Employers rate private exchanges positively, but use is still low
Great article from Benefits Pro by Gil Lowerre and Bonnie Brazzell
A recent Eastbridge survey of employers found that the use of private exchanges continues to be minimal among all size categories and that a positive correlation remains between use and employer size (with use increasing as employer size increases). Many times, it is the broker who influences these employers to adopt the exchange model, and to offer more options to their employees or to move to a defined contribution approach.
Since brokers are often the ones suggesting an exchange for their clients, it makes sense that most employers (74 percent) continue to use a broker for their employee benefits after implementing a private exchange. Only 19 percent of the employers no longer utilize broker services.
While use has been low, employers that have implemented an exchange believe their employees’ experience with the private exchange has been positive. Forty percent indicated the experience was not only positive, but easier than previous enrollments, and 52 percent said it was positive, but not significantly different from previous enrollment.
The survey also pointed to future interest by employers in private exchanges. Over one-quarter of the employers that are not using a private exchange today are open to using this concept in the future, and another one-quarter are still undecided.
Whether or not to offer a private exchange is a decision that should be based on many factors. Nonetheless, it is important for brokers to at least consider broaching the subject with employer clients — or risk the chance that some other broker will. The fact that most employers rate the exchange process positively should provide comfort to those considering this approach to benefits.
See the original article Here.
Source:
Lowerre, G. & Brazzell, B. (2016 November 02). Employers rate private exchanges positively, but use is still low. [Web blog post]. Retrieved from address https://www.benefitspro.com/2016/11/02/employers-rate-private-exchanges-positively-but-us
Travel is millennials’ work incentive
Do you know what millennials are looking for in the workplace? Travel and flexibility are among the top 2 as mentioned in the article below by Marlenen Y. Satter.
Original Article Posted on BenefitsPro.com
Posted: October 7, 2016
Millennials have itchy feet.
In fact, their desire to see faraway places is their main reason to work — after, of course, paying basic necessities. According to FlexJobs survey, a hefty 70 percent of millennials say their “overwhelming desire to travel” is their main motivation on the job — that’s just a tad less than the 88 percent who cite that basic motivator: necessities.
Gen X respondents are fond of travel too, but not as much as millennials; 60 percent ranked it as the fourth most important reason for working. And boomers are apparently settling down; just 47 percent ranked travel as fifth in importance.
Not only are millennials wanderers, they want flexibility — up to a point. Freelance work seems to be going farther than they’d like (particularly since at least some of that “flexibility” is really out of a freelancer’s control and in the hands of clients).
Although millennials tend to be more associated with freelance work than other generations, only 42 percent of millennials are open to freelancing as a flexible work arrangement.
Gen Xers actually view freelance work more favorably than millennials, with 47 percent willing to consider it. Forty-four percent of boomers also expressed interest in freelancing.
Flexibility, on the other hand, is important enough to millennials that 82 percent say it’s a factor in evaluating a potential job, and 34 percent have actually left a job because it did not have work flexibility. In addition, 82 percent say they’d be more loyal to an employer if they had flexible work options.
Yet, although they’re the ones most interested in flexibility, millennials are also the generation most required to be at the office to work than older generations: 34 percent, compared with Gen Xers at 26 percent and boomers at 19 percent. Their work schedule — part of that flexibility — is also important to more millennials (65 percent) than it is to Gen Xers (57 percent) or to boomers (62 percent).
Interestingly, though, none of the generations regard the office during traditional working hours as their location of choice for optimum productivity.
See the Original Article Here.
Source:
Satter, M.Y. (2016, October 7) Travel is millennials' work incentive [Web log post]. Retrieved from https://www.benefitspro.com/2016/10/07/travel-is-millennials-work-incentive?ref=hp-top-stories
4 Ways Benefits Administrations Can Stop Cyberattacks
Original Post from BenefitsPro.com
By: Tom Pohl
There are reports of data breaches in the news every week, impacting a range of organizations and industries. These cyberattacks are costing businesses, both large and small, a great deal to resolve — from financial expenses to IT and legal resources to reputation recovery efforts.
According to a new study by the Ponemon Institute, data breaches are costing the health care industry $6.2 billion annually. Nearly 90 percent of health care organizations were victims of a breach in the last two years, raising concern for patients, employees, and others involved in the health care system.
Today, the leading cause of health care data breaches are targeted criminal attacks that seek to place valuable personal information into the hands of malicious actors. The personal information given out to health care organizations can be some of the most valuable to cybercriminals. For example, when enrolling in benefits, the information submitted can include patient names, family history, Social Security numbers, and billing information.
It’s important to also note that not all breaches are malicious. Human error is often a cause of breaches, asCompTia’s International Trends in Cybersecurity report found the 58 percent of security breaches are typically due to human error.
So what can benefits administration technology providers do to keep sensitive data secure from human error and malicious threats?
Conduct extensive user testing on your security systems
Implementing user testing through a third party vendor allows benefits administration technology providers to discover gaps or holes in their security systems. This can be done via a user testing group, which is comprised of individuals trained to discover the predominant methods that cybercriminals would abuse to compromise web-based applications.
The group is given a platform with authorized access and fake scenarios, all set up to act as if the system was running as usual. As these experts go into the system and know what areas to try and hack, the organization is able to develop plans to combat or repair these issues. User testing is similar to proofreading a paper; getting a second set of eyes on a program allows companies to see the full risks of its security system.
Educate employees on cyberthreats
As data breaches become a daily concern for IT departments, educating employees on the risks and dangers of cyberattacks becomes even more of a priority. Benefits administration technology providers need to prioritize educational resources and programs to teach employees how to spot potential cyberattacks, especially as they are handling their customers’ private information.
An effective and simple way to train employees on how to spot strange activity can be done via an email phishing awareness campaign. This involves delivering emails to employees with mocked up links or downloadable materials that, if real, would have the potential to open users’ accounts up to cyberattacks. Organizations should also consistently remind its employees to report any suspicious activity and to change their passwords regularly for a more secure system.
Automate processes to reduce the risk of human error
Recently, Google was in the news for a suffered data breach via its benefits provider. Yet the reason for this incident was human error, in which an email sender accidentally sent a document to the wrong contact. Fortunately for Google, the damage was limited, but human error is not always so forgiving.
With automation, benefits administration technology providers have the ability to decrease the chances of sensitive information getting into the wrong hands. This can be done by sending dummy files before sending the actual files to contacts. Another option is to implement triggers on email accounts when certain information is involved. For example, if a file is attached to the email, prompt the sender to confirm it is the correct file before sending. Implementing automation is a key factor in combatting human errors that could increase the risk of a cyberattack, especially when it comes to personal data.
Beware of the insider threat
While public perception is that these attacks result solely from the actions of malicious hackers outside of an organization, insider threats are a growing and serious concern. Vormetric’s 2015 Insider Threat Report reveals that over 90 percent of U.S. organizations believe they are vulnerable to insider threats such as stolen passwords or email spam. In fact, the National Association of Manufacturers released a statement in April 2016 stating the theft of trade secrets has cost businesses $250 billion per year.
Benefits administration technology may want to go a step further to ensure employees are operating in the correct space. Requiring background checks and limiting access to sensitive data will provide an extra level of security for patient, employee, and others’ personal information.
Most Consumers Value Integrated Benefits for Time and Cost Savings
Originally posted December 11, 2014 on Insurance Broadcasting
Whether it’s dental insurance or the smartphone, consumers want products that offer simplification and savings. In a new survey, Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield asked Americans what products make their lives easier and the findings revealed that integrated products and services are highly valued – for example, the smartphone (74 percent), printer/copier/scanner (64 percent) and the toaster oven (36 percent). And, when it comes to insurance, consumers overwhelmingly (81 percent) said it would be extremely helpful to trust the same carrier to provide their dental, vision and health coverage.
“We’re meeting the needs of both employer and employee by providing affordable and comprehensive coverage benefits, which helps save time and money every step of the way.”
So, what specifically are consumers looking for when it comes to selecting an insurance plan? Survey respondents said a range of factors are important to consider, but they most frequently point to cost as being an extremely important aspect (67 percent), followed by comprehensiveness of coverage (61 percent), customer service (60 percent) and ease of use (58 percent). Additionally, 86 percent would expect to save time, save money or receive improved care if they had the same carrier integrate dental with their vision and medical benefits.
In the current health care environment, employers are looking for products that offer their employees exceptional valuei. The good news is that simpler processes, vast networks and deep discounts offered by multiline carriers like Anthem can provide employers and employees with the exceptional value they are seeking.
“For example, we offer a vast choice of dental benefits that employees want, along with large, reliable provider networks that make it easy and affordable for consumers to maintain good oral health,” said Erin Hoeflinger, President of Anthem in Ohio. “We’ve built strong relationships with the dentists in our network and we have negotiated rates, which saves members on average 25 to 32 percent on their covered dental services.”
In addition to seeing a cost savings, consumers can expect to save time when they select a multiline carrier. Half of the consumers surveyed (50 percent) say that figuring out costs is the most time consuming aspect of health management. Two-in-five also say it’s time-consuming to find health care providers that accept their insurance (41 percent) and to get their doctors to talk with each other to coordinate care (39 percent).
“With all of the advantages available to consumers and employers who get their benefits from a multiline carrier, there’s no reason to settle for the inefficiencies of having multiple benefit providers," said Hoeflinger. “We’re meeting the needs of both employer and employee by providing affordable and comprehensive coverage benefits, which helps save time and money every step of the way.”
This report presents the findings of a telephone survey conducted among 1,005 adults, 503 men and 502 women 18 years of age and older, living in the continental United States. Interviewing for this ORC International CARAVAN® Survey was completed on July 10-13, 2014. 605 interviews were from the landline sample and 400 interviews from the cell phone sample.
The margin of error for the total sample is ±3.0 percent at the 95% confidence level. This means that if we were to replicate the study, we would expect to get the same results within 3.0 percentage points 95 times out of 100.
Better understanding of benefits helps both employee and employer
According to new research from Unum, a recent survey of more than 1,500 employees shows only half of U.S. employees would rate their employer as excellent or very good. Even less than that, the 47% who were offered benefits by their employer, rated the actual benefits as excellent or very good — some of the lowest ratings for benefits the Unum has seen in recent years.
The data points to a lack of employees getting information needed on the benefits being offered. Only 33% of those surveyed who were asked to review benefits in the prior year rated the benefits education they received as excellent or very good — a drop from 2012 and reversal of the upward trend since 2009.
“Offering employees effective benefits education can contribute to satisfaction with their employer,” says Bill Dalicandro, vice president of the consumer solutions group at Unum. “Even if employees don’t have a particularly good benefits package, those who say they received quality education about the benefits they are offered are far more likely to consider their employer a very good place to work.”
Employers can also get a win when providing educational guidance in choosing the right benefits. Correlation between employee satisfaction with their benefits continues to run parallel with overall employer satisfaction.
More than three-quarters of those employees who rate their benefits package as highly also rate their employer as an excellent or very good place to work. By contrast, only 17% of employees who consider their benefits package to be fair or poor rate their workplace as excellent or very good.
Additionally 79% of employees who reviewed benefits in the past year and rated their education as excellent or very good also rate their employer as excellent or very good — compared to 30% who said the education they received was fair or poor.
The survey also found:
- 40% of employees say they understand supplemental medical coverage somewhat or very well.
- 47% say they understand critical illness insurance somewhat or very well
- 48% whose employers offered long or short term disability insurance said no one explained disability insurance to them.
- 66% agree employers should do a better job educating employees about these important benefits.
“This research underscores the value of an effective benefits education plan, because when an employee understands their benefits, they tend to value them more and in turn may then value their employers more for providing access to them,” Dalicandro adds.
Avoiding PPACA excise tax a priority
Originally posted August 20, 2014 by Dan Cook on www.benefitspro.com.
Despite foreseeing record-breaking employee health care costs in the near term, major employers will continue to offer coverage to full and part-time workers. However, coverage for spouses and dependents could be targeted for cutbacks.
That’s the latest from a Towers Watson survey that found employers generally anticipate a 5.2 percent increase next year in health plan costs, which would put coverage cost per employee at an all-time high, Towers Watson said.
However, many employers are planning to make design changes to their plans. Should they occur, employers then project a 4 percent plan increase.
“Despite this cost trend, most (83 percent) employers consider health benefits an important element of their employee value proposition, and plan to continue subsidizing and managing them for both full-time and part-time active employees,” Towers Watson said. Virtually all of these large employers surveyed said they will continue to offer health benefits to employees, with few indicating they were ready to move coverage to a private exchange.
The results were gleaned from the company’s 2014 Health Care Changes Ahead Survey.
Large employers were asked about their health care-related cost concerns for the future. A major one is the excise tax that goes into effect in 2018 as part of the full rollout of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.
“Nearly three-quarters (73 percent) of employers said they are somewhat or very concerned they will trigger the tax based on their current plans and cost trajectory,” Towers Watson said. “More than four in 10 (43 percent) said avoiding the tax is the top priority for their health care strategies in 2015. As a result of the excise tax and other provisions of the health care reform law, CEOs and CFOs are more actively engaged in strategy discussions.”
The objective is not to eliminate or even substantially reduce employee coverage, Towers Watson said, but to continue to manage costs as finely as possible without gutting coverage.
“The emphasis is on achieving or maintaining a high-performance health plan,” said Randall Abbott, senior consultant at Towers Watson. “And CFOs are now focused on a new gold standard: managing health cost increases to the Consumer Price Index. This requires acute attention to improving program performance."
Other key findings from the study:
- 81 percent of employers plan moderate to significant changes to their health care plans over the next three years, up from 72 percent a year ago;
- 48 percent are considering tying incentives to reaching a specified health outcome such as biometric targets, compared with just 10 percent that intend to adopt it in 2015;
- 37 percent are considering offering plans with a higher level of benefit based on the use of high-performance or narrow networks of medical providers, compared with just 7 percent in 2015;
- 34 percent are considering telemedicine, compared with 15 percent in 2015, as employers encourage employees to use such telemedicine strategies as virtual physician office visits to improve access and efficiency of care delivery;
- 33 percent are considering significantly reducing company subsidies for spouses and dependents (10 percent have already implemented such reductions, and 9 percent intend to do so in 2015);
- 26 percent said they are considering spouse exclusions or surcharges if coverage is available elsewhere (30 percent have that tactic in place now, and another 7 percent expect to add it in 2015);
- 30 percent of employers considering caps on health care coverage subsidies for active employees, using defined contribution approaches (13 percent have them in place today and another 3 percent planning them for 2015).
Employers continue to study private exchanges, although 77 percent “are not at all confident public exchanges will provide a viable alternative for their active full-time employees in 2015 or 2016.”
Still, 24 percent said private exchanges could provide a viable alternative for their active full-time employees in 2016. They are looking at three key factors to emerge that would push them in that direction:
- Evidence they can deliver greater value than their current self-managed model (64 percent);
- Adoption of private exchanges by other large companies in their industry (34 percent);
- An inability to stay below the excise tax ceiling as 2018 approaches (26 percent).
“The most effective employers are continually evaluating new strategies for improving health plan performance,” Abbott said. “Examples include a steady migration to account-based health plans, action-based incentives, adoption of value-based payment methods with health plan partners and plan designs that drive efficiencies. Other options are technology-based solutions such as telemedicine, fitness devices or trackers, and social media to encourage employees to take a more active role in both their personal health status and how they use health care goods and services.”
What Americans think about health insurance & hiring practices
Originally posted July 25, 2014 by Lynette Gil on https://www.lifehealthpro.com
In a recent survey from Gallup, the majority (58 percent) of Americans said that they would justify charging higher health insurance rates to smokers. And about 39 percent said that they would justify raising health insurance rates to those significantly overweight.
Both percentages have gone down slightly since 2003, when Gallup asked these questions for the first time: from 65 percent for smokers having to pay higher rates and 43 percent for those significantly overweight.
The results are part of Gallup's July 7-10 2014 Consumption Habits survey, in which telephone interviews were conducted with a random sample of 1,013 adults, aged 18 and older, living in all 50 U.S. states and D.C.
The survey also asked participants if companies should be allowed to refuse to hire smokers or those significantly overweight. Most Americans agreed that there should not be discrimination against both. Only 12 percent said that companies should be allowed to refuse to hire people because they are significantly overweight (down from 16 percent in 2003); 14 percent said the same about smokers (up one percentage point from 13% in 2003).
Even though most Americans oppose “hiring policies that would allow companies to refuse to hire smokers or those who are significantly overweight,” it is unclear if those views are because they do not think smoking and obesity negatively affect workplace performance or they “simply reject discrimination of any kind in hiring,” the report says.
According to the report, smoking and being overweight are associated with higher health care costs, and even the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) allows for higher insurance premiums for smokers. Some would argue that allowing companies to refuse to hire smokers and people who are overweight, or charging them higher health insurance rates, might help encourage healthier lifestyles.
How Obamacare’s Progress Makes Expanding Coverage Harder
Originally posted July 21, 2014 by Drew Altman on https://blogs.wsj.com.
The Affordable Care Act’s success meeting its initial enrollment goals and the repair of HealthCare.gov seem to have calmed the political waters for Obamacare. But the job of enrolling the uninsured gets harder, not easier, because the remaining uninsured will generally be tougher to reach.
Recent surveys show, roughly in line with expectations, that 8 million to 9.5 million fewer adults are uninsured compared with last year before the Affordable Care Act went into effect. Specific data are not yet available for uninsured children who probably got covered as well, and an earlier provision of the health-care law that allowed people to stay on their parents’ insurance up to age 26 is thought to have lowered the number of uninsured young adults by as many as 3 million.
But tens of millions of Americans are not yet covered.
Those who enrolled last year during the first open-enrollment season were more likely to want coverage and were best able to navigate the process to get it. After open enrollment this fall and the one after that, the uninsured will gradually become a smaller and different group. Increasingly, they will be people who have been without insurance for a long time or who have never had it; people who are even less familiar with insurance choices and components such as premiums and deductibles, as well as unfamiliar with the tax credits offered under the ACA. These people are more likely to be men, and minorities, and have limited education or language barriers. Increasingly they will fall into harder-to-reach high-risk groups, such as the homeless, who require very targeted outreach, and Hispanics who fear that seeking coverage could endanger undocumented relatives despite assurances from government that it will not.
On the plus side for the next open-enrollment season, many of the remaining uninsured waited out the first year but want insurance; a group of unknown size has been waiting to enroll this fall. Also, the penalties for not having insurance rise from the greater of $95 per adult or 1% of income this year to $325 or 2% of income next year. That is likely to motivate more of the remaining uninsured to enroll. Early studies show that the uninsured who have attained coverage are happy with what they got, and news will spread through family, friends and word of mouth to people who are uninsured, motivating some of them to seek coverage too.
As the job of reaching the uninsured gets tougher, the need will grow for targeted community-based outreach and enrollment services and, most of all, a realization that the remaining uninsured are a somewhat different group presenting new challenges.
Major work needed before enrollment
Originally posted July 10, 2014 by Kathryn Mayer on www.benefitspro.com.
The fall open enrollment period needs some major work, as new analysis out Thursday finds low satisfaction and little results, with many consumers remaining “uninsured and underserved,” after the first shopping experience in the exchanges under the Patient Protection and Affordable Act.
The inaugural J.D. Power 2014 Health Insurance Marketplace Shopper Study, which looked at enrollment satisfaction among more than 1,600 consumers who shopped for coverage under PPACA November 2013 through April 2014, found that satisfaction during the first signup period averaged 615 on a 1,000-point scale.
The results indicate that health plans need to “retool” their efforts ahead of 2015 open enrollment, which begins Nov. 15.
“No doubt that ensuring a technologically error-free experience, along with streamlining the online enrollment process will be most impactful to future marketplace shoppers,” said Rick Johnson, senior director of the health care practice at J.D. Power. “While the uninsured are now a smaller group, they continue to be underserved, just as they were prior to the exchanges, and continue to need more information delivered in an easy-to-understand and personal way.”
J.D. Power found that many shoppers began the enrollment process but had problems completing their plan purchase at the time of the survey primarily due to three reasons:
- A combination of technical problems experienced during the enrollment process (40 percent);
- The application process taking too long (19 percent); and
- The website not having enough information about the plans to make a selection (18 percent).
Additionally, 49 percent of shoppers who didn’t complete enrollment did not choose a plan during their initial shopping experience because they had not yet decided which plan they wanted.
The technical problems for HealthCare.gov have been well-documented.
The survey found that satisfaction was higher among those enrollees who got in-person help from brokers and navigators.
When shoppers used a navigator — a certified agent or broker used by 17 percent of shoppers — during the shopping process, satisfaction rose to a score of 631 compared to 611 for those who didn’t use a navigator.
Though it was the least common way to sign up for a health plan, in-person enrollment had a higher satisfaction rate at 715 points. Online enrollment had a satisfaction score of just 597 while selecting a plan on the phone had a score of 623.
That’s in line with previous research from the Urban Institute and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, which found that brokers are the highest-ranked of all information sources on PPACA and enrollment help by consumers.
But that finding also means carriers and brokers have more work to do, too, in working to engage consumers. J.D. Power said that “health insurance companies and the exchanges should continue to find ways to personalize the insurance shopping experience for consumers.”
“When the dust finally settles later in 2014 and in 2015, for health insurance providers to thrive in this new environment, they will need to retool their marketing, information and enrollment efforts toward a new generation of uninsured to serve their needs,” Johnson said.
One-Third of Workers Say ACA Will Delay Their Retirement
Originally posted May 27, 2014 on https://annuitynews.com. 
Although the Congressional Budget Office projects a smaller U.S. workforce in coming years as a result of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), the majority of American workers don't believe that the ACA will allow them to retire any sooner, according to a new survey from https://MoneyRates.com. On the contrary, the Op4G-conducted survey indicates that one-third of workers expect that the ACA – also known as Obamacare – will raise their health care costs and thereby force them to retire later than they previously anticipated.
One-quarter of respondents felt that Obamacare would have no impact on their retirement date, and another one-quarter weren't sure how it would impact their retirement. Those who felt Obamacare would allow them to retire earlier were the smallest segment of respondents at 17 percent.
Many of the workers who indicated that Obamacare would delay their retirement said that the delay would be lengthy. Seventy percent of those respondents said they expected the delay to be at least three years, including the 39 percent who said it would be at least five years. The respondents who said they expected an earlier retirement were more moderate in their projections, with 71 percent indicating it would hasten their retirement by three years or less.
Richard Barrington, CFA, senior financial analyst for https://MoneyRates.com and author of the study, says that the purpose of the survey wasn't to determine whether Obamacare would truly delay or hasten anyone's retirement, but rather to gauge the fear and uncertainty that surround the program today.
"It's too early to tell whether Obamacare will actually delay people's retirements," says Barrington. "But what's clear at this point is that the program has created a lot of concern about health care costs as a burden on workers and retirees."
Barrington adds that whether or not these concerns are warranted, there are steps workers can take to better manage their health care costs in retirement, including budgeting for health insurance within their retirement plans, shopping regularly for better deals on insurance and using a health savings account as a way of handling out-of-pocket medical expenses.
"The poll reflects a high degree of uncertainty over the impact of Obamacare on retirement," says Barrington. "One way to reduce the uncertainty is to take active steps to manage how health care will affect your retirement."