Moving “upstream” can help employers who self-fund their health benefits improve outcomes, lower costs and gain more “joy in supporting employees,” according to Dr. Rishi Manchanda, a primary care physician, public health innovator and former health system executive.
Learn the impact of surprise medical billing from out-of-network providers, the politics of reform and what reform is happening in the United States.
Alliance employer-members and industry professionals learned the latest about health benefit design challenges and how to address them. That was the focus of the Employer Connections event at Northern Illinois University’s Rockford Campus.
You might think that proposed state laws about insurance benefits won’t impact your self-funded benefit plan due to the federal ERISA law. Think again. State legislation is increasingly having an impact on self-funded benefit plans.
“The more time you spend with your provider, the more accurate your diagnosis will be,” said Dr. Michael Tuggy. Dr. Tuggy is the vice chair at Family Medicine for America’s Health and a clinical professor at the University of Washington. He spoke at two events hosted by The Alliance to start a discussion about high-value health care and employer-sponsored direct primary care clinics.
As proposed legislation and regulation moves through the federal and state lawmaking process, employers can contact their legislators or participate in other Alliance activities aimed at alerting policymakers to the potential impact of their actions.
A $44 million tax bill was sent to an employer who made that mistake and then turned to John Barlament, a partner at Quarles and Brady, for help in correcting the issue. While the penalty was eventually corrected and reduced to zero, the situation shows the potential problems that employers can face when dealing with health benefits regulations.
Staying current on state and federal policymakers’ approach to health benefits can feel like a continual pop quiz. That makes the game show Jeopardy! a good approach to understanding the current health policy challenges facing employers.
Direct primary care (DPC) has been promoted as a way for consumers to save money on primary care services, since there are usually no co-pays or deductibles. By not accepting insurance payments, DPC providers avoid the overhead and complexity of dealing with insurers.
