IN CALIFORNIA
• Single-Payer Healthcare Bill Clears Senate Appropriations
NEW PRODUCTS
• Absence Management
• Web-Based Life App
• Long Term Care
• FSA and HRAs
MERGERS & ACQUISITIONS
• AIG’s Chartis and American General Merge Group Benefits
MEETINGS
• Retirement Income Summit
EMPLOYEE BENEFITS
• Financial Stress Takes its Toll
• U.S. Workers’ Confidence in Retirement Security Improves
• Wellness Programs Get Results
SALES UPDATE
• How Successful Sales Managers Spend Their Time
HEALTHCARE
• What Will Healthcare Look Like in 2025?
• Many Needs, Many Models
• Lost Decade, Lost Health
• Primary Care that Works for All
• I Am My Own Medical Home
Single-Payer Healthcare Bill Clears Senate Appropriations
The Senate Appropriations Committee approved the California Universal Healthcare Act, authored by Senator Mark Leno (D-San Francisco). SB 810 would create the California Universal Healthcare Act administered by a proposed California Healthcare Agency. This massive power grab would take choice away from California healthcare consumers. No other healthcare service plan, contract, or health insurance policy could be sold in California for services that are provided by the single payer system. The new agency would dictate a single standard of care for all California residents through the decisions of a new health insurance commissioner. All California residents would be required to buy into the system through an unspecified premium tax set by SB 810′s proposed Premium Commission. The following quote is taken directly from the bill’s language, “This would reduce the California health plan and insurance industry to either third-party administrators for the system or entities that would provide coverage for benefits not covered by the system.” (http://leginfo.ca.gov/pub/11-12/bill/sen/sb_0801-0850/sb_810_cfa_20120119_105427_sen_comm.html.)
On Thursday, January 19, the Senate Appropriations Committee voted to send SB 810 to the Senate floor for a vote. The vote must take place by January 31 or the bill will die. If the Senate approves SB 810, the legislation will move to the State Assembly for consideration. The bill is nearly identical to SB 840 (Kuehl), which the Governor vetoed in 2008 saying that, according to the Legislative Analyst’s Office, the bill is estimated to cost $210 billion in its first full year of implementation and cause annual shortfalls of $42 billion. Since this bill is nearly identical to SB 840, it would have a similar fiscal impact on the state. SB 810 it does not address the veto message. CAHU is urging members to contact their state representatives about this issue. To find the contact information on your state Senator, visit http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/yourleg.html
Absence Management
Cigna’s created the Vocational Support Services program to help prevent future workplace absences and make it easier for employees to return from medical leave sooner. It is available at no additional cost to employers who use Cigna Leave Solutions. Once an employee voluntarily joins the program, a counselor coordinates with the employee and the employee’s manager to create a personalized plan, which can include workplace accommodations, such as providing ergonomic equipment. For more information, visit www.cigna.com.
Web-Based Life App
American General is offering a web-based life insurance application. Producers can complete and submit applications electronically via a computer or tablet to ensure fast turnaround times. Producers can access and complete the online application through single-sign on to www.agquickticket.com.
Long Term Care
Prudential’s long-term care insurance business is now giving policyholders access to a single source for guidance to support independent living. The Univita Living program helps individuals and families find, coordinate, and manage their independent living needs. Program members have access to a variety of services including assessments to evaluate individuals on key dimensions of independence, a resource library, and direct access to more than 200,000 qualified care and service providers. In addition, the program provides a private social network, which allows family members and caregivers to coordinate and share observations and real-time updates about a loved one’s care. For more information, visit http://www.news.prudential.com.
FSA and HRAs
Flexible Benefit Service Corporation upgraded its FSA and HRA platform with the following:
• A web portal for employer and participant account access
• Weekly and daily reimbursement options
• Multiple funding options
• Online claims submission with automated e-mail status alerts
• Paperless communication options • Enhanced reporting capabilities
• Free debit cards with all Healthcare FSAs
For more information, visit www.flexiblebenefit.com or call 888-353-9178.
AIG’s Chartis and American General Merge Group Benefits
Chartis U.S. Accident and Health and American General plan to merge their group benefit organizations into the new AIG Benefit Solutions. The new organization will offer nearly two dozen insurance products and programs — many available on employer-funded and voluntary, employee-paid platforms, as well as resources for underwriting, enrollment and plan administration. The portfolio includes plans and programs for life (term and universal), AD&D, accident, hospital indemnity, dental, vision, limited healthcare, group and personal disability (including FMLA administration), critical illness and cancer insurance, and an employee assistance program. The move is intended to give brokers, employers, and group managers access to a wide range of products and resources with efficiencies that can help reduce costs. “The benefits market is changing rapidly, and we’ll be able to draw on vast resources, including underwriting and product experts, to meet the needs of the market,” said Curtis W. Olson, who is the new president and CEO of AIG Benefit Solutions. Olson added, “The AIG brand has made a positive re-emergence in the market and our distribution partners and customers will know they are dealing with an established company. Integration of the units into one organization will take place in three phases through 2012.”
Retirement Income Summit
Investmentnews.com is sponsoring a retirement income summit in Chicago April 30 to May 1, 2012. Topics include the Seven Most Important Equations of Retirement Income Planning – and How to Use Them. To register, visit http //e.ccialerts.com/a/tBPHwyWAVIbIpB8fm0mAp2Ce6N7/in2.
Financial Stress Takes Its Toll
Money worries are affecting workers’ performance and retirement savings plans, according to a survey of HR professionals from Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM). Fifty-five percent say that, in the past 12 months, employees have been more likely to dip into their employer-sponsored retirement savings plans compared to previous years. Twenty-two percent said that employees’ financial challenges have a large affect on performance; 61% noted some affect; and 16% noted a slight affect. The survey also reveals the following:
• 46% have noticed issues with employee stress.
• 24% said money woes are leading to employee absenteeism and tardiness.
• 12% have noticed a negative affect on employee health. Forty-nine percent 49% of HR professionals say employees are stressed about not having enough money to cover personal expenses; 35% say employees are stressed about medical expenses, and 26% say employers are stressed about saving for retirement.
Twenty-two percent of HR professionals attribute worker money woes to credit card debt and the same number attribute it to home mortgage payments. Roughly 12% of HR professionals say that educational expenses are causing noticeable stress in the workplace. Education expenses include the employee’s own tuition costs as well as that for dependent children or other family members. Fifty-two percent of employers represented in the survey provide financial education to their employees. A closer look shows that 79% offer access to an employee assistance program that includes financial counseling and resources; 68% provide financial education to employer-provided benefits such are retirement, medical insurance, and flexible spending accounts; and 47%, offer financial education limited to retirement-related planning. Among the 52% of organizations that teach employees about financial planning, 39% cover budgeting, paying for education, debt reduction, credit card use, homeownership, and taxes. For more information, visit http //www.shrm.org/surveys.
U.S. Workers’ Confidence in Retirement Security Improves
Workers’ confidence in their ability to retire comfortably continued to rebound from post-recession lows last year. Workers report growing satisfaction with their financial situation. Also, fewer employees report significant declines in retirement savings. Many employees are taking steps to get their financial houses in order, according to a survey by Towers Watson. The percentage of workers who are very or somewhat confident about having enough resources to live comfortably 15 years into retirement increased from 62% in 2010 to 68% last year. Workers are not as confident about living comfortably throughout retirement. Forty-seven percent say they are very or somewhat confident they will have enough resources to last 25 years into retirement. This compares to 40% who said there were very or somewhat confident in 2010. Fewer employees are seeing significant declines in their pension and retirement savings – 47% in 2011 versus 55% in 2010 and 60% in 2009. Additionally, employee satisfaction with their household finances has continued to improve, jumping from 33% in 2010 to 41% in 2011.
Despite this upturn, 59% of workers are generally unsatisfied with their financial situation. Kevin Wagner, a senior retirement consultant at Towers Watson said, “Many employees are more financially conservative today and have a renewed interest in improving their financial decisions and planning and saving for retirement.” The survey noted that, after two years of cutting back on daily spending, paying off debt and saving more for retirement, some respondents plan to take additional measures, such as doing further cost cutting and focusing more on retirement security. The percentage of workers with defined benefit pension plans who are satisfied with their household finances jumped sharply in the past two years, from 29% to 49%. Defined benefit participants are more than twice as likely to be very confident about the first 15 years of retirement and 2.5 times as likely to be confident about a 25-year retirement compared to workers who only have a 401(k) plan. A larger percentage of workers under 40 were satisfied with their household finances last year (47%) compared to 2009 (28%). However, 66% of young workers say they will need to save much more in the future to achieve a comfortable level of retirement income. The percentage of young workers who review their retirement plans carefully increased by more than 40% from 2010 to 2011. For more information, visit http://www.towerswatson.com/united-states/newsletters/insider/6214.
Wellness Programs Get Results
Forty-one percent of workers agree that having a wellness program encourages them to work harder and perform better at work, according to the latest Principal Financial Well-Being Index. The index surveys American workers at growing businesses with 10 to 1,000 workers and is conducted by Harris Interactive. Fifty-two percent of workers (up from 37% last year) say they have more energy to be more productive at work because they participated in a wellness program. Another 35% (up from 28% a year ago) and say they missed fewer days of work. Forty-five percent of workers chose better overall physical health as the top benefit to participating in a wellness program. Other top mentions included receiving a meaningful incentive from their employer for participation (30%) and reduced personal healthcare costs, greater chance of living a longer, healthier life and reduced stress (29% each). Fifty-five percent of workers rated wellness activities offered by an employer as very successful or somewhat successful in improving health and reducing health risks. The top four wellness benefits workers would most like to see their employer offer are fitness center discounts (25%), on-site preventive screenings (22%), access to wellness experts such as nutritionists (21%), and onsite fitness facilities (19%). However, the top four wellness benefits offered by employers are online wellness information (19%), educational tools or resources (18%), fitness center discounts (17%), and printed wellness information (17%). Interestingly, access to wellness experts was only available to 11% of those surveyed. For more information, visit www.principal.com.
How Successful Sales Managers Spend Their Time
High-performing sales managers spend 100 extra hours per year on selling activities compared to low-performing sales managers. They spend 39 fewer hours on management activities and 61 fewer hours on non-selling related activities. High-performing sales managers also spend more of their selling time on closing sales and servicing accounts compared to other sales managers, according to a survey by Towers Watson.
Successful sales managers spend an extra 104 hours a year with current customers, either selling new applications or solutions or personally managing renewals or with new, non-qualified business leads. High-performing sales managers are almost three times as likely to spread their attention evenly across members of their sales team rather than devoting most of their time to a select few team members. This does not mean that sales managers spend their time with each team member similarly. Instead, these managers spend time with lower-performing sales reps to provide extra coaching and guidance while spending more time with better-performing members on co-selling or performance reinforcement, said Craig Ulrich of Towers Watson. Fifty-one percent of sales professionals who interact with their manager several times a day say that their manager is effective compared to only 24% who interact with their manager once a day. More than three in four sales professionals who believe their immediate manager acts with honesty and fairness and provides clear work goals for the team also say that their manager is effective. For more information, visit http://www.towerswatson.com/research/5832
What Will Healthcare Look Like in 2025?
By 2025, patient-doctor relationships and healthcare delivery will look radically different, according to a forecast by the Institute for Alternative Futures. Working with more than 50 national healthcare leaders, the Institute created four scenarios to show what primary care might look like in 2025. The scenarios take into consideration the nation’s economic challenges, political polarization, and opportunities afforded by technological advances and new delivery systems. Clem Bezold, Institute for Alternative Futures chair and senior futurist said, “In all four scenarios, we forecast that electronic records will become ubiquitous. Community health centers will give high-quality care to low-income people, and a small persistent group of affluent will receive great fee-for-service concierge healthcare. You will see more virtual care, personal health avatars and doctors operating remotely.”
Many Needs, Many Models
This scenario is a natural extension of healthcare as many Americans know it. The scenario forecasts a shortage of primary care physicians, increased emphasis on disease prevention, growth in electronic medical recordkeeping, a shift from employee-based insurance to health insurance exchanges, and growing disparities in access to and quality of primary care based on income and where people live.
Lost Decade, Lost Health
This scenario forecasts a shortage of primary care physicians, declining income for practicing physicians, and more uninsured patients, some of whom resort to black market care and unreliable online advice. Patients with good insurance have access to great care enhanced by advanced technology.
Primary Care that Works for All
This scenario assumes nearly universal healthcare coverage, with 85% of patients using integrated systems staffed by collaborative teams of healthcare providers, including physician assistants, nurse practitioners and health coaches who work closely with patients. Seeking to provide better care at lower cost while improving the health of the population they serve, primary care teams join with community partners to address factors that affect a community’s health, including employment, educational attainment, housing, transportation, and access to fruits and vegetables.
I Am My Own Medical Home
Under this scenario, four of 10 patients choose consumer directed health plans, which include catastrophic insurance with high deductibles. For the most part, savvy consumers use advanced technologies to stay healthy including non-invasive biomonitors and wellness and disease management apps. Large vendors offer free avatar-based health coaching to consumers who purchase other integrated health products and services. Consumers shop for the best doctor and buy on the basis of high quality and low price. In addition to the full report, the project’s website includes instructions for using the scenarios in workshops: www.altfutures.org/primarycare2025.
Healthcare Costs Moderate in November
The average per capita cost for healthcare services covered by commercial insurance and Medicare programs increased by 5.13% from November 2010 to 2011. This is a decline from the 5.29% annual growth rate from October 2o to October 2011, according to the S&P Healthcare Economic Composite Index. Healthcare costs covered by commercial insurance plans increased by 6.96% over the year ending in November 2011, down from the 7.10% for October. Growth rates in Medicare claim costs rose by 2.37%, down from the 2.55% for October. The Hospital and Professional Services Indices annual growth rates also declined from their October 2011 rates. However, November’s moderation in healthcare costs was more attributable to professional service practices than to hospitals. Most of the change was driven by further declines in growth rates in costs covered by Medicare plans. For more information, visit standardandpoors.com.
HHS Issues Interim Final Rule on Contraception Coverage
HHS’ Interim final rule on preventive health services ensures that women with health insurance coverage will have access to all FDA-approved forms of contraception. Women will not have to forego these services because of expensive co-pays or deductibles or because an insurance plan doesn’t include contraceptive services. This rule is consistent with the laws in a majority of states, which already require contraception coverage in health plans.
Beginning August 1, 2012, most new and renewed health plans will be required to cover these services without cost sharing for women across the country. After evaluating comments, HHS has decided to add an additional element to the final rule. Nonprofit employers who, based on religious beliefs, do not provide contraceptive coverage in their insurance plan, will have until August 1, 2013 to comply with the new law. Employers must certify that they qualify for the delayed implementation. HHS secretary Kathleen Sebelius said, “We intend to require employers that do not offer coverage of contraceptive services to provide notice to employees, which will also state that contraceptive services are available at sites such as community health centers, public clinics, and hospitals with income-based support. We will continue to work closely with religious groups during this transitional period to discuss their concerns.” She noted that the final rule will not affect protections that healthcare providers have under existing conscience laws and regulations.
