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Ecolab
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Network Adequacy Rules, Provider Consolidation Inhibit Insurer Entry Into New Markets

"As a newcomer to the Medicare Advantage market, Clover Health has sought to differentiate itself using big data and machine learning to improve beneficiary health management. But analytics can't save the insurer from well-established program requirements around network adequacy coupled with health system consolidation ... Instead, the insurer is asking the federal government to loosen requirements around the program to enhance competition." FierceHealthcare

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Simple Steps to Provide Successful Student Loan Repayment Benefits

"Student debt management is a complex and delicate issue that has a significant impact on employees' broad financial wellness -- but providing support can be straightforward from the plan sponsor perspective." PLANSPONSOR

Hoping to See Your Doctor Via Telemedicine? Here's a Quick Guide

"Q: Are e-visits available from most hospitals and doctors? A. Not yet. But access is increasing. Ask your doctor, clinic or hospital.... Q: What restrictions do health plans, Medicare and Medicaid put on e-visits? A. Health plan coverage varies, but most private insurers cover e-visits, and 34 states and the District of Columbia require that they do.... Q: Do I need special computer equipment? A. No.... Q: What services can I get through telemedicine? A. Most e-visits are for primary care or follow-up services, such as assessing symptoms or checking on people who have had a medical procedure.... Q. Will I save money if I do an e-visit instead of going into the doctor's office? A. E-visits are generally less expensive than a trip to the doctor, but you may not see the difference if your insurance covers both with only a small copay or no copay." Kaiser Health News

Self-Insurance Is Just the Start, Say Health Plan Innovators

"For both fully insured health plans and self-insured plans that use an insurance carrier as the third-party administrator (TPA), 'the revenue and profit model is built on costs going up,' said [David Contorno, of Lake Norman Benefits].... Contorno advocates moving to a direct-payer model between employers and health care providers that excludes carriers altogether, strips out hidden fees and pays brokers based on the extent to which they lower employee costs. Next, engage health care consumers to use high-quality, reasonably priced facilities through incentives built into the plan." Society for Human Resource Management [SHRM]

Employee Benefits in Education: Consumer-Driven Health Care Taking Hold

"HDHPs have become ubiquitous even in education -- an industry known historically for its generous health insurance benefits.... The share of education institutions offering at least one HDHP has more than doubled since 2016 -- from 23 percent to 50 percent. Granted, that rate remains well below average (70 percent of employers across all industries on the Benefitfocus Platform offer an HDHP), but education is quickly catching up." Benefitfocus

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The Big Difference between Form 5500 Filing Requirements for Welfare and Retirement Plans

"[T]he DOL has been known to send notices to plan sponsors who have filed a 5500 for their large retirement plan but have not filed a 5500 for their health and welfare plan.... [C]ompanies with large retirement plan are also likely to cover enough people for their welfare plan to have a filing requirement, although the correlation is not certain because how participants are counted is different for retirement plans and welfare plans." Belfint Lyons Shuman

Letter from Chairman of Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pension Committee to Stakeholders on the Future of Health Insurance Costs (PDF)

"Given Democrats' attitude, I know of nothing that Republicans and Democrats can agree on to stabilize the individual health insurance market.... So now efforts to help Americans paying skyrocketing premiums will turn to the Trump Administration and the states. And our committee's efforts will turn to other pressing health care issues including opioids, overall health care costs, electronic health care records, [and] prescription drug prices[.]." Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-TN), via National Association for the Self-Employed [NASE]

California's Independent Contractor Decision: What It Means for ERISA Plans

"[W]hat is the likely impact of the Dynamex ruling on employee benefit plans? Will employers have to offer coverage retroactively to the hire date of the now-reclassified independent contractors? Must they offer coverage going forward? ... As a starting point, it is helpful to look at how most plan documents currently define 'eligible employee' and how they treat the issue of workers who were engaged as independent contractors, but later are classified as common law employees."
E is for ERISA

Less Than Half of U.S. Workers Willing to Pay More for Better Health Care Benefits

"[T]wo-thirds of respondents (66%) said they would be willing to pay more each month for larger, more generous retirement benefits, while 61% would give up more pay to have a guaranteed retirement benefit.... Only 38% are willing to pay more each month for a more generous health care plan; 46% are willing to pay more to have lower, more predictable costs when using health care services.... Less than a quarter are willing to pay for tools and services that help them live healthier lifestyles (24%) or help improve their finances (19%)." Willis Towers Watson

How Are Companies Faring in the Current Pay-for-Performance Environment?

"[S]alary and target annual incentives remained fairly consistent with ... 2016, increasing 2% and 3% respectively. Pay increases are primarily driven by long-term incentives (LTI), which align with the positive TSR statistics observed in 2017 ... Target LTI values, which represent the grant value of stock options, time-vested restricted stock and the target value of long-term performance awards, increased by approximately 7%, compared to 5% in 2016." Willis Towers Watson

Press Releases

MetLife to Provide Pension Benefits to Approximately 41,000 FedEx Retirees and Beneficiaries MetLife

Uwharrie Investment Advisors, Inc. is Certified for Fiduciary Excellence Centre for Fiduciary Excellence [CEFEX]

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