The New York Times article on the spiraling costs of health care reform emphasizes the traditional responses to ever increasing health care costs—more employee cost sharing, more high deductible plans and more health savings accounts. Same old, same old is not good enough for employers faced with paying ever increasing health plan costs stemming from health reform—there’s [...]
Brian Klepper, an analyst and consultant to the healthcare industry, yesterday published an article called Really Managing Care and Costs on the Health Care Blog which really hits the nail on the head. Brian understands the Healthcare Performance Management language and its underlying benefits. Healthcare Performance Management (HPM) is based on the principle that unless [...]
November 25, 2009 – 3:28 pm
It’s open-enrollment time, which for many businesses mean an annual letter informing you that insurance premiums will go up 15% or more in 2010. The letter is quickly followed by lament and panic as you try to find a balance between what the business can afford and what will have to be deferred to employees. [...]
November 12, 2009 – 5:31 pm
The healthcare bill’s passage through the House this past weekend progresses the country towards coverage of the uninsured. While it defines credits and penalties for businesses as it relates to providing healthcare benefits, it falls short on solutions for cost containment in the near and long-term. I was interested to read an article and subsequent [...]
November 5, 2009 – 2:44 pm
DailyFinance reports that IBM has announced that as most companies are cutting back on healthcare benefits, they are doing the opposite and making moves to pick up the full tab. At the core of IBM’s ability to make this decision is its employee wellness program. The story cites: “‘There is evidence that attention to employee wellness [...]
October 30, 2009 – 6:18 pm
The New York Times’ Prescription blog recently posted “How Will Health Care Bills Affect You? Do the Math.” The piece provides access to interactive calculators and charts that gives the individual consumer a sense for how the various bills in Congress might impact their wallets. I’m constantly amazed and dismayed at the lack of discussion around businesses [...]
October 21, 2009 – 7:49 am
Incredible efficiencies can be attributed to technology and processes, from Enterprise Resource Planning to Sales Force Automation, that is widely used to manage business operations. In this period of heightened scrutiny on healthcare accessibility and cost, it’s alarming that businesses are not taking or giving the reigns on their healthcare spend when it’s almost always among [...]
October 13, 2009 – 12:36 pm
At The Bipartisan Policy Center (BPC) and Better Health Care Together, a bipartisan healthcare forum held on September 9, 2009 attendees discussed some of today’s most pressing issues focusing largely on the agreement between business, labor and political leaders including Senator Tom Daschle and Senator Robert Dole on the continued debate over the nation’s health [...]
October 12, 2009 – 9:18 am
The ongoing healthcare debate in America is loud, divisive, in-your-face—and not accomplishing anything. While Congress debates the merits of a public option, the cold, hard fact is that no change will occur until 2014 at the earliest. America needs healthcare reform now—and it starts with employers. Employer premiums are skyrocketing with no sign of slowing [...]
