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Last fall I had the pleasure of hosting a UBA WisdomWorkplace webinar called “Success in Voluntary through Strategic Benefits Communication.” I discussed recent Sun Life survey data regarding employee engagement and understanding of the value of voluntary benefits. In the world of voluntary insurance carriers, success in voluntary benefits can be measured in various ways. […]
Archive for the ‘UBA HR Elements’ Category
Best and Worst States for Group Health Care Costs | California Benefit Advisors
Employer-sponsored health insurance is greatly affected by geographic region, industry, and employer size. While some cost trends have been fairly consistent since the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) was put in place, UBA finds several surprises in its latest Health Plan Survey. Based on responses from more than 11,000 employers, UBA recently announced […]
Stemming the Tide of Opioid Abuse: A Brief Guide for Employers | California Benefit Advisors
In January 2017, an NBC news investigation found that an “epidemic” of opioid abuse had helped turn the once-prosperous city of Wilkes Barre, Pennsylvania, into “the most unhappy place in America.” Working in the epicenter of the “scourge” that had resulted in 137 fatal overdoses in a county of only 318,000 people in 2016, the […]
FAQ on HIPAA Special Enrollment; QSE HRAs Released | California Benefit Advisors
Recently, the Department of Labor (DOL), Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), and the Treasury (collectively, the Departments) issued FAQs About Affordable Care Act Implementation Part 35. The FAQ covers a new HIPAA special enrollment period, an update on women’s preventive services that must be covered, and clarifying information on qualifying small employer health […]
Cafeteria Plans: Qualifying Events and Changing Employee Elections | California Benefit Advisors
Cafeteria plans, or plans governed by IRS Code Section 125, allow employers to help employees pay for expenses such as health insurance with pre-tax dollars. Employees are given a choice between a taxable benefit (cash) and two or more specified pre-tax qualified benefits, for example, health insurance. Employees are given the opportunity to select the […]
Good Sense Guide to Minimum Essential Coverage Forms 1094-C and 1095-C | California Benefit Advisors
If you are an Applicable Large Employer (ALE), you may still be catching your breath from 2015 Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) reporting. However, in a couple of weeks the process starts all over again as you prepare for the 2016 reporting cycle. As with all new requirements, the first filing cycle had […]
Who Are You Benchmarking Your Health Plan Against? | California Benefit Advisors
Many employers benchmark their health plan against carrier provided national data. While that is a good place to start, regional cost averages vary, making it essential to benchmark both nationally and regionally—as well as state by state. For example, a significant difference exists between the cost to insure an employee in the Northeast versus the […]
Long-Term Care: A Threat to Retirement Security | California Benefit Advisors
Employers I’ve talked to all have the same goal: to help employees build a sound retirement plan to achieve financial success and security. The main components to protect an employee’s financial future are managing a nest egg, growing investments, and safeguarding against uncertainty. The Missing Component As an employer, you may be missing a key […]
Solving the Prescription Puzzle | California Benefit Advisors
Determining how an employer develops the most effective formulary, while protecting the financial stability of the plan, is certainly the challenge of this decade. Prescription management used to mean monitoring that the right people are taking medications to control their disease while creating strategies to move them from brand name to generic medications. With the […]
Wellness Wearables: Novelty or an Impact to the Health Care Industry? | California Employee Benefits
It’s no secret in the wellness industry today that wellness wearables are in high demand as one of the most employer-offered program incentives. Wearables are not only being distributed at a large quantity by medical carriers, they are also being utilized by employers as an incentive to drive employee engagement on wellness platforms, challenges, and […]
