The best employee absences are the ones that never happen
A 2012 study showed half (48%) of a company’s employees experience business or personal legal-related issues each year, spending an average of 51 hours to resolve them. Compared to the average, these employees: Are absent five times more Use medical benefits four times more Use sick leave twice as often A range of employee assistance services […]
Medical Tourism
The Medical Tourism Association is helping employers and hospitals connect with companies to save millions in medical expenses. It’s popularity will grow as healthcare reform (Obamacare) is expected to create backlogs for medical services. Medical tourism (MT) is the patient travelling from highly developed nations to other areas of the world for medical care, usually […]
The Eyes, a Window to Health – Part 2
Employers and employees aren’t seeing the health and productivity boosts that would be possible if more employees took advantage of their vision benefit, especially in an aging workforce. According to Transitions Optical, Inc., nearly half of employees aren’t taking advantage of their vision benefit, by either not enrolling (24%) or by not using their benefit […]
The Eyes, a Window to Health – Part 1
The eyes are the only place in your whole body that offer a clear view of the blood vessels, without invasive techniques. That’s why with every exam, an eye doctor can gain deeper insight into a patient’s overall health and wellness. Vision disorders account for more than $8 billion in lost productivity every year. However, […]
Healthcare Reform Update – ‘Pay or Play’ Delayed Until 2016
Large employers with fewer than 100 Full-Time Employees got some good news. The rules for employers with at least 50 full-time employees provide transition relief with respect to all of 2015 and, for non-calendar plan years that begin in 2015, for the portion of that 2015 plan year that falls in 2016. Key points to […]
PPACA’s ‘Shared Responsibility’ – Time to Revisit FTE Worksheet
Even though the employer shared responsibility provisions of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) were delayed and will not take effect until January 1, 2015, employers should have prepared for their compliance strategies in 2013. However, if you were a procrastinator now is the time to review. Business owners and payroll personnel will want […]
2014 – Key Health Reform Provisions taking effect this year
• Health Benefit Exchanges – state exchanges move from enrollment to covered phase • Individual Mandate – requires each person to have minimum essential coverage • Essential Health Benefits – requires new plans to cover 10 essential health benefits • No Pre-Existing Conditions – prevents plans from limiting benefits on pre-existing conditions • Clinical Trials […]
2014 IRS Limits – FICA, FSA, HSA, etc…
Maximum Taxable Earnings The following table provides a list of key wage & contribution based benefit IRS limits. FICA Taxable Wage Base (2014 / 2013) Maximum Taxable Earnings – $117,000 / $113,700 Employer Tax Rate – 6.2% / 6.2% Employee Tax Rate – 6.2% / 6.2% Flexible Spending Accounts Health FSA Maximum Salary Reduction […]
The Relief Keeps On Coming!
Health Care Reform Updates – Hear are a few of the changes announced in the last weeks starting with Transition Policy. Transitional Policy provides the Option to Keep Existing Coverage in 2014 – State agencies responsible are encouraged (but not required) to adopt the transitional policy. If the state allows, health insurers have the option […]
Telehealth /Telemedicine
The next time your employee thinks he needs to go to the doctor’s office, emergency room or urgent care center, wouldn’t it be more convenient and cost-effective to call the doctor first? Seventy percent of office visits aren’t necessary and eliminating unnecessary trips to the doctor’s office reduces total employee healthcare costs – studies show a […]