Employee Benefit News

Creating a culture of health to reap the true ROI of wellness programs

In the early 2000s, wellness was forecasted by national economists to be the next trillion-dollar business in the United States, and it's scheduled to hit this mark in 2012. There is now evidence of a delivered return on investment from 2:1 to 6:1 of every wellness dollar spent, which makes it a serious economic business strategy. Gina Payne, national director of wellness at CBIZ, joins EBN Associate Editor Lisa Gillespie to talk about best practices to create a culture of health at your workplace to advance these goals.

You can't spell bottom line without 'om': How to implement stress management programs

Looming deadlines, a troubled economy, foreclosures and layoffs are all reasons why employees may be feeling more anxious and stressed than ever before in the workplace. Dr. Albert Ray, physician director for patient education and health promotion for Kaiser Permanente in Southern California, joins EBN Associate Editor Lisa Gillespie to discuss the negative effects of stress on employees' health and workplace productivity, and what an employer can do to better manage stress in more positive ways.

Beating the spread: Understanding and eliminating spread pricing in pharmacy benefit plans

Terrance Killilea, vice president of IHM-clinical and fiscal integration, and Scott Haas (pictured), vice president of integrated health care metrics, both at Wells Fargo Insurance Services, talk with EBN Associate Editor Lisa Gillespie about the pervasive issue of spread pricing — a little-understood pharmacy benefit manager practice that pays a pharmacy a minor amount for a prescription, but charges the employer and policyholder a much higher price for that same drug. This higher amount is reflected in both the copay and billing to the employer. In an ever-increasing consumer-driven health plan market, the cost is passed on to the employee completely. Killilea and Haas go over why this is a problem, and what employers can do about it.

Exec gives a 'First Person' account of how to achieve success with employee communication

Bryan Brenner, founder and CEO of FirstPerson, an employee benefits service firm in Indiana, talks with EBN Associate Editor Lisa Gillespie about the role of social media and technology in educating company decision makers and employees about health care benefits and wellness strategies. FirstPerson recently launched a YouTube channel that allows users to learn of the latest trends in health care in an interactive way while serving as a crucial education tool, which he thinks could be utilized by any-sized company.

5 tips for achieving better absence management results

Michael Klachefsky is Standard Insurance Company’s national practice leader for the company’s Workplace Possibilities program, which helps employers prevent and manage employee absence and disability. In this segment of EBN's "Five Minutes With ..." he talks with Associate Editor Lisa Gillespie about employee absence and productivity challenges that employers are facing and what can be done to overcome them.

You never get a second chance to make a first impression

Polly and Doug White, a powerhouse couple who help companies improve their bottom line, talk with EBN Associate Editor Lisa Gillespie about how to effectively onboard new hires to give them a great first impression of your company -- hint: it doesn't involve hours of HR paperwork. Also, they address how to identify "curmudgeon buzzards" and shoo them away from new employees.

Best practices in communicating consumerism

Cindy Zanca, SVP of Corporate Synergies Group, talks with EBN Associate Editor Lisa Gillespie on how to change employee communications in the world of health care consumerism. For HR/benefits managers, these changes mean major savings through driving healthy behaviors such as screenings, preventive care and lifestyle changes.

Knowledge is power when it comes to understanding, leveraging provider cost disparities

Douglas Ghertner, president of Change Healthcare, talks with EBN Editor-in-Chief Kelley M. Butler about why cost disparities in medical and dental services exist and how benefit managers can help employees effectively navigate provider networks to use medical/dental benefit dollars in the best and most cost-efficient way.

Job candidates shouldn't ask about benefits, author says

Author Michael McIntyre talks with EBN Editor-in-Chief Kelley Butler and offers his view on shrinking employee benefits and why job seekers shouldn't even ask about benefits during an interview.

Packing heat on the parking lot: Fisher & Phillips partner outlines new Texas gun law

Michael Abcarian, a managing partner in the Dallas office at Fisher & Phillips LLP, discusses with EBN Editor-in-Chief Kelley M. Butler the details of a new Texas gun law that allows individuals to store handguns and ammunition in a locked vehicle on workplace parking lots. He also addresses the potential for similar legislation in other states.