The Choice: A Longer Life or More Stuff
The most authoritative report on the cost of health insurance came out yesterday, and it’s sure to cause some new outrage.
The average cost of a family insurance plan that Americans get through their jobs has risen another 7.7 percent this year, to $11,500, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation. In only seven years, the cost has doubled, while incomes and company revenue, which pay for health insurance, haven’t risen nearly as much.
But, a baby born in the United States this year will live to age 78 on average, a decade longer than the average baby born in 1950. People who have already made it to their 40’s can now expect to reach age 80. These gains are probably bigger than the ones the British experienced in the entire millennium leading up to 1800.
If you think about this as the return on the investments in medicine, the payoff has been fabulous: Would you prefer spending an extra $5,500 on health care every year — or losing 10 years off your lifespan?
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Health Insurance.
Insurers: Price Is Right For Generics
When Ray Metz went to see his doctor for his high blood pressure earlier this year, he was not surprised to get a free drug sample. Only it wasn't a well-known brand.
Instead it was a generic drug by the name of Lisinopril, a copy of the more expensive and better-known Zestril.
"The generic samples were given to me, and the price was right," said the 45-year-old psychiatric nurse from Pittsburgh. "I don't see any more reason to use an expensive brand with health-care costs the way they are. The cheaper prices, the better.
"Welcome to the new front in the multibillion-dollar war to get drugs in the hands of consumers.
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Prescription Drugs.
Employers Use Incentives To Help Improve Nutrition In The Workplace
Determined to combat obesity, drive down health-care costs and boost their bottom lines, some companies have turned to creative methods of steering employees toward more healthful eating options.
At Stamford, Conn.-based Pitney Bowes' cafeterias, the message is clear.
A veggie wrap stuffed with portobello mushrooms, shredded carrots and lettuce costs $2.49. Employees hankering for chicken fingers pay $3.77; those craving pizza shell out $4.48.
That message follows snackers to the vending machines, where apples cost 65 cents and pop-tarts cost 90 cents. Machines sell fried chips for 75 cents, but baked ones for 50 cents.
"This is absolutely deliberately planned,'' said Pitney Bowes spokesman Matt Broder, who said the company's price incentives emerged gradually during the past several years. "We're really trying to steer employees toward healthier food choices.''
This article can be read in its entirety at
Nutrition in the Workplace.
Putting Carrots On The Table That Employees Will Bite: Rewards And Perks
The old adage "it's better to give then receive" is starting to grab the attention of more employers who want to keep top-notch workers.
While money still lingers in the picture, businesses are starting to realize the small personal things can also go a long way in increasing workers' job satisfaction and motivation.
"It's an intriguing phenomenon that managers think employees only care about wages, considering numerous and recent studies showing workers want recognition more than monetary rewards," says Chester Elton, co-author of the bestseller. The 24-Carrot Manager.
Elton and co-author Adrian Gostick believe rewards and recognition, which they call carrots and include anything from a simple thank you note to a formal anniversary party, can motivate workers to improve their job performance and commitment to a company, thus enhancing an organization's profitability.
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rewards.
State insurance premiums keep climbing
Health insurance premiums increased 12.8 percent for the 12 months ended March 1, according to Compdata Surveys, a unit of Kansas-based Dolan Technologies Corp. that provides pay and benefit data to companies nationwide.
The increase is down from the prior year's 13.8-percent gain and a 16.3-percent increase two years ago. HMO plans had the lowest increase at 12.5 percent. Companies for several years have fought rising premiums by increasing deductibles and co-insurance amounts and decreasing benefits.
In the survey period, just under 41 percent of Indiana companies increased the employee's portion of the health premium, 33.6 percent increased deductible levels and 5.9 percent reduced benefits offered in an effort to save on health care costs.
Article provided by the Indiana Business Journal, September 19, 2006.
More Firms Adopting Consumerism
Only 5.8% of employers provide consumer-driven health plans, up from 2.6% last year, with 3.4% of all covered workers enrolled in these plans, up from 1.9% last year. The increase stems, in part, from smaller employers adopting CDHPs, reveals a new benchmarking survey from the United Benefit Advisors.
The group, which represents nearly 140 independent benefit advisory firms, conducted an extensive, nationwide survey examining health plan enrollment, design, cost and premiums. Nearly 10,000 employers representing over 1.5 million workers responded to this year's survey.
The average annual health plan cost per employee is $6,629, with an average employee cost of $2,031 and an average employer cost of $4,592. The average employer contribution to health reimbursement arrangements was $1,033 for single coverage and $1,965 for family coverage, while the average employer contribution to health savings accounts was $938 for single coverage and $1,533 for family coverage.
Businesses may be relieved to see that premiums increased an average of 8.6% this year, compared to 9.6% last year. About 32% of all plans required no employee contributions. Among plans requiring contributions, employees contributed an average of 26.9% of the premium, or $88, for single coverage and 45.3% of the premium, or $361, for family coverage.
“With employer health plan information reported for over 2,700 cities from virtually every state in the country, differences in plan design and plan costs between various regions and industry groups become apparent,” says David LoCascio, UBA’s co-founder.
Article provided by BenefitNews, Sept 14, 2006.
Higher Copays Don't Deter Use Of Needed High-Cost Medication
While higher copayments often limit the frequency with which patients use many traditional medications, cost-sharing has relatively little impact on the use of expensive new "specialty pharmacy" drugs.
That finding, being published today in the policy journal Health Affairs, is important because health plans are struggling to pay for the drugs, which can cost as much as $10,000 per month.
Copayments have been effective in controlling other pharmacy costs, it said, but not specialty pharmacy drugs that include injectable and biological agents that target a gene or protein, and in many cases treat complex chronic conditions such as anemia, cancer and multiple sclerosis.
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Specialty Drugs.
More Reasons To Integrate Medical And Disability Data
New research from the Integrated Benefits Institute continues to strengthen the case for integrating medical and disability data.
The group's analysis of 15,000 disability claims -- covering 53,00 medical conditions from 183 employers over an 18-month period -- from Cigna offers advisers several reasons for making sure their clients are taking a holistic approach to controlling health, disability and productivity costs.
IBI says that lost productivity costs associated with disability absence averages $22,800 per claim. That's significantly more than the $13,600 for medical costs and $3,800 for disability payments. If employers just focus on medical and disability expenditures they may end up misallocating their resources.
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Disability Data.
We're Born to Walk
Our genes demand exercise, and that's at odds with our modern lifestyle, which increasingly does not. Evolutionary biologists theorize that a genetic hunger for physical activity comes from our hunter-gatherer ancestors who survived to pass on their DNA to us, as their sluggish comrades starved to death, were annihilated by predators, or simply flunked out in the mating game. But for the 40 to 50 million sedentary Americans who carry the greatest burden of chronic disease and for the rest of us who are at risk, this theory has taken on lifesaving importance. Researchers have recently discovered a bevy of genes, ones geared to make healthier, sturdier, longer-living humans, that do their job only if stimulated by an appropriate dose of physical activity.
Article can be viewed in its entirety at
U.S. News & World Report.
Workers Motivated By Richer Benefits
As Labor Day approaches, one survey hopes to reveal what employees really want. A whopping 78% of workers say their motivation would increase if their employer offered more benefits, such as health coverage and flex time, reveals a new survey from Harris Interactive and Kronos, which polled more than 1,000 employees. Only 36% of employees work for organizations that invest in the benefits that would make them more satisfied workers.
A more competitive salary, 100% of health coverage paid by the employer and a company-matched 401(k) top the workers' wish lists. Other benefits constantly listed as desirable include bonus programs, flexible schedules and compressed workweeks.
The survey's suggested link between poor employee benefits and low satisfaction or low motivation among employees could explain another finding. One in five workers is actively seeking a new job, and most are keeping an eye out for something better.
Stuart Itkin, chief marketing officer at Kronos, calls the findings "a wake-up call for employers."
Article provided by Benefitnews.com August 31, 2006
Study Finds Health Care Good Value Despite Costs
The dramatic increase in health-care spending in the United States since 1960 is a major reason that Americans are living longer, making the world's most expensive health-care system a good value despite its high costs, according to an academic study being released today.
The study notes that a baby born in 2000 can expect to live for 76.9 years, compared with 69.9 years for a newborn in 1960. While some of the gain is because of declines in rates of smoking and fatal accidents, it is reasonable to attribute at least half of it to more and better health care, said Harvard University economist David M. Cutler, the study's lead author.
"If you want to evaluate whether we're spending too much, you have to know what we're getting for it," Cutler said in a telephone interview. "And when you look at what we're getting for it, the return actually looks to be pretty high. . . . The presumption that most people have is that it's obvious that we're spending way too much."
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The Washington Post to view this article in its entirety.
