The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) began their initiative to tie payments to quality or value earlier this year by implementing their Comprehensive Care Joint Replacement Model (CJR). The mandatory program holds hospitals accountable for all costs, processes and outcomes associated with hip and knee replacements performed on Medicare patients. Since hip and [...]
The article below is from BenefitsPRO, titled “10 weird HSA FAQs,” by Whitney Richard Johnson. Health savings accounts help employees sock away money for health care costs. They’re used along with a high deductible health insurance plan, and they offer some great tax benefits. Contributions made to HSAs lower one’s taxable income, and payments made [...]
Diversified Group offers RealTimeChoices – an app accessible via website or mobile device that allows plan members to shop for and identify fair prices for healthcare services they need. This healthcare cost transparency tool also lets plan members find doctors or providers in their local area who offer that service along with quality ratings and patient [...]
The article below is from Employee Benefit News, titled “5 ways Trumpcare is likely to change employee benefits,” by Craig Hasday. Post-election, I have met with dozens of employers and the No. 1 question on their mind is: What will the new administration do to our healthcare strategy and what steps do I take to [...]
Healthcare costs continue to rise at an alarming rate and we all need to be Defining our Health Strategy. We thought it would be helpful to share what we do here at Diversified in regard to our strategy as an employer that has a self- funded medical plan. We like to say at Diversified that [...]
Several studies show an increase in the number of companies choosing self-insurance as well as an expectation that this trend will continue. “Between 2013 and 2015, the proportion of midsized companies with 100 to 499 employees that were self-insured increased 19%, to 30%. The percentage of small firms with fewer than 100 employees that self-funded [...]
Article as seen in Hartford Business on October 26, 2016 written by John Stearns Total health benefits cost per employee increased 2.2 percent in Connecticut this year, about on par with the nation, to an average of $13,910 per worker, according to results of Mercer’s annual health benefits survey released today. But the cost was [...]
Article as seen in Johns Hopkins Carey Business School on September 7, 2016 Hospitals’ CT Scan And Anesthesiology Departments On Average Charge More Than 20 Times Their Costs Hospitals on average charged more than 20 times their own costs in 2013 in their CT scan and anesthesiology departments ― suggesting that hospitals strategically use “chargemaster” markups [...]
Article as seen in Benefits Pro on October 12, 2016 written by Cindi A. Slater M.D. Open enrollment is upon us and for the majority of employers, that means offering employees a high deductible health plan. It is also the time of year when benefits professionals are most likely to remind employees to shop around [...]
Beginning in 2014 and continuing through 2016, employers and other sponsors of self-funded health plans, as well as insurance companies offering insured health plan products are subject to the Affordable Care Act’s transitional reinsurance fee. This fee was designed to fund reinsurance payments to health insurance issuers to cover high-risk individuals in the individual market. [...]
