Employee benefits are both an attraction and retention tool, helping build loyalty within an employee pool, and healthcare benefits are first and foremost in importance, according to Stephanie Waldrop, a principal with Employee Benefits International. But more and more responsibility for healthcare decisions is being shouldered by the employee. This includes the “skin in the … [More]
Healthcare: Networks and Coverage
The alphabet soup of healthcare today includes MEC (minimum essential coverage) and EHB (essential health benefits). What is required under one does not neatly mesh with what is required under the other, which contributes to the confusion as employers and employees attempt to meet the requirements of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. MEC refers to the … [More]
Healthcare and Open Enrollment: The Employer’s Role in Employee Choices
For many, healthcare insurance has been a personal or family need they have taken care of through their employer. Now, whether or not they continue to have a policy purchased through their employer, employees are asking their employer for the information on what the employer will offer and whether those offerings will meet the individual’s “shared responsibility” requirements. … [More]
Implement a Successful Worksite Wellness Program
Successful worksite wellness programs help improve employees’ health and productivity and reduce medical costs for employees and the company. Here are 10 tips for employers to implement an effective wellness program: Understand the Company’s Work Force. Review past insurance claims data, employee surveys and health assessments to select wellness programs that address the … [More]
Fees Due from Employers of Self-Funded Health Insurance Plans
July 31 is the upcoming deadline for insurers and sponsors of self-insurance health plans to pay the annual Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Trust Fund fees (usually referred to as PCORI fees for the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute they fund). Fees are due for plan years that end on or between October 1, 2013 and September 30, 2014, inclusive. They are imposed on … [More]
PPACA Impacts Healthcare Provider Businesses
The uncertainty about healthcare that abounds among employers generally is also an issue among healthcare providers. “We seem to be at a watershed moment for where the future of healthcare-delivery financing is going,” says Greg Vigdor, president and CEO of the Arizona Hospital and Healthcare Association, referring to the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act as well as … [More]
How Healthcare Strategies Impact the Employer’s Bottom Line
While debate swirls on healthcare as a political issue, companies must deal with it as an element of being in business. Decision makers factor in the different options available and how different choices affect the company’s profitability — making cost the central focus. This leads to the most commonly heard question, “How do we control it?” But to David Berg, M.D. — whose … [More]
Health Insurance: Balancing Benefits
Healthcare coverage requirements on small businesses is a hot topic, no less so with the recent extension on the start date for employers to provide health insurance to their employees. For some, health insurance is an unwelcome expense that cuts into company profits. For others, it’s an investment in company productivity. And in some cases, through changes that have … [More]
The New Healthcare
Healthcare and Your Bottom Line: Should you suffer through it or make it your company’s competitive edge? Hear from the experts: Health Insurance Companies – Healthcare Providers Health Benefits Consultants – Healthcare Innovators Employee Wellness & Workplace Safety Experts This is the most comprehensive event on the subject. As business owners and managers, it is … [More]
Healthcare Business Shows Healthy Growth
Connextions health services’ foray into Arizona, which is bringing about 500 jobs to the Phoenix area, was prompted by the Valley’s “talented and strong work force,” according to John Hernandez, Connextions vice president of operations, who is leading the Phoenix office. The company, part of UnitedHealth Group’s Optum health services business, works with seniors to help them … [More]
Healthcare Operation in Growth Mode Thanks to PPACA
Theirs is a field of healthcare whose present growth “directly relates to the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act,” says Jennifer Rayl, who, with husband Steve, owns a BrightStar Care franchise in Scottsdale. The business provides home care in a full continuum from non-medical to skilled, and the BrightStar Care franchise developed its Clinical Pathways Program … [More]
Stress and Bullying Take a Toll on Business
Stress hurts. Individuals may experience stomach problems, muscle tension or headaches, or loss of interest in their work, among a host of other expressions. And it spills over into the workplace in a number of different ways, all of which hurt a company’s bottom line — to the tune of $200–$300 billion in the United States every year in net effect of expenses that include … [More]
Surviving Healthcare
Many of the changes in healthcare coverage are trends that have been growing gradually anyway — but now they’re mandated, regulated and requiring more paperwork. The healthcare coverage requirements coming down from the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act take effect next year, and the most important message to employers is: The time is now for putting plans and … [More]
Bytes: March 2013
A Source for Bids BidSource is a one-stop connection to an aggregate of procurement bid opportunities available with the federal government, Arizona government agencies and school districts plus government bid opportunities available in Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Albuquerque and Denver. The Gilbert Chamber of Commerce has partnered with the Greater Phoenix Chamber of Commerce … [More]
The Affordable Care Act: Where Do You Stand?
Many employers are feeling overwhelmed by a flurry of new regulations governing their benefits packages, taxes and methods of compliance as required by the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. Fortunately, many organizations are aware of this and are gearing up to make 2013 the year of information. The new healthcare reform law includes a number of new taxes and fees … [More]
Joel E. Barthelemy: Turning Issues into Opportunities
Even as a kid growing up in St. Cloud, Minn., Joel E. Barthelemy had an interest in solving problems. He was one of those types who takes apart a radio or a car and reassembles it — usually correctly — just to see how the pieces fit and work together. His can-do attitude, curiosity and talent for hearing others out has served the self-described “serial entrepreneur” and founder … [More]
