With the recently enacted federal healthcare law, businesses can expect significant changes in the health insurance landscape. What those changes will be and how they will play out on Main Street is not at all clear and will take time to be understood. Businesses of all sizes across America are wondering what it really means to them and their employees.

A recent article in USA Today by Rhonda Abrams, president of The Planning Shop (publisher of books for entrepreneurs), gave an  overview of the effects of the health care reform legislation on small businesses (“The Good and Bad in Health Care Reform for Small Businesses” March 26, 2010) from her perspective. 

According to Ms. Abrams, one good thing for small businesses are the tax credits starting with 2010 taxes.  Small businesses with 25 or fewer full-time equivalent employees that pay at least 50% of the health care premiums for their employees are to qualify for a tax credit up to 35% of their premiums.  The tax credit is to increase to 50% in 2014 if the business purchases insurance through the Small Business Health Options Programs, or “SHOP” exchanges.  The amount of the tax credit is dependent upon the number of employees and their average wages.  Ms. Abrams points out that the tax credit is NOT available to sole proprietors and that might cause business owners to consider changes in their corporate form. 

According to Abrams, the SHOP exchanges are to start in 2014.  These exchanges would allow businesses with less than 100 employees to pool their risk  and, hopefully, receive lower premiums than if buying on their own. 

The USA Today article goes on to note that self-employed persons are to qualify for a subsidy starting in 2014 to help purchase health care.  Individuals earning up to 400% of the poverty level would qualify for assistance.  At today’s poverty level, this means a family of four would qualify up to $88,200.

The downsides to the health care reform legislation, Abrams says, include no caps on health insurance premiums.  She predicts that health insurance companies will increase their premiums in the next few years as they look toward increased competition in 2014 due to the exchanges.  For those businesses with more than 50 employees, they must provide health insurance coverage for their employees or pay a fine starting in 2014.  Also, starting in 2013 the new law places new taxes on  small business owners including increased Medicare tax rates and an additional tax on capital gains, dividends and interest income. 

While the health care debate is not over and the devil is in the details of how the new law is actually implemented, changes are scheduled to start soon that could affect virtually every business, large or small. Take time to consult with your accountant or attorney so you can fully understand the new tax and legal implications of the health-care reform law for your small business. 

For more information, articles, training and online tools, visit Arvest's Small Business Resource Center.

The Board of Directors of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) approved an interim rule to extend for the second time the Transaction Account Guarantee (TAG) program to December 31, 2010.   Last year the program was extended to June 30, 2010. Under the TAG program banks are required to choose whether or not to opt-in to this program.  Arvest Bank continues to elect to opt-into the program, allowing all Arvest customers to receive full FDIC coverage for their account balances within a non-interest deposit account.  

Be wary of surveys which 'pop-up' on your screen when visiting your favorite websites.  Several customers have made us aware of "customer service" surveys which appear via a 'pop-up' window when accessing arvest.com and other websites.  A 'pop-up' window may appear on your screen either in front of or behind the website you are trying to view and can often appear even if you haven't clicked on anything.
 
In this current scam, survey participants are offered a reward in exchange for their opinion, and are prompted for payment card information to cover shipping and handling charges. Gifts and incentives can include watches, electronics or some other attractive reward.
 
Please be aware that these surveys are neither sponsored by, nor authorized by Arvest Bank and appear to be generated by 'ad-ware' software that may be installed on customers' computers. This software monitors browsing activity and displays advertisements and surveys related to certain popular Internet sites.  This type of software is sometimes installed along with games or browser 'tool bars' downloaded from the Internet.  If you have seen this type of pop-up on arvest.com or other websites, please consider referencing the information regarding "spyware" removal provided at www.onguardonline.com.  This Web site is sponsored by the Federal Trade Commission and other federal agencies.
 
Arvest Bank does conduct online customer satisfaction surveys and product research surveys, but they will never 'pop-up' on your screen unless you click a button on our Web site to take the survey.  Also, be aware that Arvest will never ask you to purchase anything or share personal data such as your social security number as a part of a survey.  Please notify us at reportfraud@arvest.com if you notice a suspicious survey.

Arvest Bank and Shred-it Arkansas regrettably announce that the Shred-A-Thon that was originally scheduled at its Mountain Home East branch on April 24, from 10:30 a.m. to 1 p.m will be postponed to Saturday, May 8th, from 10:30 a.m. to 1 p.m.  Due to the threat of severe thunderstorms on Saturday, Arvest and Shred-It Arkansas felt it would be best to postpone this event.

Arvest Bank and Shred-It Arkansas would like to invite the Twin Lakes residents to come join them on May 8th. As always, the Shred-A-Thon is open to anyone and is an environmentally friendly way to discard unwanted paper and sensitive documents in a secure manner. One hundred percent of all the paper collected is recycled. In lieu of charging to shred documents, they will be accepting donations for Baxter County Relay For Life. Also, anyone that donates to Relay For Life that day, will be registered to win the Arvest “Green” Gift Tote.

We hope to see everyone out at our new, rescheduled time on May 8!

Arvest Bank Fayetteville sent eight associates out to the Peace at Home Family Shelter to do some volunteer work during United Way’s “Live United” campaign.  Associates helped sort and organize a large storage shed, painted, and did some minor yard work at the facility.  Peace at Home Family Shelter was very happy for the help and Arvest associates enjoyed a day out of the office.

For more information about Peace at Home Family Shelter please click here. To donate items please visit the Peace at Home Thrift Store at  614 West Sycamore St. in Fayetteville.  

On April 10, 2010, Tulsa area employees participated in the American Heart Association Heart Walk, which kicked off at Veteran’s Park in Downtown Tulsa.  As in-coming chair for the 2011 Heart Walk, Arvest Tulsa President, Don Walker, helped cut the ceremony ribbon to begin the walk at 9:00 a.m.  To date, Arvest associates have raised over $22,000 for the AHA.

To learn more about the American Heart Association and how you can get involved in your area, click here!

We are excited to announce the addition of Bass Pro Shops gift cards to Arvest Rewards.  The addition of Bass Pro to the program follows other recent additions of Amazon.com and Zappos.com to the growing list of available retailers.

Use your Arvest debit or credit card for everyday purchases to accumulate reward points in one combined household pool.  This means you accumulate points faster and earn rewards sooner!  These two merchants are an exciting addition to the program, and join over 40 other retail, dining and travel options. 

As a reminder, it only takes 7,500 points to get a $75 gift card to one of the following merchants:

Shopping
Barnes & Noble, Bath & BodyWorks, Best Buy, Bloomingdale's, Borders, Dick's Sporting Goods, Dillard's,  Footlocker, iTunes, JCPenney, J.Crew, Kohl's, Lowe's, Macy's, Old Navy, Omaha Steaks, Sears, Target, The Home Depot, Toys R Us, Staples, Waldenbooks, Walmart

Restaurants
Applebee's, Bahama Breeze,  Chili's, Olive Garden, Outback Steakhouse, Red Lobster, Ruby Tuesday, TGI Friday's

Travel
American Airlines, AirTran, Avis, Best Western, Budget, Carnival Cruise Lines, Continental Airlines, Hyatt, JetBlue, Marriott, Northwest Airlines, Shell Gas Card, Southwest Airlines, Travelocity

Points are earned by using your enrolled Arvest debit cards and Arvest credit cards, the more you use your cards instead of checks or cash, the more points you can earn.  Be sure to tell the cashier to ring your transaction as a ‘credit’ anytime you use your debit or credit card to ensure you earn the most possible points.  For more information on Arvest Rewards, hit the website.  To sign up, visit or call a nearby Arvest Bank location.

Arvest Bank and Resource Technical Services, Inc.(RTS), have no affiliation whatsoever with any of the merchant award providers and carriers listed on this page, make no warranty of any kind, expressed or implied and assume no responsibility for fitness of purpose for these awards listed on this page and any award provider or carrier may be removed at anytime without notice. No merchant listed on this page is a sponsor or co-sponsor of this promotional program. Arvest Bank and RTS are not responsible for cancellation or any services and/or gift card/certificate refunds from any merchants or carriers that may cease operations. 
 

Baseball season is officially in full swing today in many Arvest markets including Tulsa, home of the Drillers! Thursday, April 8 marks opening day of the Tulsa Drillers 2010 baseball season at their new, state-of-the-art  home -  ONEOK Field.

The evening will begin with a ribbon cutting ceremony at the Oil Derrick entrance at Archer & Elgin, with gates opening to the public at 5:30 p.m.  In addition to several other exciting activities, country music star Tim McGraw will throw out the first pitch right before the Drillers take on the Corpus Christi Hooks at 7:30 p.m.

ONEOK Field is located at 201 N. Elgin in downtown Tulsa, bordering Interstate 244 just north of the Central Business District and adjacent to the Brady and Blue Dome Districts – Tulsa’s growing arts and entertainment districts. Game attendees can make their way into the stadium through Arvest Plaza. Here, patrons will find an Arvest ATM, Arvest popcorn machine and many other attractions.

Arvest also supports the Northwest Arkansas Naturals who play at Arvest Ballpark and the Oklahoma City Redhawks.  Tuesday nights are Arvest Customer Discount night at Arvest Ballpark, and Fridays are Fireworks night at Bricktown in Oklahoma City.

Baseball is a great family-friendly event and can be a very affordable entertainment value. So what are you waiting for? Take yourself and your family out to the ball game and we’ll see you there!