S&S Benefits.....Opinion,
Hearsay & News Review
Health Reform revisited:
Of course, now all the garbage in the health
reform bill is coming out of the landfill. Remember how the bill was supposed to
save money according to CBO scoring? Well, the CBO scores what Congress gives
them to score within certain parameters. But now the chief actuary of CMS says
the bill will cost more! Is anyone surprised? You are if you were a Democratic
member of Congress who voted for the bill. In addition, Waxman and Stupak were
going to have a hearing to beat up on CAT, Deere, AT&T, et al., for
announcing crushing earnings charges. However, they then chose to quietly cancel
their inquisition when their staff found out that the earnings charges were
indeed legitimate. And that little law about having to cover dependent children
up to age 26? Remember that one? Well, now the IRS has issued regulations saying
that benefits costs are tax deductible up until age 27 for an adult child. More
government tripping over more government. Why to age 26 for one provision and
age 27 for another? One other overlooked provision requires employers with more
than 50 employees to furnish a private space, other than a restroom, for mothers
to express milk for infants who are up to one year old.
For young adults, the
Associated Press found that insurance coverage could cost up to 17% more under
the health reform law beginning in 2014. This revelation is not surprising, but
it probably is also vastly understated since insurers are not allowed to have
rates for the oldest insureds exceed those for the youngest by more than a 3 to
1 ratio.
In other news, a Hewitt survey
of nearly 600 large employers shows that 47% already use or plan to use
financial penalties for employees who do not participate in health improvement
programs. Of those, 81% say they
will do so through higher premiums, 17% say the penalty will be higher
deductibles and coinsurance. A Towers Watson survey found that 67% of companies
with programs designed to change employee behavior thought that their vendor
fell short in achieving their goals
and 66% found that their vendors were not at all or only slightly effective in
changing member behavior. This effectively proves the old adage that you can
lead a horse to water, but you cannot make it drink. The survey also found that
those companies who had CDHPs for the last several years were seeing costs rise
at the same rates as other programs.
If you wish to be added or removed from the distribution of this
newsletter, please email jseiler@ssbenefits.net
A Crain’s survey of 3,698
employers found that 65.7% strongly agree that they will continue to offer
health coverage (after Obamacare is
fully enacted) because the coverage is a crucial part of recruiting and
retention efforts. Only 8.7% of those surveyed disagreed with that position.
Cigna
and Humana have announced an alliance to provide group Medicare Advantage
network products to their employer group clients to help with those client’s
retiree needs.
In a MetLife survey, for the
first time since 2006, controlling benefits costs edged out employee retention
as the top concern of employers. Employee productivity concerns ranked third.
Also in the survey, 68% of employees were feeling a heightened sense of job
insecurity. Sixty-six percent of those who are very satisfied with their
benefits are not as worried about unexpected health and financial issues.
A survey of workers comp costs
by OCI (a data integration and software services provider) found that claims and
benefit costs under workers comp rise as headcounts for employers go down. The
survey attributes staff reductions to more high risk claims on the job, probably
due to higher stress levels and longer hours for those who remain employed.
Consumer Reports did a survey
of employee health plans in 2009 and found that 15% of HMO employees had trouble
receiving care, compared to 14% of those who had PPO coverage. Eleven percent of
PPO members say they were sent bills that they were not obligated to pay,
compared to six percent of HMO members.
If you visit www.ssebenfits.net
you will be able to link to a full copy of the health reform bill and
reconciliation act as well as a summary of the reform provisions under the
“Obamacare” tab.
Met Life reported that 3 in 5
individuals who were out of work at least six months due to disability did not
have disability income protection. 88% of those with inadequate coverage said
the disability had a major devastating impact on their feelings of financial
security and 77% of them withdrew money from their savings, investments and
retirement accounts. Too bad, since the coverage is so inexpensive on a group
basis.