The article below was published on September 13, 2017 by Employee Benefit News, written by Robert Lawton. With healthcare open enrollment season quickly approaching, 401(k) plan sponsors may want to spend some time educating participants on the use of health savings accounts. If you offer a high-deductible health plan to your employees, they probably have [...]
When a plan member was referred recently to a New York area physician for a sleep study, she took it upon herself to compare costs at other facilities. Her research quickly showed that the provider’s price of $4,302 was much higher than the “fair” price of $1,300 available at another facility in her area. By [...]
The Altarum Center for Sustainable Health Spending reports a significant drop in health hiring, pricing and spending during the first five months of this year. On average, 22,000 jobs per month were added by hospitals and ambulatory care facilities, compared to 32,000 per month during the same period in 2016. While the healthcare sector continues [...]
The article below was published on August 7, 2017 by Bloomberg BNA, written by Sara Hansard. Small and midsized companies are increasingly providing their own health coverage for employees instead of buying fully insured plans since Obamacare was enacted in 2010. As the Affordable Care Act drives up premiums because of more requirements and taxes, [...]
The article below was published on August 4, 2017 by Employee Benefit News, written by Eric Brewer. High-deductible health plans with health savings accounts are becoming more popular as benefits consumerism increases throughout the country. Enrolling your employees in HDHPs is one way to educate them on the true cost of healthcare. And if they [...]
The article below was published on July 25, 2017 by Kaiser Health News, written by Rachel Bluth. Photo Source: Kaiser Health News COLUMBUS, Ohio — Two years after it passed unanimously in Ohio’s state Legislature, a law meant to inform patients what health care procedures will cost is in a state of suspended [...]
In a previous newsletter, we discussed bundling introduced by Medicare which focuses on orthopedic and cardiac procedures. Through the mandatory initiative for comprehensive care for joint replacements (CJR), which became policy in 2016, some 800 hospitals are participating in the program. While some sources report the results of bundling as mixed, Medicare reports that joint [...]
The article below was published on June 23, 2017 by Employee Benefit News, written by Mark Johnson. The new healthcare bill, revealed by U.S. Senate Republicans Thursday, could bring significant changes to organizations and their employees. Granted, there’s a long way to go before any Obamacare replacement legislation is signed. But health insurance is a [...]
The article below was published on June 26, 2017 by CNN, written by Elisabeth Rosenthal. (CNN) – When Jeffrey Kivi’s rheumatologist changed affiliations from one hospital in New York City to another, less than 20 blocks uptown, the price his insurer paid for the outpatient infusion he got about every 6 weeks to control his [...]
The article below was published on June 7, 2017 by Employee Benefit News, written by Craig Hasday. The Republicans are looking everywhere for funds to fix healthcare, as well they should. This problem is not an easy one to solve, however. Under the Affordable Care Act, employers were faced with the Cadillac tax. As a [...]
