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Total compensation: benefits are important.


Many organizations are challenged by managing the cost of their health-care benefits while providing a competitive benefit package to their employees. It is important to understand that changes to plan design (higher prescription co-pays, adding deductibles, decreasing co-insurance co-insurance Managed care A cost-sharing requirement in many health insurance policies or health plans, in which the insured and insurer share payment of an approved charge/fee for covered services in a specified ratio, after an annual deductible is paid, up to a  levels) affect the overall employee compensation.

For example, according to according to
prep.
1. As stated or indicated by; on the authority of: according to historians.

2. In keeping with: according to instructions.

3.
 Towers Perrin's 2003 Health Care Cost Survey, the average annual cost for family coverage in a PPO PPO
abbr.
preferred provider organization


PPO Managed care Preferred provider organization, see there Infectious disease Pleuropneumonia-like organism, see there
 plan is $9,888. The average contribution for family coverage is 22.2 percent or $2.195. The expected cost increase for 2004 is 15 percent for PPO plans or $1,483. If your organization passed the entire increase on to your employees, it would cost each employee an additional 72 cents per hour to purchase the PPO plan in 2004. Each employee in 2004 would allocate To reserve a resource such as memory or disk. See memory allocation.  $1.77 of his/her hourly wage just to purchase health coverage.

Even through the labor market labor market A place where labor is exchanged for wages; an LM is defined by geography, education and technical expertise, occupation, licensure or certification requirements, and job experience  has been flooded over the last few years, this trend is not expected to continue and retaining qualified employees will become a top priority.

Employers will need to share more of the cost of medical benefits with their employees over the next few years. To offset the negative perception of either benefit design changes or employee contribution increases, organizations can add other benefits that are low in cost but valued by employees, such as voluntary insurance and Section 125 plans.

Tips for good benefit decisions:

* Survey employees about benefits they value, ask which new benefit plans they would participate in if the plan were offered.

* Understand how your employees' view their compensation in relation to other workplace benefits (benefits plans, vacation VACATION. That period of time between the end of one term and beginning of another. During vacation, rules and orders are made in such cases as are urgent, by a judge at his chambers. , flexible work schedules, etc). If they focus only on salary, enhancing benefits will not be valued as much.

* Benchmark your competitors' plans. In the next few years, these organizations will be competing with yours for workforce resources.

Based upon the information you discover through the survey and benchmarking
For the geolocating game, see benchmarking (geolocating). For other uses of the term 'benchmark' see benchmark.


Benchmarking (also "best practice benchmarking" or "process benchmarking") is a process used in management and particularly strategic
 process, you may choose to enhance benefits that are important to your employees.

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This page is brought to you by the Detroit Detroit, city, United States
Detroit (dĭtroit`), city (1990 pop. 1,027,974), seat of Wayne co., SE Mich., on the Detroit River and between lakes St. Clair and Erie; inc. as a city 1815.
 Regional Chamber's Health Care Central--the hub of all business-related health-care issues. To learn more about this exciting new initiative, visit www.detroitchamber.com or call (866) MBR-LINE.

RELATED ARTICLE: According to the Employment Policy Foundation's most recent study:

* Employers' contributions for health-plan coverage constituted 7.3 percent of employees' total compensation in 2002.

* By 2010, employer contributions to group health plan coverage will represent 16.5 percent of total compensation.

RELATED ARTICLE: right Ideas--Save Time

The Privacy Rule, which is part of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) was enacted by the U.S. Congress in 1996.

According to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) website, Title I of HIPAA protects health insurance coverage for workers and their families when
 (HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability & Accountability Act of 1996, Public Law 104-191) Also known as the "Kennedy-Kassebaum Act," this U.S. law protects employees' health insurance coverage when they change or lose their jobs (Title I) and provides standards for patient health, ), recently went into effect for many health insurance companies. Your carrier's compliance steps may affect how you can assist your employees with claim issues, so it makes sense to teach your employees how to handle claim issues on their own:

Create a one-page "helpful hints" sheet for dealing with your providers. Include phone numbers, Websites and your group numbers. Also include these key questions for your employees to ask:

* Why was this service declined for coverage?

* Under what circumstances CIRCUMSTANCES, evidence. The particulars which accompany a fact.
     2. The facts proved are either possible or impossible, ordinary and probable, or extraordinary and improbable, recent or ancient; they may have happened near us, or afar off; they are public or
 would this services be covered?

* Do I need to provide you with any additional information to receive coverage for my claim?

* What is the easiest way for me to have you correct the situation?

On your reference sheet include a brief description of the Privacy Rule to explain why it is important for employees to take the initial steps in resolving a claim issue on their own.
COPYRIGHT 2003 Detroit Regional Chamber
No portion of this article can be reproduced without the express written permission from the copyright holder.
Copyright 2003, Gale Group. All rights reserved. Gale Group is a Thomson Corporation Company.

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Title Annotation:Healthcare Central
Publication:Detroiter
Geographic Code:1USA
Date:Aug 1, 2003
Words:578
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