July 13, 2021
As benefits and healthcare consultants, we salivate over statistics and data about health care costs. We collect and pull apart figures around spending and claims but our clients don’t always want to know all the details. As they say, I don’t want to know how the sausage gets made! Our clients just want us to …
July 7, 2021
While it’s easy to say healthcare needs solutions, we start any consulting conversation with a clear outline of where things are at today, and where we are trying to go in the future. Some key facts about American healthcare: Deductibles are higher than the emergency savings of many Americans Wages have been fairly stagnant over …
June 30, 2021
We think it’s critical in benefits consulting for us to create a common foundation with our clients to drive benefits decisions. There are enough shiny objects in the industry to sideline a conversation and take attention in any one of a dozen different directions. To create meaningful benefits plans that deliver great care to members …
June 23, 2021
We’ve written previously about stop-loss insurance, in particular about the cost of stop-loss insurance, about the effect of CA 161 on stop-loss insurance for California groups, and about statistics around stop-loss insurance claims. With many groups approaching their benefits renewal later this year and considering ways to reduce their healthcare spending, let’s revisit how stop-loss …
June 16, 2021
Healthcare costs are increasing. These increases are leading to reduced benefits, lower takehome pay for workers, and poorer health outcomes. According to the 2021 Milliman Medical Index and the 2020 KFF EMployer Health Benefits Survey, healthcare costs and health insurance premiums are increasing year over year. Over the last 5 years, the average family premium …
June 9, 2021
Last week, I had the opportunity to speak to healthcare professionals, employers, business leaders, and more at Going Digital: Behavioral Health Tech Summit 2021 with Solome Tibebu. We covered a number of topics related to behavioral health and how employers can play a role in this important field. You can watch the interview below and …
May 25, 2021
Yes, I’d like to understand my claims data and reduce my health care costs Over the past decade, health care spending has been rising year-over-year by 4.6 percent, with costs rising faster than the annual rate of inflation. Driven by rising health care costs, employers now offer high deductible health plans (HDHPs) at a much …
May 19, 2021
For the average American worker, wages have barely increased over the last 40 years, according to the Economic Policy Institute. This is despite consistent productivity gains, leading to a decoupling between wages and productivity. This most significantly affects middle- and low-wage workers, despite the historical connection between productivity gains and income growth. There are many …
May 12, 2021
Click here to discuss your workplace mental and behavioral health! We’re about halfway through Mental Health Awareness Month. Seeing as how employers provide health insurance to about half of American adults, we think it’s important for employers to think about their own role in the mental and behavioral health of their employees. With so much …
May 5, 2021
American health care is in a crisis today. By most measures, we are getting a relatively average product even though we spend some of the most money in the world on it. Given that about half of Americans receive their health insurance coverage from the workplace and that costs are doubling every 10 years¹ for …
