News & Updates
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Lax Oversight Risks Millions Of Medicare Dollars – AP/Washington Post
The government is putting millions of Medicare dollars at risk by authorizing fictitious sellers of wheelchairs, prosthetics and other medical supplies to submit reimbursement claims with only limited review, congressional investigators say.
Health Savings Accounts Haven't Caught On With Workers – The Dallas Morning News
Four years ago, the hot new idea for reining in health costs was the health savings account, a savings vehicle tied to a high-deductible insurance policy and designed to make patients more responsible for – and more aware of – the expenses involved.
Safeway Joins Rivals In Adding $4 Generic Prescription Drugs – WashingtonPost.com
Safeway will begin offering $4 prescriptions on hundreds of generic drugs today at stores in the eastern United States, a spokesman said, following in the footsteps of the program popularized by Wal-Mart two years ago.
The list of $4 drugs includes the antibiotic amoxicillin, blood pressure medication atenolol and levothyroxine for thyroid disease.
Disclosing out-of-pocket costs to consumers – ChicagoTribune.com
Our neighbors in Wisconsin are rolling out a consumer-friendly program for people with health insurance--an innovative effort that deserves national attention.
Come September, whenever a Wisconsin consumer wants to purchase a medical service, 17 insurers will disclose the estimated out-of-pocket cost--what the consumer will be asked to pay--in advance, upon request.
Traditionally, a patient gets a tally of out-of-pocket charges after the fact, when the insurance company sends a document known as an "explanation of benefits."
Finding Wellness's Return on Investment – HR Magazine
As employers increasingly recognize the crucial role they can play in improving the health and well-being of employees, they are searching for hard evidence that their mounting financial investments in wellness programs are paying off. Despite numerous challenges in quantifying wellness programs' bottom-line results, some employers are digging up the proof they need. Recently, Highmark Inc., a 12,000-employee health insurer based in Pittsburgh, set out to measure the return on investment (ROI) of its various wellness, preventive and condition management programs for employees. It was one of the most comprehensive and scientifically sound studies undertaken to date on wellness ROI, and Highmark leaders were pleasantly surprised with the findings, which were published in the February 2008 Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine.
Family Share of Health Care Edges Higher – Spokane Journal
Median households in the U.S. earn approximately $48,000 annually, and the amount of money that such families spend on employer-sponsored health care per year continues to edge closer to one month’s salary, a recent survey says.
The median annual contribution for family health-care coverage now is $3,120, up 15 percent from last year and 22 percent higher than in 2006, says the survey, Aon Consulting’s 2008 Benefits and Talent Survey. By comparison, organizations have experienced about 10 percent annual health-care cost increases since 2006.
Employers, to deal with their part of the ever-higher burden of health-care costs, are beginning to move beyond cost shifting to cost control by focusing on improving the health and productivity of their employees, the survey of more than 1,100 U.S.-based organizations found. It found that 64 percent of employers now have a benefits strategy that promotes the importance of health and productivity to their employees.
Health Insurance Premiums Rise 6.1% in 2007 – Kaiser Family Foundation
Premiums for employer-sponsored health insurance rose an average of 6.1 percent in 2007, less than the 7.7 percent increase reported last year but still higher than the increase in workers’ wages (3.7 percent) or the overall inflation rate (2.6 percent), according to the 2007 Employer Health Benefits Survey released today by the Kaiser Family Foundation and Health Research and Educational Trust. Key findings from the survey were also published today in the journal Health Affairs.
The 6.1 percent average increase this year was the slowest rate of premium growth since 1999, when premiums rose 5.3 percent. Since 2001, premiums for family coverage have increased 78 percent, while wages have gone up 19 percent and inflation has gone up 17 percent.
The average premium for family coverage in 2007 is $12,106, and workers on average now pay $3,281 out of their paychecks to cover their share of the cost of a family policy.
Some Companies Penalize for Health Risks – Associated Press
First they tried nudging. Now companies are penalizing workers who have high health risks such as obesity and high blood pressure or cholesterol as insurance costs climb.
Lee Morrison, 51, doesn't mind the push, which came in the form of added insurance charges from his employer, Western & Southern Financial Group.
"I knew if I wanted to be healthier and pay less, it was up to me to do something about it," said Morrison, who has lost 54 pounds and lowered his body mass index enough to earn refunds the past two years.
HSA Bank Launches Spanish Language Website – CNNMoney.com
WATERBURY, Conn., Oct. 2 /PRNewswire/ -- HSA Bank(R), a division of Webster Bank, N.A., a subsidiary of Webster Financial Corporation , announced today the launch of its new Spanish-language website -- www.hsabank.com/spanish/default.aspx. The new website will allow access to all of the information and tools found on www.hsabank.com, specifically the capabilities of prospective accountholders to download forms, view PowerPoint presentations and utilize decision-making calculations in Spanish.
Expense Ratios in 401(k) Plans Fall – Associated Press
NEW YORK (AP) — While the array of 401(k) choices can at first seem daunting, many workers appear to be seeing one thing clearly: The value of lower expenses.
The asset-weighted expense ratios for stock mutual funds in 401(k) plans fell to 0.74 percent in 2006 compared with 0.76 percent the year before, according to new findings from the Investment Company Institute, the mutual fund trade group. The asset-weighted figure, which reflects where investors put most of their money, compares well with the simple average for stock funds, which is 1.5 percent.
About half of the $2.7 trillion invested in 401(k) plans at the end of last year was put in mutual funds. Of the 50 million participants in 401(k) plans, many of those investing in mutual funds tend to put money into low-cost funds with below-average turnover.
SHRM Conference Set For June 2008
The SHRM Annual Conference & Exposition offers — for the best price in the market today — the most comprehensive and relevant professional development programs. Attendance will improve your knowledge, skills and abilities as an HR professional.
Keynote Speakers
SHRM's Annual Conference Keynote speakers will motivate and inspire you.
Sidney Poitier
Patrick Lencioni
Doris Kearns
Goodwin Nancy Giles
What Is SHRM?
The Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) is the world’s largest professional association devoted to human resource management. Our mission is to serve the needs of HR professionals by providing the most current and comprehensive resources, and to advance the profession by promoting HR’s essential, strategic role. Founded in 1948, SHRM represents more than 225,000 individual members in over 125 countries, and has a network of more than 575 affiliated chapters in the United States, as well as offices in China and India. Visit SHRM at www.shrm.org.
John Edwards Slams the Loss of Worker Benefits – Chicago Tribune
DES MOINES - Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards criticized executive pay and the loss of worker benefits today in what was billed as a major speech on economic policy.
In addition, the former North Carolina senator called for universal retirement savings accounts that would follow workers from job to job, universal health care, stronger corporate responsibility laws and greater consumer protections.
Edwards also pledged to create new "Get Ahead" credits where the government would match dollar-for-dollar, up to $500 in savings a year. He later said he would pay for the program by more aggressively collecting capital gains taxes and by raising capital gains rates for those who earn more than $250,000 a year.
The Demise Of The Family Doctor - KXAN.com
Finding a doctor is not as easy as it used to be, and the number of family practice physicians is declining rapidly.
At least two in Austin took down their shingles over the summer, and many still in practice must get creative to survive.
KXAN Austin News' Jim Swift looks closely at two of the approaches being tried: Dr. Charles Mallett's "fee for service" and Dr. William Jones' "concierge medicine."
Family practice physician Mallett used to take insurance, until managed care companies began cutting back on payments.
Young and uninsured turn to ... Facebook - Politico
In the year between his graduation from college and his first year in law school, Jeff Traylor, 25, worked in a restaurant and was similar to approximately 44 million Americans in this respect: He had no health insurance.
As a waiter, Traylor worked fewer than 30 hours a week and thus did not qualify for insurance as a full-time employee.
“I had to go to low-income clinics,” said Traylor, now a second-year student at Lewis & Clark Law School in Portland, Ore.
New Law To Expand Reach of 401(k)s – Washington Post
A law making it easier for employers to automatically enroll their employees in 401(k) and other retirement plans goes into effect tomorrow.
The provision, part of the Pension Protection Act of 2006, allows companies to invest their employees' retirement savings in one of three types of funds without being held liable for losses. By absolving the companies of any liability should the investments go bad, Labor Department officials expect to clear the way for automatic enrollment. Under the new rules, employees could be enrolled in a company-sponsored retirement program unless they opt out of it.
Just Put It On My 401(k) Debit Card – TheStreet.com
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — A federal judge on Friday placed on hold a state domestic partnership law that was set to take effect Jan. 1, pending a February hearing.
The law would give some spousal rights to same-sex couples.
Opponents asked U.S. District Judge Michael W. Mosman to intercede after the Oregon secretary of state's office ruled in October that they had failed to collect enough valid signatures on a referendum to block the law.
New Law To Expand Reach of 401(k)s – Washington Post
Borrowing against your nest egg is becoming as easy as stopping at an ATM
A growing number of companies now offer employees the option of being issued a debit card that taps a 401(k) loan. The card, called ReservePlus, allows workers to withdraw funds from their 401(k)s.
The immediate concern for consumers is that impulse spending desires could trump their long-term savings needs.
GOP Hopefuls Offer Radical Changes to Health Care - NPR
All Things Considered, January 14, 2008 · With health care a top issue for both Democratic and Republican voters in this year's presidential campaigns, candidates from both parties have unveiled plans for curbing health costs and boosting insurance coverage. But voters might be surprised by which party's plans would actually change the health system more.
The Democratic candidates have mostly emphasized covering the 47 million Americans who don't have health insurance.
Individuals Benefit More From Rx Placebos That They Are Told Cost More – Kaisernetwork.org
Individuals who take identical placebos are more likely to experience pain relief from the placebo that they are told costs more, according to a study published on Wednesday in the Journal of the American Medical Association, Reuters reports (Reuters, 3/5).
The study, sponsored by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and led by Duke University behavioral economist Daniel Ariely, involved 82 healthy paid volunteers. All study participants received a brochure for a new opioid pain medication described as similar to codeine. Researchers told one group of study participants that the medication cost $2.50 per pill and one group that the treatment cost 10 cents per pill. All study participants took identical placebos.
Private-market answer to rising costs has critics – Atlanta Journal-Constitution
In her old health care world, Karen Zapata used only HMO doctors, faced high insurance premiums and forked out the inevitable co-payments.
Now, with her health savings account, she pays lower premiums and enjoys more freedom in choosing her doctors. But she also has become a more savvy shopper for health care, learning when to ask for a lower-priced prescription.