Early this month, the DOL issued the model notices to be used for the COBRA subsidy that is part of the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA). In addition, the EBSA has issued FAQs that address some of the outstanding items surrounding the subsidy. This initial guidance does not include details on administering the employer tax credit [...]
Historically worker’s compensation does not cover community spread diseases (i.e., common cold/flu) because they generally cannot be tied back to a workplace. With the COVID-19 pandemic, some workers and workplaces have been deemed essential and present a unique problem when considering worker’s compensation coverage. As a result, some states recently have implemented amendments to their [...]
This article was published on August 7, 2018 on Employee Benefit News, written by Corte Larossi. We all know that making changes to your health plan can have major consequences for your company. It can impact your medical costs and company bottom line, the health and welfare of your employees, employee satisfaction and performance, as [...]
You Can't Manage What You Don't Measure! With a self-funded healthcare plan and a good, independent TPA, access to claims data is standard operating procedure. Even more important, a good TPA like Diversified Group has the expertise to convert your data into intelligent, actionable strategies to manage your plan, monitor performance and modify plan design [...]
Diversified Group continues its efforts to bring a revolutionary perspective and innovation to employee healthcare. With the recent launch of our monthly email newsletter, Healthcare Uncensored, we are attempting to break down the walls of healthcare complexity and shed light on the confusing state of employee health benefits. Each issue addresses and openly discusses a [...]
As a Third Party Administrator, employers and plan members count on us to make their health benefits work. While that sounds easy enough, it can be anything but easy when ordinary working families are forced to face exorbitant hospital bills. One couple recently found themselves confronted with a very difficult situation when their son needed [...]
If It Helps to Control Costs...We Say Have At It! While many healthcare providers and insurance carriers are raising concerns about the recently announced partnership by these mega employers, I say Thank You! That's right – thank you for caring enough about runaway healthcare costs to do something disruptive. For making a commitment to get [...]
In at least one big city, a major carrier is providing 100% coverage to public employees for MRIs, CT Scans and other imaging services only when free-standing, non-hospital based facilities are used. What do you know? Independent TPAs have been helping self-funded health plans do things like this for years. Too many people have long [...]
The 2018 Forecast for TPAs & Self-Funding, recently released by the Society of Professional Benefit Administrators (SPBA), expects factors to fuel continued growth and expansion by TPAs and self-funded health benefit plans in the coming year. The most significant of these factors is a growing demand by today's workforce for more personalized benefit offerings that [...]
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 [...]
