You've been encouraging employees to take a more active role in their health care. You've provided an HSA, an HRA, and an FSA to make sure they have the ability to pay health-related expenses before taxes. But you've also fielded questions from employees, nearly as frustrated with the complicated new programs as they are with healthcare costs. What's a conscientious employer to do?
CBS Personnel Holdings, Inc., a Cincinnati-based temporary staffing and executive search company with 145 branches in 18 states, offers a traditional medical plan to its internal staff of 850. About 5 years ago, the company also started offering a limited healthcare plan to thousands of temporary associates who work at client locations, says Suzanne Perry, vice president of human resources.
With 1.3 million full- and part-time U.S. associates, Wal-Mart stands out as the giant among retailers. The company?s size affords it the opportunity to effect change wherever it chooses to pull its substantial clout. While the company believes its benefits package has become increasingly valuable to its employees as a result of the changes, it recognized that the healthcare problem is much larger than one company, no matter its size. In February 2007, Wal-Mart and other major American corporations decided to act.
As employers search for ways to reduce skyrocketing healthcare costs, the idea of implementing a wellness program to improve employees' health seems like a simple, appealing way to help accomplish that goal. However, employers should be aware that some wellness programs can run afoul of federal and state laws in terms of reasonable accommodation, privacy, confidentiality of personal health information, and protection of off-duty conduct.
Among life-altering events, divorce ranks second only to the death of a spouse in terms of stress. And people who suffer a trauma bring their problems to work. We spoke with Dan Couvrette, CEO and publisher of Divorce Magazine, to find out how HR can best assist divorcing employees in addressing issues raised by divorce.
For the past few years we've waited, and it seems to be here at last: disease management and the drive toward consumerism are beginning to work. Rather than another huge increase in premiums, some companies are seeing their premium level for the first time in many years. Wellness, it seems, pays off. Michael Mulvihill, president and CEO of Leade Health, is one of the many experts in the field who believe that an individualized, intensive approach to wellness is the most effective way to get people healthy.
Even large organizations don't have as much leverage as they used to when it comes to purchasing health insurance, so there's an increased emphasis on improving employees' health, says George McGregor, general manager of the Southern California Schools Voluntary Employee Benefit Association (VEBA).
With more and more companies moving to high-deductible health plans, one particular kind of voluntary benefit is emerging as a winner. Critical illness coverage can increase employees' comfort levels with the change, without significantly reducing their bank accounts.
High deductible, consumer-driven health plans are meant to control healthcare
costs, and they show
some positive results. So doesn't
it follow that using them to replace traditional plans would finally rein
in the runaway costs?
A recent BLR audio conference explored the latest square in the crazy quilt of efforts to help employees get and pay for healthcare services--health savings accounts (HSAs).
