09/07/2010
As premiums continue to rise and reforms have added new complexity (and looming new costs), the C-Suite is pushing HR for solutions. With insurance plan renewals fast approaching for many employers, there’s even more urgency. Reducing employers’ health insurance burden requires balancing three strategies: cost shifting, cost reduction and plan changes.
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08/27/2010
Q. Currently, our company pays 70% of employees’ health insurance premiums. Now we need to either decrease the percentage or possibly ask employees to pay the entire premium. How much notice must we give employees before making such a change?
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08/27/2010
If you’re still not exactly sure what’s in the massive new health reform law, you’re not alone. A Harris Interactive survey gave 2,100 adults a list of 18 reform items and asked people to identify which were actually included in the new law. Only four items were correctly identified by the majority of respondents.
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08/24/2010
When President Obama signed health care reform legislation in March, the clock started ticking on a series of changes that HR professionals will be dealing with for at least the next eight years. Here’s your timeline of what to expect.
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08/18/2010
Q. How do the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010 and the Health Care and Education Tax Credits Reconciliation Act of 2010 (collectively known as the PPACA) affect health flexible spending accounts?
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08/17/2010
Approximately 70% of employers sponsor wellness programs designed to drive down health care costs, reduce absenteeism and promote better employee health. But now, the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act has muddied the wellness waters. Learn how to comply while still offering incentives for employees to participate in your wellness program.
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08/13/2010
Group health plans that were in effect when the health care reform law was signed can earn “grandfather” status. That means they only have to comply with some of the market reforms. But employers can lose grandfather status if they change insurance carriers or “substantially increase” out-of-pocket costs for employees. Here are seven changes that could imperil grandfathered status.
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08/09/2010
The regulations explaining the new health care reform law have begun to roll out of Washington. Michael Aitken, SHRM’s director of government affairs, says employers will make mistakes but the IRS, Department of Labor and HHS are expected to be understanding—at least for a while.
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08/04/2010
Health plan decisions that employers will be forced to make in a few years—such as whether to keep coverage or drop it and pay a fine—will be influenced by decisions you’ll make this year and next, says Michael Aitken, SHRM’s director of government affairs. “It might be a wise investment right now to sit down and do some modeling."
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08/03/2010
Many factors determine whether workers use their health and wellness benefits—everything from incentives you offer to how much staff trusts management to whether employees tell their spouses when they’re sick. Here are eight tips to trigger employee participation in wellness programs.
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07/29/2010
While making the right benefits choices and completing the necessary paperwork is ultimately the employee’s responsibility, HR can give a kick in the pants by providing a checklist like this one.
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07/29/2010
Quest Diagnostics is helping its workforce stay healthy by offering free health risk assessments and then following up with wellness programs that help employees address potential problems. Last year, 36,000 employees took part after Quest reduced the cost of biweekly medical plan contributions as an incentive.
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07/27/2010
Approximately 70% of employers sponsor wellness programs designed to drive down health care costs, reduce absenteeism and promote better employee health. Wellness programs that offer premium discounts have long been required to comply with HIPAA. More recently, two other laws muddied the wellness waters: the new health care reform law and the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act.
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07/27/2010
It’s probably the toughest part of a benefits administrator’s job: choosing next year’s health insurance plan. If they’re lucky, benefits pros have powerful allies in that high-stakes game: insurance brokers. But some brokers are little more than order-takers. If you’re starting to think your broker is part of the problem and not part of the benefits solution, maybe it’s time to look for a new one.
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07/27/2010
Before you even consider firing (or refusing to hire) someone because they might jack up your health insurance costs, count your dollars, not your pennies. You may be staring down a lawsuit that could dwarf whatever premium costs you hoped to avoid.
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