Thursday, 15 December 2011
Open enrollment season is here and you’ve probably made the unpleasant discovery that insurance rates are on the rise. But fear not, there are still opportunities for you to maximize the value your benefit plan in 2012 and ensure your employees are well covered. Here are a few tips:
Consider coverage options: Typically your carrier has a multitude of coverage plans available to choose from, so get in touch with your broker to talk about what the best options are according to your specific needs.
Gauge your employees’ needs: Your specific needs are tantamount to your employees’ needs, so if increased rates means you have to make changes to health plans, ask your employees what coverage matters most to them. This will give you a better idea of what types of plans to offer to keep your employees most satisfied.
Offer options to your employees: No two employees are alike and what satisfies the health needs of one may not meet the needs of another, so offer them different plans. Your broker can help identify plans that require the same financial contribution from you but allow employees to choose from a diverse sampling of plans.
Offer some perspective: Most employees are appreciative of health insurance but aren’t really aware of how much employers pay toward their coverage. If increased costs result in changes to employee plans, make sure they understand that this is the reason behind the changes.
Encourage your employees to understand their new plans: Enrolling in a new plan could mean that deductibles, prescription coverage, etc. have all changed. (Moore Benefits offers employee education programs on a year-to-year basis to ensure employees understand the ins and outs of their plans.)
Open enrollment ends on December 31, so feel free to contact us with questions about your 2012 plan options. We can help you select a plan that is friendly to your budget and your staff.
Thursday, 8 December 2011
As part of Health Care Reform, the government is trying to streamline the delivery of health care services to help control the rising cost of benefits. But how do you slow a runaway train? Enter Accountable Care Organization (ACO) legislation—laws that create financial incentives for health care providers to eliminate unnecessary procedures and focus on preventive health care.
To give you some insight as to why this legislation is important for Health Care Reform to actually reduce the cost of health care, remember that providers are paid for their services; the more services they provide, the more money they make. In theory, ACOs would help eliminate the financial incentive of providing unnecessary tests, procedures and care.
An ACO would allow physicians, hospitals and other health care providers to come together under an umbrella organization, making them accountable for both the health of their patients and the cost of delivering care. The concept is designed to allow for a higher level of coordination of care and more efficiency.
In theory, ACOs would allow providers to share in the savings of delivering the right care at the right time. However, the first wave of ACO legislation was announced by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) in March 2011 and was met with quite a bit of negative feedback regarding the difficulty of implementing the plan due to challenges with compliance. HHS took the feedback into consideration and released a revised proposal in early November.
People generally agree that, although improved, the new rules still won’t deliver on the cost containment promised by Health Care Reform. The challenges to implementing ACOs are twofold:
1. The cost of creating the infrastructure is very high and many insurers run the risk of losing money if they aren’t able to generate enough savings with the new program
2. The program is designed to incentivize health care professionals and insurers by promising them a savings bonus, which currently may equal less than if they did not adjust their procedures.
Although sound in concept, ACOs still have a long way to go before they can consolidate the fragmented world of health care.
