New Health Care Communications Strategies Needed for Effective Cost Control
In order to control rising health care costs, more employers have begun passing along cost hikes to employees, and are attempting to persuade employees to make smarter health care spending decisions. However, employees are beginning to resist calls for more cost-shifting, and already feel that they are effective health care consumers. This “disconnect” between employers and employees, as reported in a survey by human resources consultant Towers Perrin, indicates that if efforts to make employees true “partners” in cost control are to succeed, employers may need to make changes in their health care communications strategies.
Click here to read the full article
Employers Must Provide Electronic Medicare Part D Disclosure Notice to CMS
The Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act of 2003 added a new prescription drug program to Medicare. Medicare Part D is a voluntary program that provides outpatient prescription drug coverage to eligible individuals. Because some individuals who are eligible for Part D also might be eligible for prescription drug coverage from another source—such as an employer-sponsored health plan—these individuals are entitled to receive a Notice of Creditable Coverage (or, if appropriate, Notice of Non-Creditable Coverage), which explains how this other coverage compares to Medicare Part D. Drug coverage is “creditable” if its actuarial value is at least as great as the actuarial value of the standard Part D coverage. This information is important because individuals who decline Medicare Part D when first eligible are assessed a penalty if they later decide to enroll, unless they have had creditable coverage in the meantime.
Click here to read the full article
Employer HSA Contributions Must Be “Comparable”
Health savings accounts (HSAs), created in late 2003 by the Medicare Prescription Drug and Modernization Act, offer individuals who are covered by a high-deductible health plan (HDHP) a tax-favored way to save for and pay for medical expenses. Through contributions to an HSA and the interest the account earns, the participating individual builds a nest egg for future out-of-pocket health care expenses.
Click here to read the full article
Both Employers and Employees Gain from Voluntary Benefits
With the cost of benefits increasing—for both employers and employees—voluntary benefits are gaining appeal, in large part because they offer advantages and opportunities to employers and employee alike.
Voluntary benefits are programs which, though offered through the workplace, are paid for completely by employees. A broad range of benefits can fall under the voluntary benefits umbrella, and the list is growing all the time: dental, vision, hearing, legal, disability buy-up, long-term care, supplemental life, supplemental AD&D, universal life, group auto, group homeowner’s, supplemental medical policies, and veterinary pet insurance are among current popular voluntary benefits offerings.
Click here to read the full article
Top 15
Things You Should Do To Protect Yourself From ID Theft
Click here to read the full article
|
