Business Incentives to Help Conquer Sick Days

Many businesses large and small have now taken action to prevent their employees from going off unwell and eating into company margins whilst doing so.  Sick days are currently costing UK businesses and the economy £13 billion per year and more and more employers have been introducing incentives such as gym memberships, employee assistance programmes and personal medical insurance programmes to stem the amount of sick days being taken across the country.  We have put together a quick overview of what’s on offer with some employers and how they look to have a positive impact.

Many employers have, for a while now, have been offering private medical insurance as an incentive or a tool in which to manage their employee’s health.  There are many variations in which PMI is offered and lots of different levels of coverage ranging from those who have their own businesses who would opt for a self employed healthinsurance to grander schemes for larger companies such as group health insurance.  The idea behind these plans was to improve employee’s healthcare and have them back to work quicker as PMi’s  provide quicker, more efficient treatments and well as the flexibility to choose when treatments are undertaken.

An incentive lots of businesses are using is the provision of gym memberships at a discount rate and offering partnership schemes with gyms such as Pure Gym or Virgin Health clubs.  Many may even have the set up in their buildings to provide a work out area for those before and after work.  Employers see this as a wise investment because if their workforce is fitter then that can see off infections and colds that someone who is possibly less fit would be more susceptible to, thus less work days off.

What is becoming more and more common is the introduction of employee assistance programmes (EAP’s) where identifying staff who maybe suffering from work related issues such as stress or may have external pressures in their personal lives.   An EAP will provide help and advice 24 hours a day and can also involve face to face counselling to support an employee’s state of well being.  This can also be linked to limiting their exposure with the long term costs associated with stress and would incur extra premiums with a PMI supplier, income protection and critical illness. 

Related articles

• Health insurance as part of staff benefits - inducements required? (healthinsurancejournal.blogetery.com)
• Offering an Employee Assistance Program (frankcrum.wordpress.com)

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Unlucky 7

Lucky 7. 7 seas. 7 brides for 7 brothers. 7 hills of Rome. 7 hills of Constantinople. 7 Wonders of the World.

Throughout history 7 has been an almost magical number, even termed "lucky 7".

Maybe 7's luck just ran out.

Especially if your name is Barack Obama.

The folks at Heritage offer this recap and assessment of Obamacare.

In the 2 years since the passage of Obamacrap, there have been 7 failures directly tied to this law.

• The disappearance of child-only policies. Obamacare requires insurers who sell child-only plans to accept all applicants regardless of health condition. This allows parents to wait until their children are sick to enroll them in health plans. Two years later, one survey found that “17 states indicated that no insurers were selling child-only policies to new enrollees, and 39 states responded that at least one insurer exited the child-only market since the new law took effect.”
• “Free” preventive services cost Americans. Obamacare requires coverage of certain preventive services with no cost-sharing for the individual. Two years later, the list includes abortion-inducing drugs, sterilization, and other contraceptives as mandated coverage—even for many religious organizations. Heritage analysts report, “This created an outcry from members of many faiths who feel this decision is an attack on religious freedom and their ability to serve communities across the country.”

An addendum to the "no child health insurance left behind" comment, there are a few states (such as Georgia) where child only health insurance can be sold. The problem, the policies are not true major medical.

Parents can buy a child only health insurance plan in Georgia as long as they are willing to either buy a limited benefit basic health insurance plan, or a short term medical plan that is only good for 6 months.

Either of these options is fine as long as your child does not become seriously ill or has a major accident.

• A failing small business tax credit. Obamacare provides a temporary tax credit to small employers as an incentive for them to offer health insurance to their employees. Two years later, the IRS reports that only 7 percent of the originally estimated 4.4 million eligible small businesses have claimed the credit.
• A broke program for early retirees. Obamacare established a temporary reinsurance program from May 2010 to January 2014 to pay a portion of companies’ costs to insure early retirees between the ages of 55 and 65. Two years later, the program ran out of money almost three years early and is no longer accepting additional applications. As Heritage analysts explain, the program “clearly shifts the costs of paying for unsustainable promises made to public and private employees to federal taxpayers and further underscores how the true cost of implementing the health care law exceeds original estimates.”

These items get very little play in the media since they directly affect employers and only indirectly impact individuals and families. Still, this is just another example of what some may believe was good intentions gone awry.

Seems to me this is yet another case of government interference.

• Low enrollment in high-risk pools. Obamacare creates high-risk pools for individuals with pre-existing conditions who have been uninsured for at least six months to purchase insurance. Two years later, using the Administration’s own numbers, enrollment in the high-risk pools remains low: only 13 percent of initial estimates. Heritage analysts point out, “At the same time, medical-claims costs have been 2.5 times higher than initially projected, and the high-risk pools may still exhaust or exceed the available funding, even though they serve such a small portion of those they were intended to help.”
• A damaging medical loss ratio (MLR). Obamacare requires insurers to spend 80 percent (85 percent for large group plans) of premium revenue on medical claims or quality improvement. Two years later, Heritage analysts point out, “Seventeen states applied for the MLR waivers, arguing that the regulations would destabilize their markets.” The Administration has granted a full waiver to only one state; six received a partial waiver, and 10 requests were rejected. Some insurers have already left the market because of the requirement, and the strict medical loss ratio threatens the existence of health savings accounts, which are used by 11 million Americans.
• An unsustainable new entitlement. Obamacare created the CLASS Act, a government-run long-term care insurance program. Two years later, the Administration has declared the CLASS program unsustainable and halted its implementation. Heritage analysts report, “On February 1, 2012, the House of Representatives voted 267 (including 28 Democrats) to 159 to repeal the troubled CLASS program, and it now awaits consideration by the U.S. Senate.”

PCIP, the high risk pool substitute was actually a good idea. Had Obamacare created this plan and stopped there we would be much better off.

But Obama and company wanted something bigger. Something grand. Something regal.

The number 7 also has other associations.

The 7 dwarfs. 7 deadly sins.

Maybe Obamacare isn't such a BFD any more.

Perhaps 7 will now be known as an unlucky number.

At least if your name is Obama.

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Health Wonk Review: SCOTUS in the news edition

FoIB David Williams hosts this week's round-up of wonky posts, focusing (unsurprisingly) on the health "care" reform case before the Supremes. If you've been following this (and who hasn't been?), here's your chance to see how folks on all sides see the case.

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How Disability Insurance Differs From Health Insurance

When faced with the option of whether to purchase disability insurance, many consumers say no without fully understanding the consequences of their decision. The major reason why so few people opt for a smart amount of disability insurance is that disability insurance policies are not as widely held or as commonly discussed as life or health insurance policies. This leads to the current situation, where many people remain uneducated as to the possible benefits that disability insurance can offer them.

Disability insurance works within a fairly simple framework. In the event you become disabled in some way and cannot do the job that you are trained for and accomplished in, your insurance will pay you some amount of tax-free replacement income. Disabilities come in many shapes and forms, and anything from vertigo to obesity to any other condition that interferes with your ability to work can potentially make it possible for you to file a disability insurance claim.

To many people, disability is a word that brings to mind hospitals and medical costs. To be certain, you may require a substantial level of care in order to recover from the injury or illness that has made it impossible to work, and having good health insurance is an important part of making it through this kind of situation with your bank account still in the black. However, it is all too easy to forget about the fact that if you find yourself in this situation, medical costs are just one piece of the financial pie. If you cannot work because of a health condition, trying to keep your home, car, and other assets can be a serious struggle without the assistance that a disability insurance claim can offer. The exact amount of money you will receive as income replacement varies depending on the kind of policy that you have, but most people who have disability insurance are insured for roughly half of their normal gross income. This kind of helping hand during the difficult period of recovery after an injury or illness can mean the difference between being able to make ends meet or falling deeply into debt.

Although few people enjoy planning for a worst case scenario, spending some time figuring out how you could financially weather becoming disabled may lead you to put some important plans into place. This kind of forethought can help make a difficult period much more bearable. Many people find that knowing they are prepared for the worst helps them enjoy more carefree times; so consider taking out disability insurance for your peace of mind as well as for its other benefits.

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Wednesday ObamneyCare© Update

Even as the Supremes wrap up their little shindig, the train-wreck itself keeps on keepin' on:

"As the first quarter of 2012 comes to an end, more activities related to the Medical Loss Ratio (MLR) provision of [ObamneyCare©] will occur ... Foremost among these is the April 1 filing of a Supplemental Health Care Exhibit (SHCE) ... to assist state regulators in identifying and defining elements that make up MLR."

But that's just the beginning; there's more!

"In early April, [carriers] will mail letters concerning MLR to two groups of customers ... employers that are non-ERISA and non-government entities (such as churches and tribal groups) and may also be eligible for a rebate ... request that these employers provide written assurance that a certain portion of any potential MLR rebate paid to them will be used for the benefit of their subscribers."

Did you know about this requirement? Does your employer?

And there's this:

"[Carriers] will be legally required by [HHS Secretary Shecantbeserious] to pay the entire amount of any owed rebate directly to the subscribers of any terminated groups that cannot be located."

Of course! What could possibly go wrong with that?

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FuneralCare©

Bob's been doing a yeoman's job of reporting on the SCOTUS ObamneyCare© trial, for which we're very grateful. Something came up yesterday, though, that I don't think got a lot of play in the MSM, and which seems to me to surpass even the "broccoli" argument. Justice Alito asked SG Verrilli:

"Do you think there is a, a market for burial services?"

The Solicitor General affirmed that he believed there was such a market, which allowed Justice Alito to ponder:

"[S]uppose that you and I walked around downtown Washington at lunch hour and we found a couple of healthy young people and we stopped them and we said, "You know what you're doing? You are financing your burial services right now because eventually you're going to die, and somebody is going to have to pay for it, and if you don't have burial insurance and you haven't saved money for it, you're going to shift the cost to somebody else."

At first blush, this would seem a stretch; after all, no one forces us to buy life insurance (which is what burial or mortgage insurance really is). But upon reflection, one is reminded that ObamneyCare© proponents repeatedly argue that we're all going to use the health care system at some point (a rather dubious assumption, to be sure), and that we must have insurance in place to (help) pay for that care.

Well, it may or may not come to pass that a given person will need health care, but there's no escaping the Man with the Scythe. That is, unlike illness, death is inevitable, so why aren't we required to purchase burial insurance, as well? It's the same premise, after all, with the added benefit of being true.

[Hat Tip: Co-blogger Kelley]

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