The article below was published on June 2, 2017 by BenefitsPRO, written by Nathan Solheim. Image Source: BenefitsPRO In several “Star Trek” series, an alien villain known as the Borg travels the galaxy, assimilating creatures from all walks of life into its space-borne collective. Serious fans know that it’s almost impossible to escape [...]
The article below was published on May 1, 2017 by the Employee Benefit Adviser, written by Brian Kalish. Nearly half of all employees are covered by a self-insured group health plan. Many companies that offer these plans have separate stop-loss insurance policies to protect them against the risk of catastrophically high claims. Some states and [...]
A study by the Feinberg School of Medicine at Northwestern University shows that despite the Affordable Care Act taking effect, emergency room visits in Illinois increased by nearly 6% during 2014 and 2015. While the number of visits by uninsured people dropped after Obamacare took effect, the decrease was not sufficient to offset the increase [...]
Article as seen in KHN (Kaiser Health News) on November 9, 2016 written by Julie Rovner After six controversial years, the Affordable Care Act, aka Obamacare, may be on the way out, thanks to the GOP sweep of the presidency and both houses of Congress Tuesday. “There’s no question Obamacare is dead,” said insurance industry [...]
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. [...]
In a handful of years, we’ve seen a resurgence in hospital consolidation, which is the merger or acquisition of two or more hospitals with the goal of combining assets and maximizing efficiencies1. PricewaterhouseCoopers deemed 2016 “the year of merger mania” for hospitals, physician practices and healthcare systems2, and so far, it’s living up to their [...]
Michelle Long, MPH; Matthew Rae, MPH, MPA; Gary Claxon; Anne Jankiewicz; David Rousseau, MPH ; for the Kaiser Family Foundation The graphics below examine eligibility and coverage trends in employer-sponsored health insurance. Since 2000, the share of workers covered by employers’ health benefits at both offering and non-offering firms has dropped to 56%, with the biggest decrease among employees working for small firms [...]
Article from Employee Benefit News Commentary: The Affordable Care Act reporting deadlines are rapidly approaching, presenting a major administrative burden for employers who face penalties for failing to report in a timely and accurate manner. While there has been significant discussion of employer roles and responsibilities, employees have been largely left out of the equation. [...]
With so much information flying around on the Affordable Care Act, it can be a challenge to determine what is correct. In an effort to clear up ACA confusion, here are a few facts that you may have seen misstated. Fiction: The out-of-pocket limits applicable to qualified high deductible health plans are the same as [...]
For decades, employers determined to get a handle on runaway health care costs have compared self-funding to their traditional fully insured plans. Many who have made the move have discovered that the opportunity for savings is just one advantage. Others include flexibility in plan design, access to plan and utilization data and the ability to [...]
