(UPDATED MARCH 15, 2020) Allentown, PA: At Ideal Concepts, the health and well-being of our employees, agents, and clients is a top priority. This week, COVID-19 reached the county in which our headquarters are located. After careful consideration, we have made the decision to highly recommend that employees work remotely from home, to avoid unnecessary contact with others and hopefully help slow the spread of the virus.

Ideal Concepts would like to assure our partners, agents and clients that while many of our employees will be working from home for the foreseeable future, we have a COVID-19 Contingency Plan in place, and have the ability to maintain all operations as normal.

Please take a few minutes to read through this informational update about what we’re doing as a company to help prevent the spread of COVID-19, what we’ll do if it does impact our company, and other issues related to the virus:

Ideal Concepts’ COVID-19 Contingency Plan FAQs:

• As the number of COVID-19 cases continues to rise, and the threat of infection remains high, Ideal Concepts has highly recommended that employees stay home, and we've implemented elective remote working procedures for all employees.
• As a technology company, Ideal Concepts has always had the ability for our employees to work from home should disaster strike, and the COVID-19 is a prime example of us needing to execute that plan. Our Contingency Plan allows for no major interruption of any services we provide agents: that means marketing, commissions, licensing, sales, etc.
• Although we’ve utilized our contingency plan in single day events, an extended work from home situation hasn’t previously been necessary, and we’d like to ask for patience as employees switch gears.
• We appreciate your patience and continued loyalty during this tumultuous time.

Health Insurance Companies’ Reaction to COVID-19

You’ve probably already heard through the media, or through emails you’ve received, that the large majority of ACA carriers have offered to cover COVID-19 testing. There may be a few outliers who are not covering those costs; we’d like to suggest you reach out to your health carrier if you have any specific questions regarding testing costs.

Additionally, we’ve reached out to our Short Term Med, Hospital Indemnity, and Healthcare Sharing Ministries to ask questions regarding COVID-19 testing for your clients and will be communicating that information to agents and clients.

Also keep in mind that clients may find SureMed’s Teladoc benefit a useful resource if they are experiencing some symptoms and would like a quick professional recommendation if they should get tested. SureMed also offers Counselors by Phone for those who are experiencing anxiety due to COVID-19 news, and Nurse Hotline (under the Health Advocate Solutions benefit) as additional resources.

Lastly, we must all do our part in prevention...

The CDC recommends the following:

• Avoid close contact with people who are sick.
• Avoid typical greetings- handshaking, hugging, etc.
• Avoid touching your eyes, nose, and mouth.
• Wash your hands with soap and water for at least 20 seconds; especially after going to the bathroom, before
  eating, and after blowing your nose, coughing, or sneezing.
• Clean/disinfect your workspace and home regularly. (Think about all the things you touch in one day – doorknobs, light switches, cabinets, etc. And don’t forget about your phone!)
• If using hand sanitizer, it should contain at least 60-95% alcohol.
• Avoid traveling and being exposed to large groups of people.

Stay safe, wash your hands, cover your mouth when coughing/sneezing, don’t touch your face, and don’t panic! We will get through this together.

Thank you for your patience and continued support,

John Pequeno

President

Ideal Concepts, Inc.

Additional Resources:

• On social distancing (what it is, why it matters): NBC Link and Forbes Link
• On what "flattening the curve" means: Washington Post Link
• On what you can do instead of going to the movies, bars, restaurants, parties, etc.: CNN Link and Travel & Leisure Link
• On how you can cope with the additional stress and anxiety caused by the outbreak: Harvard Link and NY Times Link