Kaiser Family Foundation Survey: Health Insurance Deductibles Outpacing Salaries

This week the Kaiser Family Foundation/Health Research & Educational Trust (HRET) released its 2015 Employer Health Benefits Survey, an annual survey of employers that provides a detailed look at trends in employer-sponsored health coverage including premiums, employee contributions, cost-sharing provisions, and employer opinions.

The research found that single and family premiums for employer-sponsored health insurance rose an average of 4 percent this year, continuing a decade-long period of moderate growth. Since 2005, premiums have grown an average of 5 percent each year, compared to 11 percent annually between 1999 and 2005.

The study also found that the average annual premium for single coverage is $6,251, of which workers on average pay $1,071, and the average family premium is $17,545, with workers on average contributing $4,955.

Laurel Pickering, chief executive, Northeast Business Group on Health, and David Lansky, chief executive, Pacific Business Group on Health, weighed in on the research for an article written by Reed Abelson, a reporter for The New York Times.

NBCH and Benz Communications Launch Employer Benefits Communications Survey

NBCH is teaming with Benz Communications to bring you the 2014 Inside Benefits Communication Survey. This survey of benefits professionals will help us learn how companies are strategizing and implementing benefits communication through the lens of the Affordable Care Act, compliance mandates and industry trends.

The first IBC survey conducted by Benz in 2012 reached nearly 300 employee benefits professionals and provided invaluable information about the future and challenges of the industry. Some of the key findings revealed that engaging employees year round is among employers’ top communications challenges; with nearly half (45%) saying they are dissatisfied with their current communications strategies. In addition, 41% said they aren’t sure if their benefits communication efforts are helping them meet their goals.

The 2014 survey is targeted at human resources and employee benefits managers/directors and takes approximately 10 minutes to complete. To make the survey a success, we need to hear from as many benefits professionals as possible.

One of every 50 survey participants will get a free, full registration to either the 2014 NBCH 19th Annual Conference (November 10–12 in Washington) or the 2015 Health & Benefits Leadership Conference (April 8–10 in Las Vegas) led by Human Resource Executive.

Plus, NBCH members may receive exclusive breakout data from the survey that pertains to respondents from their particular region. If 15 members from a regional coalition participate, all respondents from that region will receive this special breakout report.

Interested? Take the survey today!

New Benfield Research on Obesity

The Benfield Group has published new research on employer disease priorities, citing obesity as employers' top concern. This is the first time since Benfield's annual research began in 2006 that diabetes or cardiovascular disease has NOT occupied the top spot. Nearly eight out ten employers indicated obesity was "highly important," but they report limited success with obesity management within their employee populations. Just 13% believe that the programs and support they provide to employees to prevent obesity are highly successful; and fewer than 10% report successfully helping obese employees improve their health.

The Benfield Group has produced a monograph on behalf of Eisai Inc. It provides information employers can consider when evaluating and modifying their workforce obesity prevention and management strategies. The monograph features recommendations from an employer Eisai-sponsored advisory board that employers can incorporate into their planning process. Click here to request a copy of the monograph.

Benefits Manager of the Year Nomination Deadline Extended to Thursday

Business Insurance has extended the deadline for nominations for the 2013 Benefit Manager of the Year® to Thursday, April 25. This award recognizes excellence and innovation in employee benefit management and is a great opportunity for coalitions to spotlight one of their members. The winner is featured on the magazine's cover.

Click here to access the nomination form.

If you have any questions about filling out this form, please do not hesitate to call Business Insurance Editor Gavin Souter at 312-649-5482 or email gsouter@BusinessInsurance.com.

HHS Releases ACA Essential Health Benefits Proposed Rule

This proposed rule details standards for health insurance issuers consistent with the Affordable Care Act. Specifically, this rule outlines health insurance issuer standards related to the coverage of essential health benefits (EHB) and the determination of actuarial value (AV), while providing significant flexibility to states to shape how EHB are defined. Additionally, the rule proposes a timeline for when issuers offering coverage in a Federally-facilitated Exchange or State Partnership Exchange must become accredited. The rule also proposes an application process for accrediting entities seeking to be recognized to fulfill the accreditation requirements for issuers offering coverage in any Exchange.

Employee Benefits Affect Retention, Loyalty, Survey Shows

A survey of 58 companies by the Principal Financial Group and the Harvard Business Review Analytic Services found 75% said the benefits they offer help with employee retention and 72% said they affect employee loyalty. Across the board, the most visible motivation for retaining such high benefits standards was the protection of the financial well-being of employees. Of all the benefits offered, nine out of 10 employers said the most significant benefit is retirement programs and generous employer contributions. The poll showed that 58 percent of employers stated that offering health insurance had a significant impact on the company's ability to maintain a competitive advantage. "At the most basic level, high retention translates into low turnover costs, and the 10 Best winners have, on average, voluntary turnover rates that are less than half industry averages," the report states. In addition, the report states that, over the last decade, 74 percent of the companies polled added a wellness program.

House Ways & Means Releases Report on Employer Health Coverage

The majority Republican staff of the U.S. House of Representatives Ways and Means Committee has released a report, Broken Promise: Why ObamaCare Will Force Americans to Lose the Health Care Coverage they Have and Like, surveying 71 of the Fortune 100 companies on the probable cost impact of the ACA.

The report’s key finding is that the 71 companies surveyed could collectively save an estimated $28.6 billion in 2014 alone (and $422.4 billion from 2014 to 2023) by eliminating health insurance coverage for their more than 5.9 million U.S. employees and instead paying the $2,000 (in 2014) per full-time employee fine under the ACA (the "pay or play" provision). Individually, these major employers could save an average of $402.3 million in 2014 alone (and $5.9 billion from 2014 to 2023). The report states: "The Democrats’ health care law contains a number of policies that create perverse financial incentives for employers to stop offering health insurance to their employees, perhaps none more so than the employer mandate,” the report says.

While the report describes the cost savings that would result from dropping coverage, it does not assert the likelihood of these companies to do so, nor does it address various ancillary matters that would provide context for such a decision. For example, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) has consistently assumed in its official estimates that most employers would be compelled to increase wages or other compensation, plus pay a penalty, if they chose not to provide health coverage. While this assumption may or may not be correct, it is not addressed by the Ways and Means report or figured in its calculations. In fact, as the Ways and Means report makes clear, these employers were not actually asked if they were likely to drop health coverage or the circumstances under which they might do so.

New Booz & Co. White Paper Examines Potential Impacts of Private Insurance Exchanges

For decades, U.S. companies that offer health care benefits to employees have stuck to a defined benefits model, in which the company offers a standard set of health benefits and shoulders most of the financial burden and risk of health care cost. Over the past decade, this model has come under increasing strain as health care costs have more than doubled, creating an affordability crisis for employers. Now the problem has reached a tipping point. Some employers are considering a paradigm shift to their health benefits strategy that's akin to the transition from pension plans to 401(k) accounts: switching from a defined benefits toward a defined contribution model. Instead of designing and offering defined health benefits, companies make cash contributions to savings accounts that employees use to purchase insurance products of their choice. This model allows the company to cap its health care cost at a desired threshold, improving control of current expenses and future liabilities.

This white paper, part of an ongoing series of Booz & Company Perspectives on the shift to consumerism in health insurance, considers the impact of this change on the payor industry and the strategic approach that leading companies may consider taking.

Open Health Market launches website that allows health care providers to bid directly on medical services for self-insured businesses

A website that serves as a matchmaker between self-insured businesses and health care providers expects to post its first 30 requests from employers next week.

Open Health Market was founded in early 2011 by a doctor in California, a lawyer in New Hampshire and a former benefits manager in Maine. It was designed to cut out the middleman when it comes to health care by allowing employers to submit requests for proposals for a category of medical services and procedures -- knee surgeries, for example, or cardiac care -- and have health care providers submit competing bids.

The website was founded by Don Crandlemire, a Concord, NH lawyer with Dr. Leonard Fromer of Los Angeles and Peter Hayes, former benefits manager at Scarborough, Maine-based Hannaford Bros. supermarkets. The group has teamed up with Dallas-based ACAP Health, which consults with employers on strategies to reduce health costs. The company helped make the Open Health Market website more user friendly, and brought in its first batch of employers.

In the next week, 30 Texas corporations that together spend more than $1 billion on health care for more than 100,000 employees and their families will post their requests on Open Health Market, seeking information from primary-care providers, said Dr. Scott Conard, chief medical officer at ACAP Health. After a month, they'll decide which providers they want to hear more from.

Want to Show Employees Your Appreciation? Provide Good Benefits

New Mercer study also shows employees are concerned about health care changes.

Almost 80% of workers said that the benefits they receive is one of the reasons they choose to work for a particular company. Benefits cause employees to feel that their company appreciates them, according the 2011 Mercer Workplace Survey.

While benefits help with recruiting and retention, it can have other positive benefits such as "greater engagement, personal accountability and overall satisfaction," said Suzanne Nolan, partner, Mercer's U.S. Outsourcing business. Read the full article...

A New Approach to Open Benefits Enrollment Takes Hold

Open enrollment is often the one time of year that employees pay close attention to their benefits. Given the political rhetoric surrounding health care reform and the performance of retirement plan assets invested in the stock market, employees are likely to have more questions than ever. To deal with this, Benz offers some ways to make the open enrollment period productive for both companies and their employees. Read the full article...