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Obama Supports Earlier State Opt-Out for Healthcare Reform
On Monday, Feb. 28, 2011, President Obama stated in a speech at the National Governors Association Winter Meeting that he supports amending reform law to allow states to opt out from these mandates in...
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HCW Eleven in ’11 on Ancillary Employee Benefits Raises Good Questions
This past Tuesday in Greensboro, Rob Krieg and I presented, “It’s not Hip to be Square – Rounding Out your Benefits Program with Effective Ancillary Benefits,” and we received some good questions as a...
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What’s Driving Healthcare Costs in North Carolina and the United States?
The American Public Health Association, the Partnership for Prevention and the United Health Foundation have released the2012 America’s Health Rankings, an annual report which studies 24 health...
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Top 10 Healthcare Industry Issues Of 2013 – How They Affect Employers?
This year it is crucial for employers to have a clear understanding of the timeline of each of the components in healthcare reform and a defined strategy around them. It is evident that, while there is...
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To Cover Spouses… or Not? Managing Spousal Health Coverage
UPDATED 8/31/15: Are spousal surcharges even more common now? Absolutely. Let’s look at some updated numbers: The 2015 Emerging Trends in Health Care Survey, sponsored by Towers Watson, found that the...
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Worksite Wellness: Get Fit One Step At A Time
Do you own a fitness tracker, such as a Fitbit or Nike Fuelband? If so, are you wearing it? Or is it collecting dust? As HCW completes our second Fitbit challenge, I ran across an article in Benefits...
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Healthcare Cost Transparency – There’s An App For That
There is a lot of talk about transparency in the cost of healthcare. Providing cost, quality, and other information before treatment lowers costs, improves outcomes and goes hand in hand with...
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FSA Balances – Time to Spend Down or Roll Over
Flexible Spending Accounts allow employees to set aside a portion of their income on a pre-tax basis to use for qualified expenses. For 2015, the maximum amount that can be put in an FSA is $2,550....
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Anthem Cyber Attack – The Importance of Data Security
Anthem, Inc., a Blue Cross and Blue Shield company providing health insurance in 14 states, has reported a data breach. Anthem is one of the country’s largest health insurer and the database that was...
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Tobacco Cessation: To Penalize Or Not?
The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) recently released proposed rules that clarify the definition of “voluntary” in the context of wellness programs under the Americans with Disabilities...
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Reflecting On 2015: Employee Benefits
It was a busy, and often complicated, year in the world of employee benefits. As 2015 draws to a close, and we look toward 2016, let’s reflect on some of the significant events that occurred this year...
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Oral Health: More Than Just a Pretty Smile
What do endocarditis, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, HIV/AIDS, osteoporosis, and Alzheimer’s disease have in common? According to the Mayo Clinic, all of these diseases may have a link to oral...
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Value-Based Contracts For Drugs: The New Trend?
In reviewing claims and utilization data for my clients, I often find that pharmacy costs are increasing at a higher rate than other categories. Upon further analysis, the cost may be related to...
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HSA Rules – A Quick Review
Based on the recent election, health savings accounts (HSA) are likely here to stay. While there may be changes, including the possibility of having an HSA without enrollment in a qualified high...
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Top 10 Health Industry Issues For 2017
As 2016 comes to a close, predictions for 2017 being released. Pour a cup of eggnog (low-fat eggnog), and settle in for an overview of the top 10 health industry issues for 2017 released by PwC Health...
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COBRA and Severance Agreements – A Gift or a Curse?
Employers sometimes allow former employees to remain on their health insurance plan for some period of time after termination of employment at no cost or reduced cost to the terminated employee. While...
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Amazon and the Prescription Question
Would you order prescription drugs through Amazon? That is one of the questions Amazon is likely trying to answer as they decide whether or not to create a pharmacy benefit manager (PBM), contract with...
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Medical Cost Trend 2018: New Year, New Normal
PwC released their annual report on Medical cost trend “Behind the numbers 2018.” Highlighted below is a brief summary of some of their predictions and how employers may be impacted. Single Digit...
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Managing Your Medical Costs
After over 25 years in the benefits industry, I have seen a lot of changes. Creating a strategy around your benefits program and executing that strategy is hard work, and the challenges and choices are...
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Tobacco Cessation: To Penalize Or Not?
The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) recently released proposed rules that clarify the definition of “voluntary” in the context of wellness programs under the Americans with Disabilities...
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