Employer Benefits 2010 Survey
The Kaiser Family Foundation and the Health Research & Educational Trust (Kaiser/HRET) conduct this annual survey of employer-sponsored health benefits.
HRET, a nonprofit research organization, is an affiliate of the American Hospital Association. The Kaiser Family Foundation designs, analyzes, and conducts this survey in partnership with HRET, and also pays for the cost of the survey. HRET subcontracts with researchers at National Opinion Research Center (NORC) at the University of Chicago, who work with Foundation and HRET researchers in conducting the study. Kaiser/HRET retained National Research, LLC (NR), a Washington, D.C.-based survey research firm, to conduct telephone interviews with human resource and benefits managers using the Kaiser/HRET survey instrument. From January to May 2010 NR completed full interviews with 2,046 firms.
Survey Topics
As in past years, Kaiser/HRET asked each participating firm as many as 400 questions about its largest health maintenance organization (HMO), preferred provider organization (PPO), point-of-service (POS) plan, and high-deductible health plan with a savings option (HDHP/SO).1 In 2006, Kaiser/HRET began asking employers if they had a health plan that was an exclusive provider organization (EPO). We treat EPOs and HMOs together as one plan type and report the information under the banner of “HMO”; if an employer sponsors both an HMO and an EPO, they are asked about the attributes of the plan with the larger enrollment.
New topics in the 2010 survey include questions on eligibility for dependent coverage, coverage for care received at retail clinics, health plan changes as a result of the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act of 2008, and disease management. As in past years, this year’s survey included questions on the cost of health insurance, offer rates, coverage, eligibility, enrollment patterns, premiums, 2 employee cost sharing, prescription drug benefits, retiree health benefits, wellness benefits, and employer opinions.
If you’d like a copy of the Employer Benefits 2010 Survey, please send us an email request
Healthcare Reform Grace Period
The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) requires non-grandfathered group health plans to adopt an improved internal claims and appeals process and follow minimum requirements for external review. This requirement is generally effective for plan years beginning on or after September 23, 2010.
Interim final regulations implementing the appeals process rules were issued on July 23, 2010. On September 20, 2010, the Department of Labor supplemented the regulations with Technical Release 2010-02. This guidance establishes a grace period until July 1, 2011 for some of the standards contained in the regulations.
Workplace & Safety Tips
The employee shooting at Hartford Distributors in Manchester, Conn., this August serves as a powerful reminder of the prevalent threat of violence in the workplace and of potential holes in standard business coverage. The greatest number of violence incidents occurs in companies that deal with the public, exchange money, deliver goods and services, and operate late at night, but no business is immune.
Criminals, disgruntled employees, angry customers or even stalkers can pose threats. Any situation that puts employees under excess stress – from office politics to a romance gone wrong – is a risk.
Manage Stress After You Quit Smoking
Quitting smoking is no easy feat, and stress is often one of the biggest obstacles people face after they quit. For many, smoking was a primary way to handle stress, so finding healthy alternative coping strategies is key to remaining smoke-free.
I am happy to recommend Power Group to other groups such as ours or in any industry.
I have worked with Power Group since March of 2007. At the time I came on board with Encompass Medical Group, I was thrown in the middle of open enrollment with our company, who was taking on a new health insurance carrier. This first experience with the Power Group team was a great one in that they really came to my aid to keep our enrollment meetings on track and very informative for all our employees, as I was also in the learning stage.
Since that time, we have worked closely with their team on open enrollment, healthcare reform, our FSA plan and many other compliance and benefits issues. No matter who I ask for advice from, they come through for me in a timely manner. If my initial contact person cannot advise, they refer the question to another in the group that can help with their expertise. I speak to someone at Power Group on a weekly basis in some capacity or another, and feel that they always come through for me and Encompass Medical Group employees.
I have worked closely with Chip Power and Yvonne Waterman, but there are too many names to mention at Power Group that have been in my corner. I am happy to recommend Power Group to other groups such as ours or in any industry.
Michelle Lee
Encompass Medical Group
Human Resources Manager
