.com/
Lower left tab
http://www.floridabenefits.com/
CVS Caremark Corporation (NYSE:CVS) offers the Health Savings Pass to customers at their 7,000 store locations, it is administered by Alliance Healthcard.
http://www.cvs.com/healthsavingspass/
CVS Caremark is the largest provider of prescriptions in the nation. The Company fills or manages more than 1 billion prescriptions annually. Through its unmatched breadth of service offerings, CVS Caremark is transforming the delivery of health care services in the U.S. The Company is uniquely positioned to effectively manage costs and improve health care outcomes through its more than 7,000 CVS/pharmacy and Longs Drugs stores; its Caremark Pharmacy Services division (pharmacy benefit management, mail order and specialty pharmacy); its retail-based health clinic subsidiary, MinuteClinic; and its online pharmacy, CVS.com. General information about CVS Caremark is available through the Investors section of the Company's website, at cvscaremark.com, as well as through the Newsroom section of the Company's website, at cvscaremark.com/newsroom.
State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company offers the Good Neighbor Advantage Card administered by Alliance Healthcard.
http://www.gnadvantage.com/
Do Rent-to-Own Stores Hurt the Poor?
Mises Daily: Thursday, August 03, 2006 by Thomas E. Woods, Jr.
This month, the Brookings Institution released a report that condemned rent-to-own stores for allegedly preying upon consumers. Last month, the Buffalo News, as part of a series on industries that supposedly preyed upon the poor ("preying upon" evidently meaning "offering a service no one else was providing"), denounced these stores for the allegedly exorbitant monthly payments they charged their customers.
These denunciations suffer from two major flaws. First, much of their anecdotal evidence points not so much to the wickedness of rent-to-own stores as to the silly and irresponsible spending patterns of people who should watch their money more responsibly – a character flaw for which these stores are not to blame. Second, they fail to acknowledge the indispensable service that these stores provide to poor people with bad credit histories who cannot acquire the substantial items they need on any terms anywhere else.......
Continue reading at http://mises.org/story/2261
Found another Rent to Own offering their products
Best Way Rent to Own, 74 stores across America. This is page on their site selling their BestCare Plus Program
http://www.bestwayrto.com/plus/
Compilation of websites selling their products and services.
Wholesale Division (Benefit Marketing Solutions)
http://benefitmarketingsolutions.com/
Their main contract is throught Rent-A-Center (NASDAQ:RCII)
http://racbenefitsplus.com/
Retail Division (Access Plans USA)
http://www.accessplansusa.com/
The Alliance HealthCard is the original and brings in the most revenue.
http://alliancehealthcard.com/
These sites sell discount memberships through "Protective Marketing Enterprises" and "The Capella Group"
http://www.usahealthcaresavings.com/
http://www.healthcardnow.com/
http://www.amerivalueplan.com/
http://www.healthoptionsolutions.com/
http://www.careentree.com/
Insurance Marketing Division (America's Health Care Plans)
http://www.ahcpsales.com/
And there are many other third parties who sell Access Plans Inc. discount products and services through their own websites.
Our membership programs are sold to consumers primarily through retail, rent-to-own, financial and consumer finance clients. We are the largest membership plan provider in the specialty rent-to-own market space.
Our Wholesale Membership Programs enhance the customer experience and provide an additional revenue stream for our business clients. We develop programs to attract new customers and retain existing relationships.
We provide value-added plans that can be tailored to fit marketers’ needs and complement existing revenue sources. This creates a “win/win” scenario for our clients: a happier customer base and a healthier bottom line.
Our membership plans can feature any or all of the following:
Product Protection
Discounts on Medical & Other Healthcare Services
Restaurant, Food, Shopping and Entertainment Discounts
Automotive Service Discounts
Supplemental Insurance
Product Protection features are specially designed for the rent-to-own industry and can include: leased property replacement, involuntary unemployment insurance to pay rental fees for a certain time period, loss and damage protection, paid-out product service protection, extended product service plans.
Some of our clients also provide their own add-in features, such as lease cancellation in the event of death, account reinstatement and points programs for on-time payments.
Products
Please go to our Benefit Marketing Solutions website http://www.benefitmarketingsolutions.com/ for more details on our programs and to contact us.
Product Protection
Discounts on Healthcare Services
Food, Shopping and Entertainment Discounts
Automotive Service Discounts
Supplemental Insurance
With thousands of licensed agents across the country, AHCP is one of the nation’s largest independent, agent-driven distributors of individual major medical health insurance.
AHCP has grown rapidly and is successful in recruiting and retaining agents by providing a plug-and-play platform with one-stop shopping and support, including:
An expanding product portfolio featuring multiple insurance carriers
Competitive compensation
Sales lead programs that tie agents to the company and encourage continuing sales
Sales incentives, including annual convention trips
Electronic systems to increase sales efficiency
24/7 training tools
Sales support from trained professionals
Products
Please go to our AHCP website http://www.ahcpsales.com/ for more details on our programs and to contact us.
Our portfolio includes insurance plans that families and small business owners seek:
Major Medical
HSA-Qualified High-Deductible
Catastrophic Care
Short-Term Medical
Dental
Limited Benefit
Critical Illness
Accident
Our Retail Plans are sold to consumers primarily through third-party marketers (telesales, direct mail and Internet vehicles).
These programs appeal to both uninsured consumers who are looking for a way to reduce their healthcare costs and insured or underinsured consumers who want to supplement their cost savings.
We help marketers maximize revenue from their client base, develop new client bases and embed new elements into their programs to enhance value and their bottom lines.
Most of these programs include any or all of the following:
Healthcare-related discounts
Patient Advocacy services
Restaurant, Food, Shopping & Entertainment Discounts
Automotive Service Discounts
Supplemental Insurance
Products
Please go to our Access Plans USA http://www.accessplansusa.com/ for more details on our programs and to contact us.
Healthcare Discounts
Physicians
Hospitals
Dental
Vision
Hearing
Chiropractic
Alternative Medicine
Services
Patient Advocacy
24-Hour Nurseline
Consumer Discounts
Restaurant, Food
Shopping and Entertainment Discounts
Automotive Service Discounts
Supplemental Insurance
Payment Protection
Take The Worries Out Of Paying Your Debt With Payment
Protection
http://www.paymentprotectiontips.info/
There are many times in life when unexpected things can happen. You could get laid off or made redundant from your job because the company is downsizing or you could have a medical problem that would not allow you to work for a certain amount of time. This can be a very stressful time on people because they have to worry about how they are going to pay their bills. There is payment protection insurance that you could get in order to take this worry out of your mind in case something does happen. This type of insurance policy cover would pay for the debt until you were able to get back on your feet.
You can visit many websites on the Internet in order to get more information about the companies the offer this type of insurance. Most companies that give you your mortgage when you are purchasing your home will give you the option of getting payment protection insurance. This is one thing that you should not decline only because nobody knows what the future holds. You just never know when something is going to happen that is going to prevent you from working and not being able to pay your bills.
In order to get this type of payment protection insurance cover, you have to be employed at a job that you work at least 16 hours a week and you have to be 18 to 65 years old. There are many insurance plans that have other different types of qualifications that you have to have but you will be able to find out all of this information before you even apply for the insurance. With this type of insurance, you will be making payments to the company that you have decided to use. When the time comes that you have to use the insurance plan, there are benefits that apply.
If you happen to lose your job and there will be a time period when you are not going to be able to make payments on the debts that you have, you will contact your insurance plan and create a claim. Once this is done, you will go into a benefit period when the payment protection plan will start making your payments for you. While you are in this period, your payments to the insurance plan will be put on hold so that is one less payment you have to worry about. You will also not acquire any finance charges, overlimit fees, or late fees.
Rent A Center gets upgraded today with $24 PPS target.
http://news.moneycentral.msn.com/provider/providerarticle.aspx?feed=BCOM&date=20100108&id=10970518
Access Plans (ALHC) Wholesale Division has a multiyear contract selling payment protection insurance to RAC customers resulting in over $15 million in revenue for 2009.
Two companies I found interesting for possible merger. Both have market caps of around $90 million. They're small insurance companies in a wide range of the business, even offering discount and supplemental services. Also both use independent agents to sell their products.
BUSINESS OVERVIEW of Access Plans Inc.
We are a leading provider of consumer membership plans, healthcare savings membership plans and a leading marketer for individual major medical health insurance products. In partnership with our wholesale and retail clients, we design and build membership plans that contain benefits aggregated from our vendors that appeal to our clients’ customers. Our major medical health insurance products are offered and sold through a national network of independent agents.
Our current operations are organized under three business divisions.
Wholesale Plans
Our Wholesale Plans Division provides our clients customized membership marketing plans that leverage their brand name, customer relationships and typically their payment mechanism, plus offer benefits that appeal to their customers. The value provided by our plans to our clients, includes increased customer attraction and retention, plus incremental fee income with limited risk or capital cost. By implementing these plans repetitively, our management team is uniquely qualified to efficiently assist our clients in achieving their goals, while avoiding operational and marketing pitfalls.
This division currently delivers membership plans to over 210 companies, including retail purchase dealers, insurance companies, financial institutions, retail merchants, and consumer finance companies. At September 30, 2009, our wholesale plans were offered at approximately 4,800 locations. Of the locations at September 30, 2009, 2,850 locations were Rent-A-Center company owned locations operated under their brand. Rent-A-Center, Inc., a Nasdaq (symbol RCII) traded company, is the largest rent-to-own company in the United States, Puerto Rico and Canada. Our revenue attributable to the contractual arrangements with Rent-A-Center was approximately $11.6 million, (30% of total revenue) during the fiscal year ended September 30, 2009, compared to $11.6 million, (55% of total revenue) during the fiscal year ended September 30, 2008. Total revenue for our Wholesale Plans’ division accounted for $19.5 million, (50% of total revenue) and $18.1 million, (86% of total revenue) during the fiscal years ended September 30, 2009 and September 30, 2008, respectively.
Our growth in wholesale plans revenue is dependent in significant part on an increase in the number of rent-to-own locations at which these plans are offered and the selling efforts at those locations. Although our revenue from wholesale plans continues to grow, we expect this revenue source to decline as a percentage of total revenues as we diversify our revenue sources. Although we have long-term contracts with Rent-A-Center and other rent-to-own companies, the loss of these contractual arrangements, especially with Rent-A-Center would have a significant adverse impact on our revenues, profitability and our ability to negotiate discounts with our vendors.
Retail Plans
Our Retail Plans’ offerings include healthcare savings plans and association memberships that provide insurance features. These healthcare savings plans are not insurance, but allow members access to a variety of healthcare networks to obtain discounts from usual and customary fees. We offer wellness programs, prescription drug and dental discount programs, medical discount cards, and limited benefit insured plans. Our members pay providers the discounted rate at the time services are provided to them. These plans are designed to serve the markets in which individuals either have no health insurance or limited healthcare benefits. Our revenue attributable to retail plans was approximately $12.8 million, (33% of total revenue) and $7.3 million, (35% of total revenue) during the fiscal years ended September 30, 2009 and 2008, respectively.
This division is comprised of the membership business of Alliance Healthcard, The Capella Group, Inc. (“Capella”) and Protective Marketing Enterprises, Inc. (“PME”). Capella and PME are subsidiaries of Access Plans USA which we acquired on April 1, 2009. PME also owns and manages proprietary networks of dental and vision providers that provide services at negotiated rates to certain members of our plans and other plans that have contracted with us for access to our networks.
Through our healthcare savings plans, we believe customers save an average of 35% on their medical costs and between 10% and 50% on services through other discount medical providers. These discounts for services that do not require the use of a medical PPO are more difficult to track because our members pay a discounted rate at point of service.
Operationally, this division utilizes two platforms: the “Affinity” system that is operated under a third party license to PME and the “Alliance” system that is a proprietary system we developed. These systems are utilized primarily for the following functions:
• Maintaining member eligibility
• Generate periodic reporting to contracted third party networks and other vendors
• Paying commissions
• Maintaining a database of providers and provider locator services
• Drafting member accounts and tracking cash receipts
In addition to our wholesale and retail offerings, certain clients may choose to include our benefits with their own membership plan offering. In these instances, the client bears the cost of marketing and fulfillment, and we provide customer service. These offerings are designed to enhance our clients’ existing offering and improve their product value relative to their competition and in some instances to improve their customer retention. While these plans provide lower periodic member fees, we incur limited implementation costs and receive higher revenue participation rates. Our additional distribution channels also include network marketing representatives, independent agents and consumer direct sales call centers. We also market to internet portals and financial institutions.
In order to deliver our membership offerings, we contract with a number of different vendors to provide various products and services to our members. The majority of these vendor relationships involve the vendor providing our members access to their network or providers or their locations and our members obtain a discount at the time of service. We have vendor relationships with medical networks, automotive service companies, insurance companies, travel related entities and food and entertainment consumer discount providers. Our vendors value the relationship with us because we deliver many customers to them without incremental capital cost or risk on their part and these relationships are governed by multi-year agreements and aggregated volume scaling.
Insurance Marketing
Our Insurance Marketing division offers and sells individual major medical health insurance products and related benefit plans, including specialty insurance products, primarily through a national network of independent agents. America’s Healthcare/Rx Plan Agency (AHCP) is the centerpiece of the Insurance Marketing division. AHCP distributes major medical, short term medical, critical illness and related health insurance products to small businesses, self-employed and other individuals and families through a network of approximately 5,800 independent agents. The primary insurance carriers that we represent include: Golden Rule Insurance Company, World Insurance Company, American Community Insurance Company, Aetna and Colorado Bankers.
We support our agents and recruit new agents via access to proprietary and private label products, leads for new sales, commission advance programs, incentive programs, including an annual convention, web-based technology, and back-office support. More specifically, our agent support and recruiting tools include:
• e-Agent Center — provides agents with access to real-time rate quoting, on-line licensing and contracting, insurance application submission, access to brochures and other marketing materials.
• Lead Distribution — we utilize an electronic system to connect agents with an on-line lead ordering and delivery system. Leads are also provided in certain situations as incentives to sell certain policies.
• Incentive programs — to assist with agent motivation and recruitment, we provide paid annual convention trips and periodic sales contests.
• Agent advances — with most of the major medical products we represent, agents are entitled to from 3 to 9 months of advance commissions either funded by AHCP or our insurance carrier partner. Our ability to grow this segment will depend, in part, on our continued access to working capital to fund these advances.
• Home office support — this includes agent and product training, marketing materials and agent communication. The training programs include both on-site and in-house schools, DVDs and webcasts covering product knowledge and sales techniques as well as market conduct and regulatory compliance issues. In addition, our support includes development and distribution of a wide variety of marketing materials including flyers, brochures, email blasts and letters. We also promote and inform our agents on important news and updates via a weekly newsletter.
Our strategy for the Insurance Marketing division is to:
• continue working with insurance carriers in the development of proprietary products for our agents to represent;
• expand the number of carriers that we represent for more product choice for customers and expanded geographic representation; and
• enhance our e-agent platforms in order to better serve our existing agents and improve attraction to new agents to sell plans we represent.
We generate most of our revenue in this segment from commissions paid to us by health insurance carriers whose health insurance policies we have sold. Our revenue attributable to commission and fee revenue was approximately $11.1 million and represented 97% of our total revenue in this segment for the fiscal year ended September 30, 2009. The remainder of our revenue is primarily attributable to interest earned on commissions advanced to our agents.
Operating results of the Insurance Marketing division are only for the six months ended September 30, 2009 following completion of our acquisition of Access Plans USA on April 1, 2009.
HISTORY OF THE COMPANY
We were founded in 1998 as a provider of discount medical plans with a focus on creating, marketing, and distributing membership savings programs primarily to the underserved markets in the United States. Our original programs offered attractive savings in approximately 16 areas of health care, including physician visits, hospital stays, chiropractics, vision, dental, pharmacy, hearing, and patient advocacy, among others.
On February 28, 2007, we completed the merger-acquisition of BMS Holding Company, Inc. and its subsidiary, Benefit Marketing Solutions, LLC (“BMS”). BMS is one of the largest membership plan providers to dealers in the rental purchase industry market space. While we continue to market our health oriented programs, this merger-acquisition has greatly expanded our business scope to include programs that offer discount savings on dining and entertainment, automotive, legal and financial, as well as insurance programs including leased property, involuntary unemployment, accidental death and dismemberment, and extended service plans.
BMS was formed in February 2002 and is a national membership program benefit organization that designs, markets, and distributes membership programs for rental-purchase companies, financial organizations, employer groups, retailers and association-based organizations. These membership programs are sold as part of a point-of-sale transaction or through direct marketing efforts. The point-of-sale membership plans are sold through more than 4,800 rent-to-own retail store locations in the U.S. and Canada.
As part of the merger-acquisition of BMS Holding Company, Inc., we also acquired BMS Insurance Agency, LLC (“BMS Agency”) that was formed in January 2005. BMS Agency is licensed to offer life, accident and health, and property and casualty insurance.
On April 1, 2009, we completed our acquisition of Access Plans USA, Inc., (“Access Plans USA”). Access Plans USA markets health insurance and develops and distributes consumer driven discount plans on a variety of health related services including medical, dental, pharmacy and vision care and manages its own proprietary dental and vision networks.
Few things from 10k
They have 85 employees
Our Wholesale Plans division currently delivers membership plans to over 210 companies, including rental purchase dealers, insurance companies, financial institutions, retail merchants, and consumer finance companies. Our Retail Plans are offered at over 7,000 retail locations. Our Insurance Marketing division currently sells the products of approximately 15 major insurance carriers.
The Retail division is comprised of the membership business of Alliance Healthcard, The Capella Group, Inc. and Protective Marketing Enterprises, Inc.
Growth for our commission revenue is based on continued recruitment efforts of agents and the resulting penetration of the individual, family and small business health insurance markets, driving a corresponding growth in the number of policies in force. We estimate that as of September 30, 2009 we had approximately 24,000 policies in force compared to an estimated 22,000 policies in force at April 1, 2009.
On November 18, 2009, the Company’s board of directors approved the prepayment of the remaining balance, net of a 10% discount, of the notes payable to related parties by December 31, 2009. Balance was $1.086 million.
Quick comparison with competition.
In basically the exact same business as Access Plans Retail Sales Division.
ALHC posted net income of .06 EPS for Q ending Sept 30th
Other company posted loss of .01 EPS for same period
ALHC did $13.9m in revenue
Other company $500k
ALHC net income of $1.3m for Q
Other company $500k loss
ALHC market cap $22m
Other company $5m ???????????????????????????????????????????
Few more sites ran by Access Plans through their subsidiaries, Protective Marketing Enterprises Inc and Capella Group Inc
http://www.healthoptionsolutions.com/
http://www.usahealthcaresavings.com/
http://www.careentree.com/
I might have found an America's Health Care Plans insurance agent with his own site out of Arizona.
Selling what they list on their site as products their agents sell.
http://www.healthinsurancewebquotes.com/
SENATE HEALTH CARE BILL FAILS TO ACHIEVE REAL REFORM
Bill will negatively impact small businesspeople, including many independent insurance agents and their customers.
WASHINGTON, D.C., Dec. 24, 2009 - The Independent Insurance Agents & Brokers of America (IIABA or the Big “I”), issued the following statement after today’s passage of the Senate health care reform bill.
“Although the Big ‘I’ still strongly opposes the current form of the health care reform bill, the Senate Democratic Leadership should be commended for making a number of significant improvements to the bill including the removal of a government-run health insurance plan (‘public option’),” says Robert Rusbuldt, Big “I” president & CEO. “Should the version of the bill that passed on a party-line vote today ever get signed into law, at least it includes provisions that will ensure independent insurance agents and brokers are able to sell health insurance plans both inside and outside of the newly created health insurance exchanges.”
“It is critical to note that the health care bill the Senate passed today fails to bend the cost curve for health insurance consumers, including millions of small businesspeople,” continues Rusbuldt. “As the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) report, dated November 30, 2009, points out: under this bill, small businesses will see little to no decrease in their monthly premiums and individuals will see an increase of 10-13%.”
“Health care reform must first and foremost address the rising costs of health insurance,” says Charles Symington, Big “I” senior vice president of government affairs. “For many small businesses, it comes down to laying off a few employees or purchasing health insurance for their workforce. This bill does nothing to shoulder the financial burden on America’s small businesses.”
"As the Senate and House move to conference, the Big ‘I’ urges Congress to reconsider what this bill will do to consumers and small businesses," says Rusbuldt.
Founded in 1896, the Big “I” is the nation’s oldest and largest national association of independent insurance agents and brokers, representing a network of more than 300,000 agents, brokers and their employees nationally. Its members are businesses that offer customers a choice of policies from a variety of insurance companies. Independent agents and brokers offer all lines of insurance—property, casualty, life, health, employee benefit plans and retirement products. Web address: http://www.independentagent.com/
Here are a few videos explaining "health insurance exchanges"
How the Health Insurance Exchange Really Works
WSJ.com has complete coverage of this new healthcare bill.
http://online.wsj.com/public/page/health-care-overhaul.html
Here is a possiblity, ALHC's insurance marketing division and its thousands of insurance agents cover Rent-A-Centers 17,000+ employees. You could see a deal where they put together packages for the rent to own business they sell discount products in. That would mean a lot of new revenue.
Can't wait to get the details of this bill, because I am not reading it.
Another possiblity is the bill allowing other forms of coverage, to count for small businesses. So Access Plans could put together discount memberships along with supplemental insurance and offer that to employers at much cheaper rates than traditional insurance.
Look at this trash the market is valuing more than ALHC
$56 million in annualized revenue based on 4th Q performance. If profit margins stay intact also we are looking $5.3 million profit for 2010 at .26 EPS
Acquistion was not completed and fully integrated until last half of year.
Still more to do in terms of getting the agents selling some of the retail products.
The ACHP (America's Health Care Plan Rx Agency) Saver Dental Plan provides cost-effective dental insurance programs for everyone. The plan is provided through membership in America's Health Care Consumer Association (AHCCA). These benefits are provided under the Group Dental Policy (Policy Form NDNGRP 04/06 IL) issued to AHCP and are subject to the exclusions, limitations, terms and conditions of coverage as set forth in the Certificate of Insurance.
We succeed by helping our members achieve the best possible savings on dental services. We accomplish this by offering quality programs and the very best in customer service.
All AHCP Dental Policies are sold by licensed insurance agents, contracted with America's Health Care Plan Rx Agency, Inc. (AHCP). AHCP Dental is underwritten by National Guardian Life Insurance Company.
AHCP Dental Plan agents receive compensation for promoting this program and for selling AHCCA memberships. The AHCP Dental Plans are not affiliated with any state or federal government agencies. Features and providers are subject to change.
AHCP is part of Alliance HealthCard, Inc., a publicly-traded company (OTC BB:ALHC.OB). Through this product line and many others, AHCP can meet the full range of consumer needs for health insurance and non-insurance healthcare solutions. To learn more about AHCP, please visit our website at www.AHCPsales.com.
A few possible M & A candidates, I found. This is me, nothing from company
First every company who belongs to the Consumer Health Alliance is a possibility. http://consumerhealthalliance.com/site/page/pg3075.html
InsWeb Corp. (NASDAQ: INSW), a leading online insurance marketplace
With their newly acquired insurance marketing division, something like this could really give their guys the advantage. The healthcare bill could screw a company like this. The whole "exchange" thing could mean insurance marketing could die, not sure how that will work. They are losing money quarterly, but might be able to sell off a few things like they did with last merger and start to turn a profit on INSW's $8m quarterly revenue.
NHPR, National Health Partner. Even thought they are a horrible company, investor wise, they don't take on debt, only issue shares. They did post 500k + revenue last Q, so if they could intergrate opterations, maybe ALHC could turn a profit on them. Also they would probably go cheap.
AP: What's in health care proposals for 5 Americans
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5gyNWjZ4gE6rGJCBOMqUvKlhhi3PgD9CMQV0G0
This first one will sound alot like me in a few months. Minus the unemployment. "Chronic lung condition" is what exactly?
Only I will get a the cheapest catastrophic coverage along with some supplemental stuff Access Plans offer, but the kicker is I have plenty of money to pay for the deductible and premiums.
Deal on health bill is reached
By Shailagh Murray and Lori Montgomery
Washington Post Staff Writer
Sunday, December 20, 2009; A01
http://www.campaignforliberty.com/wire.php?view=9384
Senate Democrats said Saturday that they had closed ranks in support of legislation to overhaul the nation's health-care system, ending months of internal division and clearing a path for quick Senate passage of President Obama's top domestic policy priority.
Majority Leader Harry M. Reid (D-Nev.) secured the pivotal 60th vote after acceding to the demands of Sen. Ben Nelson (D-Neb.) for tighter restrictions on insurance coverage for abortions, along with increased federal aid for his home state and breaks for favored health-care interests.
"Change is never easy, but change is what's necessary in America," Nelson said at a morning news conference, announcing his support as a snowstorm raged outside.
Speaking at the White House, Obama said it appears that a vote is certain on a bill that would provide coverage to more than 30 million uninsured Americans. "After a nearly century-long struggle, we are on the cusp of making health-care reform a reality," said Obama, who had dispatched senior administration officials to help lock down Nelson's support.
Republicans excoriated the bill as a threat to Medicare -- cuts to the program for the elderly would offset much of the cost -- and to the employer-based insurance system, which provides health coverage to most Americans.
"This bill is a monstrosity," said Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.). "This is not renaming the post office. Make no mistake -- this bill will reshape our nation and our lives."
GOP leaders, who have vowed to use every available tactic to keep the measure from advancing, invoked a rarely used Senate rule to require that the entire 383-page package of amendments introduced by Reid Saturday morning be read aloud on the floor, a process that consumed about seven hours.
But Republicans were running out of options in their quest to derail the overhaul. Securing Nelson's support allows Reid to maneuver the legislation through a complex parliamentary minefield without obstruction. A bloc of 60 votes is the exact number required to choke off the filibuster, the Senate minority's primary source of power, and the GOP's best hope of defeating the bill.
Unless the GOP yields and the vote comes sooner, the bill is expected to pass in a final Senate vote at 7 p.m. on Christmas Eve. Negotiations to merge the bill with the House version would begin early next month.
Many liberals, however, were bitterly disappointed with the bargains Reid struck to win support from moderates in his caucus, any member of which could demand alterations in exchange for his or her support.
Democratic leaders dropped a government insurance option and the idea of expanding Medicare to younger Americans. Reid also omitted language that would have eliminated the federal antitrust exemption for health insurers -- another nonstarter for Nelson.
Savings forecast
Congressional budget analysts reported Saturday that the revised package would not worsen the nation's fiscal situation, as GOP critics have warned. The analysts said the updated Senate bill would spend $871 billion over the next decade to extend coverage to the uninsured by dramatically expanding Medicaid and by offering federal subsidies to those who lack affordable coverage through employers.
Those costs would be more than covered by nearly $400 billion in new taxes over the next decade and by nearly $500 billion in spending reductions, primarily cuts to Medicare, the federal health program for people 65 and older. All told, the package would reduce federal budget deficits by $132 billion by 2019, according to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office.
Over the long term, the analysts predicted, the package could reduce budget deficits even more sharply, slicing as much as $1.3 trillion from projected deficits between 2019 and 2029. That would represent a significant improvement in long-run savings compared with the bill approved by the House and a measure previously crafted by Reid.
Democratic leaders worked for days to hammer out a deal with Nelson. They reached a tentative agreement late Friday night. Under the deal, states could choose to prohibit abortion coverage in plans offered through insurance exchanges that the bill would set up for people who lack coverage through their jobs. The compromise is less restrictive than the abortion language contained in the House bill.
Nelson also secured full and permanent federal funding for his state to extend Medicaid eligibility to everyone below 133 percent of the federal poverty level. The bill would require all states to do so, but Nebraska alone would not be required to pay a portion of the additional cost after 2016. And he won concessions for some nonprofit insurers and for providers of supplemental Medicare coverage from a new insurance tax, and he was able to roll back cuts to health savings accounts.
Other Democrats also won important changes. Reid added $10 billion for community health centers to provide services to low-income people. That funding had been a top priority for Sen. Bernard Sanders (I-Vt.), a liberal champion of the public option.
Insurance provisions
The revised Senate bill would require every American for the first time to obtain insurance or face a financial penalty for failing to do so. Those without access to affordable coverage through an employer would be eligible to apply for federal subsidies and shop for coverage in the new state-based exchanges, starting in 2014.
The legislation would allow private firms for the first time to offer insurance policies to all Americans across state lines on the exchanges. Those plans would be negotiated through the Office of Personnel Management, which handles health coverage for federal workers and members of Congress.
Starting immediately, insurers would be barred from denying coverage to children with preexisting conditions. A total ban on the practice would take effect in 2014. Lifetime limits on coverage would be banned, and annual limits would be restricted until 2014, when they, too, would be banned entirely.
Insurers would be required to justify rate increases, and patients would have the right to appeal denials of claims to an independent state board. All insurance companies would be required to spend at least 80 cents of every dollar they collect in premiums on delivering care to customers.
All but the smallest employers would face fines of as much as $750 per worker if even one employee sought federal help to buy a policy. But at the behest of other Democratic skeptics, including Sens. Mary Landrieu (La.) and Blanche Lincoln (Ark.), Reid made changes to offer additional assistance to small businesses.
To appease fiscal conservatives, Reid strengthened cost-containment provisions by expanding the scope of an independent Medicare advisory board, empowering it to implement cuts if costs grow faster than an inflation-based target after 2019.
The package would rely on nearly $400 billion in new taxes, including a 10 percent tax on indoor tanning salons to be paid by the customer, and an increase in the Medicare payroll tax for people earning more than $200,000 a year and families earning more than $250,000.
And the majority leader rewrote a proposed fee on insurance companies to exempt nonprofit firms that spend at least 92 percent of premiums on medical service, a change that would benefit firms in Michigan and Nebraska. That change, made at the request of Nelson and Sen. Carl M. Levin (D-Mich.), seeks to identify and reward "good actors," Senate aides said.
Sector averages
Price/Earnings 15.6x
Price/Sales 1.3x
ALHC
Price/Earnings 5.53x
Price/Sales .57x
S&P Industry Report
Dec 19, 2009
Our fundamental outlook for the health care services sub-industry for the next 12 months is neutral. Our outlook is based on the wide variety of services, the different prospects of each, and our view that each should be considered separately. However, we think most services, including home health care, rehabilitation services, clinical laboratory services and dialysis, will continue to benefit from favorable demographic trends.
We are optimistic on clinical labs as we see continued price gains mainly on more tests per requisition. Although we see continued softness in employee-related drug testing as weak employment markets adversely affect volume, we believe the level of decline is moderating. Meanwhile, labs have benefited from an increase in tests per requisition, and we are encouraged by the increase in esoteric/genomic tests, which, in our opinion, should spur revenue growth beyond low to mid-single digit levels. We think clinical labs will continue to seek acquisitions to supplement organic growth, but, in our view, the number of potential sizable acquisitions is limited. We also think potential health care reform would be positive for the industry as we expect increased volume, although partially offset by potentially lower reimbursement and a new tax.
We are neutral on the dialysis group, as reimbursement rates have been under pressure while increased Heparin costs could pressure margins. However, we view the proposed bundled dialysis payment rates announced in September 2009, which would result in rate cuts of about 4.1% if implemented immediately or about 3.1% if implemented over four years, as manageable and removing some anxiety surrounding the group. We are becoming more favorably inclined toward respiratory therapy services. We believe that while Medicare reimbursement issues may continue to pressure sales growth, the impact on revenues could be mitigated through expense management and market share gains.
Our positive opinion on pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs), which help managed care organizations, governments and employers control drug spending, is based mainly on valuation. While the soft economy has reduced pharmaceutical consumption, we believe it is spurring generic drug utilization, which is a positive for PBM profitability. We also think PBMs should benefit under President Obama, given his support for eprescribing, generic drug utilization and an approval pathway for biogenerics.
Year to date through December 11, the S&P Health Care Services sub-industry index rose 37.2%, following a 19.3% decline in 2008, while the S&P 1500 grew 23.0%, after dropping 38.2% in 2008.
--Phillip Seligman
List of Management and Board
http://www.reuters.com/finance/stocks/companyOfficers?symbol=ALHC.OB&WTmodLOC=C4-Officers-5
Wright, Danny 57 2007 Chairman of the Board, Chief Executive Officer; CEO of Benefit Marketing Solutions
McKeown, Rita 55 Chief Financial Officer, Treasurer
Wimberley, Brett 46 2007 Chief Operating Officer, Director; Chief Operating Officer of Benefit Marketing Solutions
Garces, Robert 59 2009 Executive Vice President
Kiser, Thomas 45 2009 Executive Vice President
Matthews, Susan 50 2009 Executive Vice President; President of Benefit Marketing Solutions
Denison, Bradley 48 Senior Vice President, General Counsel, Secretary
Huguelet, David 49 2005 Senior Vice President - New Business Development
Gerdes, Larry 60 2001 Director
Simonelli, John 62 2008 Director
Kidd, Mark 42 2008 Director
Hill, J. French 51 2009 Director
Cleveland, Russell 70 2009 Director
Lastest on Senate bill from Reuters
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSN1922878620091219
About AHCP
America's Health Care/Rx Plan Agency, Inc. (AHCP), an independent insurance producer, is a national distribution channel, specializing in distributing economically-priced group medical plans for individuals and small employers.
AHCP’s objective is to provide products that are easy to understand and that meet the health insurance needs of individuals and families at affordable prices.
For agents who join our program, AHCP provides a unique support system with quick and quality service. AHCP features “webtronic” business processing---allowing agents to increase their efficiency and enhance the service they provide to their clients.
Access Plans Reports Fiscal 2009 Fourth Quarter and Year-End Results
Fourth Quarter EPS of $0.06; Full Year EPS of $0.19
NORMAN, OK--(Marketwire - 12/11/09) - Access Plans, Inc. (OTC.BB:ALHC - News), a leading membership and insurance marketing company, today announced financial results for its fiscal fourth quarter and year ended September 30, 2009. Fiscal 2009 results reflect the Company's acquisition of Access Plans USA, completed on April 1, 2009, and higher share count resulting from the transaction.
On December 8, 2009, the Company announced that as the result of a reincorporation merger, it changed its corporate name from Alliance HealthCard, Inc. to Access Plans, Inc. which better reflects the Company's broadened scope of services. Pending final approval, the Company also plans to implement a change of its stock trading symbol.
Revenues for the fiscal 2009 fourth quarter increased to $13.6 million compared to $5.5 million in the prior-year period primarily as a result of the acquired Access Plans USA operations. Operating income was $1.1 million versus $1.4 million in the prior-year period which reflected the impact of the acquired Access Plans USA operations as well as higher claims expense in Wholesale Plans. Net income for the period was $1.3 million versus $0.8 million in the year ago period primarily related to a deferred tax benefit. On a per share basis, earnings were $0.06 versus $0.05 per diluted share in last year's fourth quarter. As a result of the Access Plans USA acquisition, the Company had 21.6 million shares outstanding at September 30, 2009, versus 14.8 million shares at the end of last year's fourth quarter.
For the fiscal 2009 full year, revenues were $39.1 million compared to $20.9 million in the prior year. Operating income was $4.3 million versus $4.9 million in the prior year. Net income for fiscal 2009 was $3.4 million versus $2.7 million. On a per share basis, earnings were $0.19 versus $0.18 per diluted share in fiscal 2008.
"Fiscal 2009 was a transformational year for the Company as we successfully enhanced and expanded our operations through the Access Plans acquisition and integration," commented Danny Wright, Chief Executive Officer. "In the fourth quarter, we continued to realize additional efficiencies resulting from the acquisition and consolidation of our Atlanta call center operation into the Irving, Texas location. This will result in significant annualized savings going forward."
Mr. Wright continued, "Despite market challenges, we were able to maintain positive results in the fourth quarter and position the business for more profitable, long-term growth. We are actively pursuing opportunities to cross-sell our expanded suite of services, particularly our membership and insurance offerings geared towards the individual healthcare market and are currently negotiating a significant reduction in network costs."
Wholesale Plans
Revenues for the Wholesale Plans Division in the fiscal 2009 fourth quarter were comparable to the prior-year period at $4.8 million, or 35% of total revenues. For the full year, Wholesale Plans revenues were $19.5 million compared to $18.1 million in fiscal 2008. Profitability for the division in the fourth quarter continued to be impacted by higher claims expense on certain product protection programs related primarily to increases in the national unemployment rate. As a result, operating income in the fourth quarter declined to $172,000 from $1.2 million in the prior-year period. For the full year, operating income for the division was $2.0 million versus $4.2 million in the prior fiscal year. As the number of Americans losing jobs has declined, the Company has begun to experience an initial decline in the costs associated with its involuntary unemployment expenses.
Retail Plans
Revenues for the Retail Plans Division in the fiscal 2009 fourth quarter, increased to $4.1 million, or 30% of total revenues, prior to inter-company eliminations, versus $1.9 million in the prior-year period. The increase was attributable primarily to the acquired Access Plans USA operations which expanded the Company's discount health membership offerings. For the full fiscal year, revenue increased to $12.8 million, prior to inter-company eliminations, compared to $7.3 million in the prior year.
Operating income for the division in the fourth quarter increased to $.9 million compared to $.5 million in the prior-year period. For the full year, operating income was $2.7 million versus $1.6 million. The Company noted that subsequent to the close of the quarter, it signed two contracts that are expected to contribute significantly to the division's revenue.
Insurance Marketing
Insurance Marketing Division revenues in the fiscal 2009 fourth quarter were $5.8 million, or 43% of total revenues, an increase of 2% on a sequential basis from fiscal 2009 third quarter revenues. Operating income improved from $.1 million to $.4 million reflecting improved margins and improved operational efficiencies. The Insurance Marketing Division comprises the America's Health Care Plans (AHCP) operations acquired as part of the Access Plans USA acquisition. As a result, there are no comparable results from the prior-year period.
Other Matters
Cash and cash equivalents and restricted cash totaled $4.6 million at September 30, 2009. Stockholders' equity reached $11.5 million from $3.3 million at September 30, 2008.
Subsequent to the close of the fourth quarter, the Company announced the settlement of the States General litigation matter and as a condition of the settlement repurchased 1,856,401 shares from the Trust of the former CEO of Access Plans USA. This reduces the Company's total shares outstanding to 19,777,304 shares.
Mr. Wright concluded, "As we move into fiscal 2010, we see several opportunities to drive improved performance and profitable growth in all three businesses. Wholesale Plans remains fundamentally sound with signs of stabilization in claims expense, Retail Plans is expected to benefit from the addition of two new accounts, and Insurance Marketing offers us tremendous growth potential as we strengthen our value proposition to our selling agents and pursue new distribution channels to better address Americans that have struggled with healthcare costs."
Conference Call and Webcast Information
Access Plans will host a conference call today, December 11, at 10:00 a.m. ET. To access the conference call, please dial 877-869-3847 (U.S.) or 201-689-8261 (international) approximately 10 minutes prior to the start of the call. The conference call will also be available via live webcast under the Investor Relations section of the Company's website, www.accessplans.com.
If you are unable to listen to the live call, a replay will be available through December 18, 2009, and can be accessed by dialing 877-660-6853 (U.S.) or 201-612-7415 (international). Callers will be prompted for replay account number 355# followed by conference ID number 339651#. An archived version of the webcast will also be available under the Investor Relations section of the Company's website, www.accessplans.com.
About Access Plans, Inc.
Access Plans, Inc. (OTC.BB:ALHC - News) is a leading membership and insurance marketing company with three complementary distribution channels offering multiple opportunities for growth. The Wholesale Plans Division specializes in turnkey, private label membership benefit plans offered through retail outlets including rent-to-own centers. The Retail Plans Division markets healthcare-related discount products and services to consumers through third-party marketers. Program components in both membership plan divisions range from medical, dental and pharmacy discounts to grocery, restaurant, automotive, travel and other consumer discounts. The Insurance Marketing Division comprises America's Health Care Plans (AHCP), one of the nation's largest independent agent networks for distributing individual major medical health insurance. For more information, please visit: http://www.accessplans.com/
For example ALHC vs MFGD
MFGD is sitting at $48M market cap vs $ALHC 20M
ALHC show net income of $1.3M in 4th Q and $3.4M net income fiscal 2009, revenue over $39M
MFGD net loss of $1M in 3rd Q on $6.8M revenue.
ALHC doubled revenue in 2009 and have over $4M cash, looking for M&A candidates.
MFGD is losing money and has shown half the sales.
It just goes to show how irrational and speculative the markets can be.
ALHC will see its day soon!
CEO going to New York next week to talk to possible investors!
He makes statement on the Conference call on 4th Q and fiscal 2009 numbers. Listen here, toward very end of call. http://www.b2i.us/External.asp?L=I&from=du&ID=54300&B=1595
NOTE music plays for first 20 minutes before it begins.
Also their unemployment claims are starting to turn over. That has been a 500k hit per quarter for most of 2009.
Calling center in Atlanta being consolidated to Dallas saving 200k per year.
They benefit from whatever comes out of Obamacare, the ACHP Americas Health Care Plans, is set up perfect to benefit from getting the 40+ million people on the insurance rolls.
Again, solid numbers .19 EPS for 2009
Access Plans Reports Fiscal 2009 Fourth Quarter and Year-End
Access Plans, Inc. (OTCBB: ALHC), a leading membership and insurance marketing company, today announced financial results for its fiscal fourth quarter and year ended September 30, 2009. Fiscal 2009 results reflect the Company's acquisition of Access Plans USA, completed on April 1, 2009, and higher share count resulting from the transaction.
On December 8, 2009, the Company announced that as the result of a reincorporation merger, it changed its corporate name from Alliance HealthCard, Inc. to Access Plans, Inc. which better reflects the Company's broadened scope of services. Pending final approval, the Company also plans to implement a change of its stock trading symbol.
Revenues for the fiscal 2009 fourth quarter increased to $13.6 million compared to $5.5 million in the prior-year period primarily as a result of the acquired Access Plans USA operations. Operating income was $1.1 million versus $1.4 million in the prior-year period which reflected the impact of the acquired Access Plans USA operations as well as higher claims expense in Wholesale Plans. Net income for the period was $1.3 million versus $0.8 million in the year ago period primarily related to a deferred tax benefit. On a per share basis, earnings were $0.06 versus $0.05 per diluted share in last year's fourth quarter. As a result of the Access Plans USA acquisition, the Company had 21.6 million shares outstanding at September 30, 2009, versus 14.8 million shares at the end of last year's fourth quarter.
For the fiscal 2009 full year, revenues were $39.1 million compared to $20.9 million in the prior year. Operating income was $4.3 million versus $4.9 million in the prior year. Net income for fiscal 2009 was $3.4 million versus $2.7 million. On a per share basis, earnings were $0.19 versus $0.18 per diluted share in fiscal 2008.
"Fiscal 2009 was a transformational year for the Company as we successfully enhanced and expanded our operations through the Access Plans acquisition and integration," commented Danny Wright, Chief Executive Officer. "In the fourth quarter, we continued to realize additional efficiencies resulting from the acquisition and consolidation of our Atlanta call center operation into the Irving, Texas location. This will result in significant annualized savings going forward."
Mr. Wright continued, "Despite market challenges, we were able to maintain positive results in the fourth quarter and position the business for more profitable, long-term growth. We are actively pursuing opportunities to cross-sell our expanded suite of services, particularly our membership and insurance offerings geared towards the individual healthcare market and are currently negotiating a significant reduction in network costs."
Wholesale Plans
Revenues for the Wholesale Plans Division in the fiscal 2009 fourth quarter were comparable to the prior-year period at $4.8 million, or 35% of total revenues. For the full year, Wholesale Plans revenues were $19.5 million compared to $18.1 million in fiscal 2008. Profitability for the division in the fourth quarter continued to be impacted by higher claims expense on certain product protection programs related primarily to increases in the national unemployment rate. As a result, operating income in the fourth quarter declined to $172,000 from $1.2 million in the prior-year period. For the full year, operating income for the division was $2.0 million versus $4.2 million in the prior fiscal year. As the number of Americans losing jobs has declined, the Company has begun to experience an initial decline in the costs associated with its involuntary unemployment expenses.
Retail Plans
Revenues for the Retail Plans Division in the fiscal 2009 fourth quarter, increased to $4.1 million, or 30% of total revenues, prior to inter-company eliminations, versus $1.9 million in the prior-year period. The increase was attributable primarily to the acquired Access Plans USA operations which expanded the Company's discount health membership offerings. For the full fiscal year, revenue increased to $12.8 million, prior to inter-company eliminations, compared to $7.3 million in the prior year.
Operating income for the division in the fourth quarter increased to $.9 million compared to $.5 million in the prior-year period. For the full year, operating income was $2.7 million versus $1.6 million. The Company noted that subsequent to the close of the quarter, it signed two contracts that are expected to contribute significantly to the division's revenue.
Insurance Marketing
Insurance Marketing Division revenues in the fiscal 2009 fourth quarter were $5.8 million, or 43% of total revenues, an increase of 2% on a sequential basis from fiscal 2009 third quarter revenues. Operating income improved from $.1 million to $.4 million reflecting improved margins and improved operational efficiencies. The Insurance Marketing Division comprises the America's Health Care Plans (AHCP) operations acquired as part of the Access Plans USA acquisition. As a result, there are no comparable results from the prior-year period.
Other Matters
Cash and cash equivalents and restricted cash totaled $4.6 million at September 30, 2009. Stockholders' equity reached $11.5 million from $3.3 million at September 30, 2008.
Subsequent to the close of the fourth quarter, the Company announced the settlement of the States General litigation matter and as a condition of the settlement repurchased 1,856,401 shares from the Trust of the former CEO of Access Plans USA. This reduces the Company's total shares outstanding to 19,777,304 shares.
Mr. Wright concluded, "As we move into fiscal 2010, we see several opportunities to drive improved performance and profitable growth in all three businesses. Wholesale Plans remains fundamentally sound with signs of stabilization in claims expense, Retail Plans is expected to benefit from the addition of two new accounts, and Insurance Marketing offers us tremendous growth potential as we strengthen our value proposition to our selling agents and pursue new distribution channels to better address Americans that have struggled with healthcare costs."
Conference Call and Webcast Information
Access Plans will host a conference call today, December 11, at 10:00 a.m. ET. To access the conference call, please dial 877-869-3847 (U.S.) or 201-689-8261 (international) approximately 10 minutes prior to the start of the call. The conference call will also be available via live webcast under the Investor Relations section of the Company's website, www.accessplans.com.
If you are unable to listen to the live call, a replay will be available through December 18, 2009, and can be accessed by dialing 877-660-6853 (U.S.) or 201-612-7415 (international). Callers will be prompted for replay account number 355# followed by conference ID number 339651#. An archived version of the webcast will also be available under the Investor Relations section of the Company's website, www.accessplans.com.
About Access Plans, Inc.
Access Plans, Inc. (OTCBB: ALHC) is a leading membership and insurance marketing company with three complementary distribution channels offering multiple opportunities for growth. The Wholesale Plans Division specializes in turnkey, private label membership benefit plans offered through retail outlets including rent-to-own centers. The Retail Plans Division markets healthcare-related discount products and services to consumers through third-party marketers. Program components in both membership plan divisions range from medical, dental and pharmacy discounts to grocery, restaurant, automotive, travel and other consumer discounts. The Insurance Marketing Division comprises America's Health Care Plans (AHCP), one of the nation's largest independent agent networks for distributing individual major medical health insurance. For more information, please visit: www.accessplans.com.
I expect anywhere from .16 to .20 EPS for fiscal 2009. I hope to be pleasently surprised like last Q. A match of last would be good for me to double up on this one.
New website, name change has taken place.
Access Plans Inc.
http://www.accessplans.com/
This should be their revenue growth area in 4th Q.
AHCP(Americas Health Care Plan). CEO said last earnings call that they have about 3,000 inactive agents who they are trying to incentivise into selling.
Our licensed agents, who have an array of products available to them, specialize in sales of Major Medical insurance and HSA-qualified High Deductible insurance plans. AHCP provides our agents with proprietary and private label products and leading-edge web-based sales support, including:
Online real-time rate quoting
Online agent recruiting, licensing, and contracting
Online insurance application submission
Online lead ordering and delivery
Online access to brochures, applications, and marketing materials
AHCP provides a top quality lead and advance program for our agents.
Our AHCP Agent Resource Center provides agents 24/7 access to sales information, presentations and tracking of their business.
AHCP Products include: Major Medical, HSA-qualified High Deductible Plans, Dental Insurance, Critical Illness/Term Life, Accident Insurance, Short-term Medical, Simplified-issue plans, and specialty medical plans.
AHCP also offers its agents the opportunity to subscribe to the new Insurint™ quoting technology. Insurint is a proprietary, professional-grade web-based agent portal designed to aggregate real-time quotes from multiple health insurance carriers. The user-friendly platform provides the agent with the flexibility to tailor responses to a set of detailed questions about the health of the proposed insured and dependents and to generate an optimized quote. This is expected to lead to a higher percentage of submitted policy applications being issued, thereby enhancing the consumer experience, lowering the insurance carrier’s underwriting costs and improving the efficiency of the agent sales process. In addition, Access Plans has included in the Insurint platform its own limited benefit supplemental and dental insurance plans, which will be serviced by the company’s Consumer Plan Division.
For more information on AHCP, go to our website at: http://www.ahcpsales.com/
If you are interested in becoming a contracted agent with AHCP, click here http://ahcpsales.com/pdf/AHCP%20Recruiting%20Brochure%2008.pdf to review our recruiting brochure or call us at 877-228-8773
OpenCongress Summary of healthcare bill
This is the big health care reform bill in the House of Representatives that will be debated and voted on during the week of November 2nd. It is the final, reconciled version of the health care bill that was amended by three House committees over the summer. Broadly, it seeks to expand health care coverage to the approximately 40 million Americans who are currently uninsured by lowering the cost of health care and making the system more efficient. To that end, it includes a new government-run insurance plan (a.k.a. a public option) to compete with the private companies, a requirement that all Americans have health insurance, a ban on denying coverage because of a pre-existing condition and, to pay for it all, a surtax on individuals with incomes above $500,000.
Wiki Summary
Offical Summary - The Affordable Health Care for America Act (H.R. 3962) is the final, merged version of the health care reform legislation that the House has been working on for much of 2009. The bill contains a moderate compromise on the public option by requiring the HHS Secretary to negotiate provider reimbursement rates rather than having them tied to Medicare. The bill also would require all individuals to have insurance, establish a new health insurance exchange, require most employers to provide insurance, ban insurance companies from denying coverage because of pre-existing conditions and more.
Alliance HealthCard, Inc. Announces Officer Promotions
NORMAN, OK, Nov 05, 2009 (MARKETWIRE via COMTEX) -- Alliance HealthCard, Inc. (ALHC, Trade ), a leading membership and insurance marketing company, today announced the promotion of three of its senior officers.
Bradley W. Denison has been promoted to Executive Vice President of Alliance HealthCard, Inc. He also continues in his role as General Counsel and Secretary for the company. Denison joined the company in early 2006 as General Counsel of Benefit Marketing Solutions, LLC. Denison had formerly been Senior Vice President and General Counsel for Rent-A-Center (RAC), the world's largest rental company. During his 10-year tenure with RAC, Denison had oversight responsibilities for their membership program. Prior to his employment at RAC, Denison worked in private law practice and following RAC, managed retail businesses prior to joining Alliance. Denison has a B.S. in Business Administration and a Juris Doctor from the University of Kansas.
David E. Huguelet has been promoted to President of Access Plans USA, the company's Retail Plans Division. Huguelet joined the company in 2005 and has been Senior Vice President, New Business Development. He has over 20 years of experience in the financial services and insurance industries. He has held sales and marketing positions with a number of the leaders in the industry including Household Finance, American Bankers Insurance Group (now Assurant), AON and Protective Life. Huguelet has a B.S. in Business Administration from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, an M.B.A. from Barry University, and CLU and CPCU designations.
Robert Hoeffner has been promoted to Senior Vice President of Administration of Alliance HealthCard, Inc. Hoeffner joined the company in 2007 and has been Senior Vice President of Operations. He has 25 years of experience in building and executing strategic plans in high-growth service, hospitality, agency and franchise organizations. He has engineered and completed a number of successful mergers and acquisitions and has also successfully implemented change initiatives to improve the customer experience and increase profitability. Hoeffner has a B.S. in Education from the State University of New York at Stonybrook.
Danny Wright, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Alliance, said, "Brad, David and Bob are highly skilled managers, and we are looking forward to their continued growth with the company. These promotions signify one further step in our consolidation and development process. Along with the recent announcements of Susan Matthews as President of Benefit Marketing Solutions (our Wholesale Plans Division) and Michael Shiomos as President of America's Health Care Plans (AHCP, our Insurance Marketing Division), we have now completed our senior management team for our three operating divisions. Brad and Bob work across these three divisions to enhance productivity and overall company performance."
About Alliance HealthCard
Alliance HealthCard, Inc. (ALHC, Trade ) is a leading membership and insurance marketing company with three complementary distribution channels offering multiple opportunities for growth. The Wholesale Plans Division specializes in turnkey, private label membership benefit plans offered through retail outlets including rent-to-own centers. The Retail Plans Division markets healthcare-related discount products and services to consumers through third party marketers. Program components in both membership plan divisions range from medical, dental and pharmacy discounts to grocery, restaurant, automotive, travel and other consumer discounts. The Insurance Marketing Division comprises America's Health Care Plans (AHCP), one of the nation's largest independent agent networks for distributing individual major medical health insurance. For more information, please visit: www.alliancehealthcard.com .
new symbol "ACPL" on Dec 1st.
They just filled the "reincorporate merger" paperwork. Going to change name to Access Plans, better name for what they do.
A one for one swap of shares, same AS, this is just a corporate move from Georgia to Oklahoma.
Better business climate there and most operations occur in Oklahoma. Saves them on legal fees, transportation and other stuff.
So change in sharestructure or operations. Can't wait for the new numbers, cutting overhead is always good for bottom line.
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Cash and cash equivalents and restricted cash totaled $5.2 million at March 31st 2010
Feb 03, 2010 Access Plans Reports Fiscal 2010 First Quarter Results | |
Jan 29, 2010 Access Plans, Inc. Schedules Fiscal 2010 First Quarter Conference Call | |
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Dec 11, 2009 Access Plans Reports Fiscal 2009 Fourth Quarter and Year-End Results | |
Dec 07, 2009 Alliance HealthCard, Inc. Changes Corporate Name to Access Plans, Inc.; Stock Symbol to Change | |
Nov 05, 2009 Alliance HealthCard, Inc. Announces Officer Promotions | |
Aug 18, 2009 Alliance HealthCard, Inc. Names Michael Shiomos President of AHCP, Its Insurance Marketing Division | |
Aug 13, 2009 Alliance HealthCard Reports Fiscal 2009 Third Quarter Results | |
May 14, 2009 Alliance HealthCard Reports Results for Second Fiscal Quarter 2009 | |
Apr 01, 2009 |
Feb 12, 2009 Alliance HealthCard Reports 19% Revenue Growth, 50% Increase in Net Income and Earnings per Share of $.06 for Quarter | |
Dec 30, 2008 Alliance HealthCard Reports 2008 Fourth Quarter and Year-End Financial Results | |
Nov 14, 2008 Alliance HealthCard, Inc. Announces Acquisition of Access Plans USA, Inc. | |
Aug 28, 2008 Susan Matthews, Alliance HealthCard EVP of Sales and Marketing Named Association of Progressive Rental Organizations' 2008 Vendor of the Year | |
Aug 27, 2008 Alliance HealthCard Announces the Move of Its Headquarters to Norman, Oklahoma | |
Aug 25, 2008 DentalPlans.com Adds Alliance HealthCard to Its Extensive Selection | |
Jul 31, 2008 Alliance HealthCard Reports Fiscal 2008 Third Quarter Results | |
May 06, 2008 Alliance HealthCard Reports Fiscal 2008 Second Quarter Results Company Reports Record Revenues with Operating Income Growth of 268% | |
Apr 28, 2008 ALLIANCE HEALTHCARD ANNOUNCES MAY 6, 2008 CONFERENCE CALL TO DISCUSS RESULTS FOR SECOND QUARTER FY 2008 | |
Feb 13, 2008 Alliance HealthCard Reports Fiscal 2008 First Quarter Results Gross Profit Increased 123% With Revenue 30% Higher Compared to Prior Year | |
Jan 22, 2008 Alliance HealthCard to Present in New York City at Friedland Investment Undiscovered Equities Conference | |
Jan 15, 2008 Alliance HealthCard Reports 2007 Fourth Qtr. and Year-End Financial Results | |
Nov 06, 2007 Alliance HealthCard Signs Agreement for Acquisition of HealthExtras Supplemental Benefits Business Unit | |
Aug 01, 2007 Alliance HealthCard Reports First Combined Operating Results with Benefit Marketing Solutions (BMS) | |
May 16, 2007 Alliance HealthCard 2Q Profit Rises 57 Percent | |
Mar 01, 2007 Alliance HealthCard Completes Merger with Benefit Marketing Solutions |
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