Employee Benefit News

The Impact of Exchanges on Employer-Based Health Care

Join us as we explore the impact of private and public health insurance exchanges on employers in 2012 and beyond. Will employers bow out of the game and start sending their employees to subsidized state exchanges and private exchanges? Or will employers modify their contribution strategies to reduce costs, avoid penalties, and retain talent?

Topics of discussion include:

• What private exchanges will look like and how “defined contribution” will work for large and small employers
• Findings from bswift’s new 2012 study examining employer contribution levels and trends
• Employer trends in consumerism and wellness to control health care costs

Speaking panel:

• Mike Brewer, President, Lockton Benefit Group
• Don Garlitz, Executive Director, bswift Exchange Solutions

Technology curbs employee costs, improves efficiency

It may seem like science fiction, but telehealth technology is making real-life strides in curbing consumer health care costs while ensuring convenience and efficiency for patients.

Large companies push progressive benefits forward

Thirty-three percent of major employers offer transgender-inclusive benefits. This is five times more companies than last year, and a big part of the push came from the Corporate Equality Index, a series of guidelines from the Human Rights Campaign that measured employers on five criteria regarding benefits for transgendered workers: short-term leave, counseling by a mental health professional, hormone therapy, medical visits to monitor hormone therapy and surgical procedures, without any exclusions.

Dissecting DNA

Oncotype-DX is a genetic test for breast cancer that predicts the risk of recurrence. It costs about $3,500 and is covered by the majority of U.S. health plans. The test determines, based on the patient's genes and the genes of the cancer, the likelihood of the cancer coming back within 10 years. It can help the patient and oncologist figure out if they should treat the cancer with chemotherapy

Early induced pregnancies are costing your health plan

Something is costing your health plan a whole lot of money, and it's largely due to uninformed choice: early induced deliveries.

Managing and Protecting Your Employee Benefit Plans:

Successfully discharging your fiduciary duties requires time and effort. And knowing the rules is more crucial than ever. With the Department of Labor turning out new regulations — including new rules that change the landscape on fees as well as the definition of “fiduciary” — benefits professionals need to stay on top of these developments to stay out of trouble.

BNA draws upon veteran Department of Labor experts and experienced members of the BNA advisory board to describe and discuss new DOL regulatory and compliance requirements that directly affect how you manage your 401(k), health, and other employee benefit programs. You’ll learn:

• What are the new requirements?
• How can you meet them?
• What might happen if you don’t?

You’ll also get inside details on new fiduciary requirements … disclosure rules … and what you—as a plan fiduciary—must do to meet your obligations both to your participants and your company. Plus, you’ll get practical insights on new DOL regulations, both DOL and private ERISA litigation, and what you should do to protect yourself from a lawsuit.

Join us for this important and informative 60 minute complimentary web seminar – led by BNA advisory board member Sherwin Kaplan, Of Counsel at Nixon Peabody and a 23-year veteran of the Department of Labor – and ensure you and your plans are ready for the new year.

About the Panelists:

• Sherwin Kaplan, Of Counsel at Nixon Peabody
  Sherwin Kaplan is a 23-year veteran of the U.S. Department of Labor, having worked in Washington, DC, in both the Office of the Solicitor and the Pension and Welfare Benefits Administration. As deputy associate solicitor in the Plan Benefits Security Division, Sherwin had litigation, enforcement, and regulatory responsibility for ERISA-covered pension and health plans throughout the country and participated in virtually all significant ERISA litigation that involved the Department of Labor. He is a frequent speaker on ERISA subjects at bar association meetings, education seminars, and training programs and is often quoted in national employee benefit plan journals and magazines.

• Eric Paley, Partner at Nixon Peabody
  Eric Paley is a member of the firm’s Employee Benefits and Executive Compensation team within the Labor and Employment practice group. Eric focuses his practice on the law and regulations governing retirement plans (e.g., pension, profit-sharing, 401(k), and 403(b) plan compliance), welfare plans (e.g., group health plan, group insurance plan, cafeteria plan, HIPAA, and COBRA compliance), nonqualified deferred compensation plans and equity compensation plans. A significant portion of Eric’s practice also involves counseling retirement and welfare plan committees on their fiduciary responsibilities under ERISA.

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Top U.S. health systems announced, lower 30-day mortality rate overall

The fourth annual study identifying the top U.S. health systems based was released yesterday by Thomson Reuters, which culled data from more than 300 organizations and singled out 15 hospital systems that achieved superior clinical outcomes based on a composite score of eight measures of quality, patient perception of care and efficiency.

Six don’ts for small employers when choosing group health coverage

What could pediatrician appointments possibly have to do with Joe Merrick's business as an online precious metals dealer? When it comes to health insurance, the answer is everything. The 13 full-time employees of Merrick's Dallas-based Provident Metals have 30 children, all under the age of 15, with four babies born in 2011 alone. That means potentially high medical bills for everything from childbirth to vaccinations, which Merrick had to factor into his health-insurance decisions.

Recession-hit U.S. health spending barely rose in 2010

U.S. health care spending barely rose in 2010 from record-low recession levels, as high unemployment and the loss of employer-sponsored health benefits forced many Americans to delay or forego medical treatment, government officials said.

First, do no harm

"House" - the TV series following a brilliant, but curmudgeonly and troubled doctor - is of course a Hollywood production, but this fiction may be based in fact. At least one-third of all physicians will experience a time during which they have a physical, mental or behavioral condition that impairs their ability to practice medicine safely, according to The Annals of Internal Medicine.

DRG wins by sticking to their knitting

Michael D. Klansek knew something was up with his company when he read Towers Watson statistics earlier this year that showed total health care costs per employee per year are at $11,176. His PEPY costs in 2011? $7,707. And they've been that way since 2006.

Controlling Health Care Costs: Your Employee as Consumer

Keynote speaker:

In your role as an HR leader, you are accountable for performance on many levels - from improved productivity to reduced turnover to benefit/cost management. Giving employees the tools to make them true health care consumers can have a significant impact on your organization's bottom line.

Please join us for this presentation to:

• See how the wide disparity in the pricing of health care services within networks and provider groups can lead to employees frequently overpaying for services.
• Learn how higher cost care options do not equal better quality outcomes.
• Discover how your employees can become engaged consumers of health care, using market disparities to save money for themselves and your company.
• See a demonstration of one leading cost and quality transparency solution that is delivering on the promise of health care consumerism.

Attendees will learn:

• About the disparate costs of health care services and how this information can be used to decrease health care costs.
• How to turn employees into true health care consumers.
• How Castlight, a quality and transparency tool, can help you engage employees and get real savings results.
• How turning employee into well-informed consumers equals success for every part of your business.

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8 ways employees can use their flexible spending accounts before 2012

As 2011 comes to an end, it’s time for employees with health care and dependent care flexible spending accounts to use up their remaining balances before the end of their plan year, when any leftover money is forfeited. Here are eight ways your employees can spend down their FSAs before 2012, courtesy of Save Smart, Spend Healthy.

The best offense is a good defense

Electronic medical records are being hailed as a way to save money, but they're also making it easier to commit fraud; text analytics and sophisticated data mining software can help stop it.

Holding off health costs

Athletic trainers may have had their roots on the playing field, but the profession has branched out. Large employers such as Toyota, General Motors, Delta Airlines and Boeing have used athletic trainers for years to prevent and treat injuries on the production line and manufacturing floor. While athletic trainers traditionally have worked in an athletic environment, a sprained ankle on an pro athlete is no different than a sprained ankle on a baggage handler at an airport, says Tom Bair, an athletic trainer with ProgressiveHealth Aviation Services in Atlanta.