One of the driving factors for the increase of medical insurance premiums is the cost of prescription drugs. There is a prescription for everything. Twenty years ago, we weren’t walking into our doctor’s office asking for a prescription by name. Today we know the names of the prescription we want to take, and we ask our doctor WHY we’re not already on that prescription. If we can use generic drugs whenever the opportunity presents itself, [Read more…] about Brand Name Drugs vs. Generic Drugs
employee benefits
June is Men’s Health Awareness Month
June is Men’s Health Awareness Month. This is a newsletter that United Health Care designed to be given to the man or men in your life. Men are notorious for ignoring their preventative health. This newsletter gives some information on when to get specific tests, and what tests you should be getting.
Also, with the ever growing popularity of Wellness plans, and getting healthy, this ties in great with what you’re trying to do with your employees or families.
There was a recent study that showed the majority of Americans are getting their health information from their employers. If you think about this it makes sense. Where else do we spend the majority of our time?
Please let us know if you have any questions or concerns.
Here’s your newsletter:
Family Health Care Costs Rise Again
An independent actuarial and healthcare consulting firm Milliman Inc., is reporting that American families who obtain their health insurance through their employer are experiencing a 7.3% increase in their health insurance in 2011. This is $19,393 per family in 2011.
The study is also showing that employers are paying less of the premium for their employees medical insurance. This trend has been going on for quite sometime.
The study also reveals that Health Care Reform is not reducing the cost of medical insurance.
Employers W-2 Reporting Requirement
This piece of health care reform continues to change constantly. Â United Health Care released some news on this just this week –
“Employers will be responsible for reporting to employees the total cost of their group health benefit plan coverage on their W-2 forms under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. The reporting requirements are expected to apply to the 2012 W-2 forms, which is information employers must report to employees in January 2013.
This requirement is informational only and does not mean that employer-provided coverage will become taxable. Employers filing fewer than 250 W-2 forms in 2011 will not be required to report the cost of coverage on any forms furnished to employees before January 2014.”
Stay tuned, I’m sure it will change again!
Preventive Care and Employees
Preventive care is medical care that focuses on disease prevention and health maintenance. Preventive services result in earlier detection of diseases. Having your preventive checkups completed also may lead to earlier discovery and identification of risks that could lead to further health problems down the road. Common examples of preventive care services are screening tests, health education, and immunization programs.
There is more and more research being published connecting preventive care visits to overall health and well-being of employees. Employers that offer and promote their preventive care benefits are seeing healthier and happier employees. Employers are also seeing that employees are missing less days due to illness. These employees that are taking advantage of their preventive services are more productive when they’re at work, they miss less days, and they are more loyal to their employers.
Preventive care is a vital part to having a healthy workforce. When preventive care is being used, it catches illnesses and diseases in their earliest stages. In 2004 there was a study completed that reported 7,600 cases of late-stage breast cancer, 20,000 cases of late-stage colorectal cancer, and 21,000 cases of bone disaese fractures. All of these diesesases could’ve been treated or prevented with earlier detection, preventing the $485.2 million in excess medical claims.
Here is a link to Humana’s Preventive Services Guide. Â This is just to give a general overview of what type of services are preventive. Â You should check with your specific plan to know what is covered under your plan. Â This should just be used as a guid.
Humana Preventive Services Guide