Archives

Diverting from the subject of employee benefits and the Affordable Care Act, with this blog, I wish to offer some basic concepts on the subject of business succession planning.  I have experienced over the years, that the succession planning market is a grossly underserved one, and far too often, it does not receive the attention …

The basic choice of alternatives in the administration of employee benefits, in response to the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act or “Obamacare” is as follows: – Offer a fully-insured group plan – Offer a self-funded group plan – Offer a Defined Contribution/Premium Reimbursement Arrangement plan – Offer nothing at all What I mean by …

With Defined Contribution gaining acceptance as the preferred employee benefits administration model of the future, it is important to know the platforms of which are available for its implementation. Premium Reimbursement Arrangement (PRA) PRAs are sometimes also called a Premium Reimbursement Plan (PRP) or Premium Only Plan “POP” (Although, these are not to be confused …

Moon Griffon, a well-known talk show host in my home state of Louisiana, commented on the future of employee benefits, this past week.  Wednesday morning, after mentioning the Wall Street Journal article, having just been released and discussing the CBO, once again increasing their estimate of employers who will drop group coverage, he stated, “That’s …

Employers and employee benefits professionals now have just over a year to prepare for the arrival of the bulk of PPACA, which includes an aspect of this legislation, commonly known as “Play or Pay.” This requires employers with 50 or more full-time employees to offer medical coverage or pay a penalty. I will often hear …

As the employee benefits exchange marketplace continues to expand, I hope to offer additional considerations pertaining to what it takes for employers to succeed within this new healthcare model. Customization With this new platform of administering benefits, employees have the ability to design their own combinations of plans.  To capitalize on this shift of methodology …

I despise losing any of our employee benefits clients.  Primarily, clients are lost because of a lack of value in comparison to doing business elsewhere…or because of a decision maker’s inability to recognize that value. Recently, I had the HR Director of a client company of ours, who had just taken the place of her …

Employee benefits will be administered, as it appears, within the confines of PPACA.  The topic of insurance exchanges, which are websites designed for viewing, comparing, and purchasing insurance plans, is a substantial component of this legislation. Two Types of Exchanges PPACA requires that by 2014, all U.S. states create two types of public exchanges: one …

I believe that it is important, in formulating a successful game plan in employee benefits implementation, to ask the right questions.  In his book, QBQ!, John Miller suggests that by asking better questions (the question behind the question, or QBQ), we get better answers.  He calls the QBQ “the tool that brings personal accountability to …

Challenges with Health Benefits – PPACA Advancement For decades, employee benefits had been successfully utilized by employers to attract and retain a skilled workforce.  However, with skyrocketing cost of care and health premiums, our healthcare system was sent into a tailspin, deteriorating the value of health benefits in the workplace. The Patient Protection and Affordable …