cmonfils | January 10, 2012
The FMLA was created to allow employees time off to deal with their own serious health conditions or those of family members who need medical care. But the law carefully balances the rights of employees to keep their jobs while facing temporary hardships with the rights of employers to run their businesses.
That’s one reason the statute and the U.S. Department of Labor’s (DOL) FMLA regulations give employers several options for calculating how much leave employees are entitled to at any given time. Most employers choose one of these two:
Category: DOL, FMLA |
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cmonfils | January 10, 2012
With increasing health care costs, smaller employers are exploring innovative approaches to fund their employee benefit plans to save money. Risk retention groups (RRGs) or “captives” can generate savings for some larger employers that self insure their plans. Captives are now catching on with smaller employer groups between 25 and 500 employees. Smaller employers are becoming more educated and starting to understand how risk management works with their health plans. By pooling their employees and risk with other employers within a captive, it can be a creative way to save.
Category: Health Insurance, Transparency |
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cmonfils | January 10, 2012
NewAge Industries CEO Ken Baker is willing to do whatever he can to encourage his employees to live a healthier lifestyle — including making bribes and bets.
Earlier this year, when Baker learned his New England distributor sales manager wanted to lose 40 pounds, he wondered how he could help motivate him. Baker knew the guy was a gambling man, so he made him a wager.
Category: Wellness |
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cmonfils | January 10, 2012
It’s one of the less pleasant healthcare trends of 2011: information is becoming less secure while enforcement is growing more stringent.
According to a recent Ponemon research study, data breaches alone have risen by 32%. Ninety-two percent of all healthcare institutions report they’ve experienced one in the past two years, and each such incident costs an average of $2.2 million. At the same time, the Department of Health and Human Services recently began conducting formal audits of HIPAA-compliance, with accompanying risk of civil and even criminal penalties. The Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations has announced a “ban” on physician texting, stating that SMS is not an acceptable method of communicating patient information.
Category: HIPAA |
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cmonfils | January 10, 2012
Seventy percent of smokers say they’d like to quit, and now, just three days into the new year, many may already be struggling to stick to their resolution to make 2012 a smoke-free year. If quitting were easy, after all, chances are good that nearly one in five adults wouldn’t still be smokers, a figure that hasn’t budged much in several years.
Category: Health Insurance |
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cmonfils | January 10, 2012
The Obama administration surprised supporters and critics when it decided to let states define the “essential health benefits” that must be provided to their citizens under health care reform. The move could lessen opposition in Republican-led states and increase the chances that they will move ahead on building new health insurance exchanges to comply with the reform law.
Category: Health Care Legislation |
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cmonfils | January 10, 2012
I just got a full-time job, and I’ve run into an issue. The only option for medical plans available are high-deductible plans, which cost about $80/month. The plans are 100% employee paid. In addition to the premium, I had to sign a paper stating that I would pay an extra $15 a month because I am a smoker. In lieu of paying $1,000/year for a benefit I will likely not use at all,(I don’t ever go to the doctor, so no insurance is no problem) I opted to make a larger contribution to my 401(K) and waived the health insurance. All of the papers I filled out had the option waive the insurance. Even the paperwork “check list” made by HR had the option to waive the coverage. When I turned it in today, I was told that it was against company policy to not take the benefit. This was never mentioned to me during my orientation and it doesn’t feel right. From what little I can find online, it appears that a company can make it mandatory to take the insurance offered.
Category: Health Insurance |
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cmonfils | January 10, 2012
In order to support a valid claim of retaliation under the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA), an employee must demonstrate that the reason given for an adverse employment action was pretextual, and that the employee’s request for or use of FMLA leave was the actual basis of the action. The 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has held that an employer’s rejection of an invalid FMLA certification was a valid reason for termination, and that the employee’s inability to proffer evidence of an alternate explanation for the company’s actions led to the dismissal of her lawsuit. Coffman v. Ford Motor Company, 6th Cir., No. 10-3842, unpublished opinion, 11/22/11.
Category: 6th, FMLA |
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cmonfils | January 10, 2012
The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (the Act) enacted a series of insurance market reforms that impose new rules on health insurance issuers and group health plans. Commencing in 2014, the Act requires that polices of health insurance offered in the individual and small group markets as well as Medicaid benchmark plans offer a comprehensive package of items and services known as “essential health benefits” (EHB). Essential health benefits must include items and services within at least the following 10 categories: (1) ambulatory patient services, (2) emergency services (3) hospitalization, (4) maternity and newborn care, (5) mental health and substance use disorder services, including behavioral health treatment, (6) prescription drugs, (7) rehabilitative and habilitative services and devices, (8) laboratory services, (9) preventive and wellness services and chronic disease management, and (10) pediatric services, including oral and vision care. Self-insured group health plans, health insurance coverage offered in the large group market, and grandfathered health plans are not required to provide essential health benefits.
Category: Health Care Legislation, Health Insurance, HHS, PPACA |
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