Wellness must be relevant and easily accessible to your employees. Studies have shown that worksite wellness programs generate anywhere from $1.50 to $6.00 in healthcare savings for every dollar spent. Our worksite wellness subsidiary, Corporate Fitness & Health (CF&H), confirms that the vast majority of clients agree that their program has lowered healthcare costs and [...]
For Members of a Local Association, the Answer Is YES! Every time we talk with fully-insured employer groups about the advantages of Self-Funding, we emphasize that unlike fixed monthly premiums, Self-Funding offers the potential for savings. When claims are at or below anticipated levels, the savings remains with the plan rather than an insurance company. [...]
It’s a Hot Topic and One We’ll Hear More About in the Months Ahead Whether it’s Medicare at 50, a Buy-In Option or Medicare for All, there is little doubt that the debate on expanding Medicare will be a centerpiece issue as the 2020 primary season intensifies. Prior to the Democratic debates, some of these [...]
That’s What Subrogation and Reimbursement Are All About When a plan member requires medical treatment following an injury or accident, their health plan is almost always the first line of defense. In some instances, however, the responsibility for medical treatment should really lie with another insurance plan, such as the member’s auto policy or workers [...]
The President’s Executive Order Demands Healthcare Cost Transparency We have long chronicled the huge price swings that often exist among healthcare providers in the same locales. To combat this situation and help patients find low cost, high-quality care, the President recently signed an executive order directing HHS to develop rules requiring hospitals to publish clear [...]
Experience shows that worksite wellness is a big part of every high-quality health plan. We take exception with a recent JAMA study that said wellness simply isn’t working. While we could point out many reasons why their assessment is short-sighted, our main objection is that their viewpoint was based on the assumption that all wellness [...]
If your plan isn’t managing eligibility at enrollment, you’re probably throwing money away! Managing eligibility in a self-funded environment can place a big burden on HR Directors, not only at enrollment, but throughout the year. Employee benefit elections, dependents and beneficiaries must be monitored consistently and then there are new hires and terminations to deal [...]
CMS Administrator Seema Verma calls the new rule a small step. We couldn’t agree more! According to recent reports, what was touted as a giant step for healthcare cost transparency has turned out to be little more than a puzzle few can solve. The rule, which took effect on January 1, 2019, requires that hospitals [...]
It can be as easy as handing them a check for a percentage of savings. In last month’s HCU, we discussed the flexibility that self-funding provides – emphasizing that within regulatory parameters, self-funding gives the employer significant power over plan design, selection of providers, ways to incentivize plan members and much more. These days, more [...]
Done right, self-funding provides the flexibility needed to control costs. A 2018 Kaiser Employer Survey showed that the cost of employer-based, family coverage rose to $19,616, an increase of 5 percent from the prior year. While this increase may be considered moderate or acceptable by many employers, we work hard to help our self-funded clients [...]
