PWC Report Forecasts 2011 Employer Health Benefit Trends

PricewaterhouseCoopers’ Health Research Institute surveyed 700 U.S.-based companies, small through jumbo sized, to gauge their perspectives on health care costs and benefits program priorities for 2011. Interviews were conducted in the first quarter of 2010. Click here for a copy of the report.

Major findings include:

• Medical costs are projected to increase 9% in 2011.
• More employers will move away from co-payments & toward co-insurance at the point of care.
• Hospitals, getting less from Medicare, will cost-shift to employers/commercial to make it up.
• Providers will merge and consolidate, creating greater leverage in negotiations with health plans.
• Employers plan to add more worksite wellness & health promotion programs.

MBGH Worksite Wellness Project with Health Department Gets National Recognition

Click here to see the article on this project in the Memphis Business Journal.

The Memphis Business Group on Health (MBGH) received one of seven national Community Health Partnerships (CHP) Population Health Seed Grants. The $12,911 grant was awarded by the National Business Coalition on Health through the Community Coalitions Health Institute (CCHI).

The grant will fund a joint program between the Memphis Business Group on Health (MBGH) and the Memphis Shelby County Health Department (MSCHD) to study the effectiveness of the Move More, Eat Better…It All Works Together Fitness Challenge in the workplace.

The MSCHD has been offering the Move More, Eat Better…It All Works Together Fitness Challenge through churches and community centers. The program is funded by the State of Tennessee Department of Health. Despite the fact that the program is free to employers, The MSCHD has had a difficult time getting employers to offer it at worksites.

Memphis Business Group on Health is a coalition of member employers sharing solutions and providing tools to manage the cost and quality of health benefits. As part of the grant, MBGH has secured participation of four member employers, including the Memphis Shelby County Airport Authority and Merck. The employers will enroll approximately 120 employees in the challenge, which lasts six weeks.

Health department staff will record the employee’s blood pressure, weight and Body Mass Index (BMI) at the beginning of the challenge and compare it to the employee’s final numbers six weeks later. During that period, MSCHD staff will provide weekly educational programs to employees on topics such as nutrition and exercise.
Incentives for participants include pedometers, waist circumference tape measure, hand sanitizer, jar grips, pens, notepads. The grand prize, a George Foreman grill, is awarded to the participant making the most significant progress toward better health.

The Memphis Business Group on Health will track the initiative from an employer’s perspective, measuring employee engagement, realized benefits, and employer satisfaction. As part of the grant, MBGH will recommend how the program may be modified to make it more successful in the workplace in the future. Results will be published in a white paper and made available to employers and other communities.

“In Memphis, employers have historically perceived the Health Department as an organization that helps the uninsured and the under-insured and not employers,” said Cristie Upshaw Travis, Chief Executive Officer of The Memphis Business Group on Health. “The department is an underutilized resource that we can tap to help deliver better value to our member organizations. For example, we worked with the MSCHD to help our employers implement H1N1 Flu shot programs.”

Why Do Employees Not Take Their Meds?

Interestingly, cost is the not the only reason. Seems convenience is too. This article suggests physician offices should dispense prescription drugs. Evidence also shows that worksite clinics that dispense drugs save employees and employers dollars and increase adherence.

Click here to read the blog post on this issue.

Work-Site Clinics Beginning to Show Up in Memphis

MBGH suggests that as work-site clinics expand their focus from helping employees with acute episodes (such as sinus infections, colds, etc) to providing on-going care for those with chronic conditions, the value of work-site clinics will increase for employers.

Click here to read the article describing how work-site clinics, though slow to catch on in Memphis, are beginning to pop up over town.

Memphis Employers Using Incentives & Data to Control Health Benefit Costs

Check out MBGH's comments on how Memphis-area employers are controlling health benefit costs through employee incentives and providing data to make informed choices. Click here to read the Memphis Business Journal article.

Work-Site Clinics Gaining Favor Over Retail Clinics

Read this good article that traces the development of retail walk-in clinics at pharmacies such as Walgreens, CVS and Kroger and compares, as well as their aggressive expansion into the world of "work-site " clinics. Both models are a reflection of pharmacies efforts to rebrand themselves as health & wellness companies. Both models are also focused on cutting employee and employer costs. Today, work-site clinics appear to have the most growth potential.

Resource for Employers to "Navigate Health Reform"

The Groom Law Group slides presented at the American Benefits Council on March 31, 2010 are a good resource to navigate the recently passed health reform legislation and identify what self-insured as well as insured plans must do to comply. Click here to access the slides as well as other resources on health reform.

What Do Physicians Think Employers Should Do?

What do physicians think employer's should do?

82% think employers should offer employees incentives to manage their chronic diseases and/or stay healthy
70% think employers should reduce or waive copays to increase adherence on medications

These strategies are consistent with the current emphasis on "value-based benefit design" which uses benefit design to motivate employees to use high value services which will keep them as healthy as possible for as long as possible.

What do physicians want from employers?

62% want to know about worksite and employer-based programs so they can counsel patients on participation
47% think benefit design should "be an extension of the physician's treatment program" leaving them in control of treatment decisions.

The study, conducted by the Midwest Business Group on Health, also concludes that communication between employers, employees and physicians is critical to improving/maintaining health.

Check out an article on the study by clicking here.

MBGH Launches: Tobacco Cessation Benefits Tools & Solutions

MBGH launches its first Tools & Solutions center focusing on tobacco cessation benefits. Building off of our successful February 25, 2010 meeting, Smoking Cessation: The Purchaser Perspective, MBGH has created a web page dedicated to key information employers need to manage the cost & quality of their tobacco cessation benefits.Click here to access the web page.

Included on this web page are:

• Presentations from the February 25, 2010 meeting
• Purchaser's Guide: Summary Plan Description Language for tobacco use treatment
• Partnership for Prevention Business Outreach Package on Tobacco Cessation
• Employer Case Studies
• Sample Policies
• Publications

This site will evolve over time with new tools & solutions added as they are identified. Once our new website is launched, this information, as well as other information on other key benefit issues, will be available for our members/affiliates and supporters at the Patron level and above.

MBGH is committed to providing our members with current tools & solutions to manage the cost & quality of their health benefits in an ever-changing environment.

 

Improve Worksite Wellness Programs with Social Networking

In this AHIP Bridgecast, hear Rajiv Kumar of Shape Up the Nation address how social networking can improve the effectiveness of your worksite wellness programs. He explains that social networks essentially harness connections that people already have in order to help change behavior and improve  health. Evidence shows that health behaviors spread from person to person within their social networks of family, colleagues, neighbors. Understanding how to use these natural networks as part of your wellness strategy is the subject of this podcast.

Click here to hear the podcast.

Power Pauses Can Increase Your Employee's Productivity & Effectiveness

Ever heard of a "Power Pause"? These 10-15 minute "time outs" during your employee's work day can increase their productivity & effectiveness. Power Pauses give employees time to reflect over what they have accomplished so far that day and to plan the rest of the day. At the end of the day, take a pause to plan for the next day.

Even better, combine a Power Pause with a physical activity, such as walking, biking, or jogging. This alone time, combined with physical activity, can really rejuvenate the spirit as well as body!!

Try it yourself and considser sharing this concept with your employees in your next employee newsletter!!

Click here to read the CA article on Power Pauses.

MBGH Leading Employer Contributions to Improving Health in Memphis

MBGH supports the Commercial Appeal's call for employers, churches, civic organizations, and government to get involved in improving health in Memphis..each group should work within their sphere of influence & responsibility to contribute to the overall improvement in our community's health...MBGH is taking leadership in working with employers by sharing solutions and providing employers tools includng health benefit design, worksite health-related programs, and building an overall culture of health to improve the health and productivity of their employees and to use their health benefit dollars efficiently.

Click here to read the editorial.

Health Care Reform & GINA Update Week of January 25, 2010

NBCH reports on the latest strategies being considered by the Democrats regarding health reform. The update describes the strategy and comments on how likely the strategy is to succeed.

The update also includes the latest on GINA.


Click here to go to MBGH's temporary website to download the full health reform update.

Cleveland Clinic Expands Wellness Benefits to Dependents

Cleveland Clinic now offers their wellness programs free of charge not only to employees, but to dependents as well. Free benefits include weight loss programs, smoking cessation treatment and medications, and fitness center memberships.

This is just one more step in a progressive wellness initiative that began in 2005. That year, Cleveland Clinic instituted smoke free campuses and in 2007 stopped hiring smokers. Since then, they have banned trans fats from their cafeterias and paitent meals.

By making wellness a "family benefit" Cleveland Clinic hopes to be an employer of choice.

Click here to read more.

Whole Foods Kicks Off "Health Starts Here" Initiative

Look for the new "Health Starts Here" program for Whole Foods team members and customers. In-store programs, recipes & educational material, and identifying healthy, nutrient-dense foods by posting signs with Aggregate Nutrient Density Index (ANDI) scores are all part of the program.

Whole Foods Team Members have two additional programs to support their healthy eating: more significant discounts off Whole Foods purchases if they are nicotine-free and meet cholesterol, blood pressure, and BMI targets; and a total immersion program, which includes medical consultation at no cost to the employee, at certain locations.

Click here to read more.

Study Shows Incentive-based Fitness Programs Reduce Cost

A study published in the American Journal of Health Promotion on January 21, 2010 shows that members participating in an insurance plan's incentive-based fitness wellness program had lower healthcare costs, fewer hospital admissions, and shorter lengths of stay in the hospital when they were hospitalized. The study does indicate that more research is needed to understand the long-term effectiveness of these incentive-based programs.

Click here to read more.

Chattanooga Hospital Not Hiring Tobacco Users

Memorial Hospital in Chattanooga has decided not to hire tobacco users. The Hospital indicates this decision was made as part of its commitment to a healthy community and not to save health benefit costs. The new rule does not impact current employees. The hospital will add nicotine testing to its existing program to screen for illegal drugs.

Click here to read more.

Workplace Wellness Programs Do Generate Savings!

A recent article in Health Affairs reports that Harvard University investigators found workplace wellness programs can generate $3.27 in savings for every $1.00 spent & absenteeism savings of $2.73 for every dollar spent!!

Click here to read more.

MBGH Had a Full House at our Health Reform Update

Andy Webber, CEO and President of the National Business Coalition on Health, updated a capacity crowd at this morning's MBGH "Health Reform: How It Affects Employers" breakfast meeting at the Crescent Club.

Andy focused on the major provisions that impact employers:

• The employer mandate and "pay or play" proposals, including the federally mandated minimum benefit design
• The development of insurance exchanges and the public option
• Excise tax on "cadillac" plans and
• Workplace health promotion incentives.

Andy believes that there will be some type of health reform passed and signed into law by the first quarter 2010, perhaps as early as the President's State of the Union Address in January. According to Andy, there is just no other option for the Democrats but to pass SOMETHING. The exact shape of that "something" is still to be determined, especially the fate of the public option.

Click here for a copy of Andy's slides.

Purchasing High Performance Newsletter Now Available

Memphis Business Group on Health announces the release of the latest edition of "Purchasing High Performance", a newsletter designed to help employers manage the quality & cost of their health benefit plans. Great articles on health reform, employer best practices, employee incentives, health delivery system reforms and more.

Click here to access the newsletter.