Benefits Think

UnitedHealth Group, Target, Kraft and other leading employers have created a new outlet for employee altruism called “micro-volunteering” that allows individuals to give back to their community just 15 minutes at a time.

The American Board of Internal Medicine, Consumer Reports magazine and 17 medical professional societies recently banded together to launch “Choosing Wisely,” a public awareness campaign to reduce unnecessary medical tests and treatments.

In December, I blogged about how voluntary benefits can help employers increase employees’ comfort level with CDHPs. For example, studies have shown that employees are generally uneasy about high out-of-pocket medical cost exposure. They appreciate having voluntary programs such as accident, cancer or critical illness Insurance to help supplement their CDHP coverage in the event of high dollar, unexpected claims. …

As a sales leader, it’s critical for brokers to understand how to help their team realize their potential and become the most effective salesperson. Kevin Trokey explains why brokers should commit to all four steps to become one of the most valuable resources in their organization.

According to one study, students whose parents pay their entire college bill are the ones most likely to be partying rather than studying.

A statement from the American Heart Association says based on review of more than 500 journal articles and studies, there’s no proof that gum disease leads to heart disease or stroke — or that preventive dental care can reduce the risk of heart attack or stroke.

Employers and brokers should step back and look at the benefit products that are being used and ask: “If we were designing these plans in 2012, what would they look like?” Today, we use dental plans designed over 50 years ago, and vision plans designed over 25 years ago. Both of these predate HRAs, HSAs, and FSAs. All plans from all insurers are almost identical: Same design Mostly insured Multiple rules on frequency, procedures, age, and limits PPO networks …

Employee engagement is the goal of just about every wellness and health management program. You need to engage employees to be more active, eat better, get more sleep. … You get the idea. So why is engaging employees so hard? Maybe it’s because we haven’t really thought about it from the perspective of the employee – the end-user of the wellness initiative. According to research from a partnership of Aon Hewitt and The Futures Company, most…

There is always much noise and excitement about starting an employee wellness program, but the room goes silent when talk turns to return on investment. It’s well past time for ROI vagueness to stop being tolerated. A wellness program without clear goals and methods for measurement is meaningless.

Recently, Benz Communications announced the launch of its Inside Benefits Communication Survey, the first survey of benefits and HR managers created specifically to learn how companies are strategizing and implementing benefits communication. Respondents to the 10-minute survey will get inside knowledge of what effective companies are doing, where they need help and what their plans are. Learn how to participate.