Employer Strategies

In the information age, perhaps the only system left that hasn't gone completely digital or to the cloud is health care. Even insurance companies, who warehouse massive amounts of data, rarely share it with other insurance companies when an employee moves from one job to the next. And for patients to gain access to their own heath records, which largely are maintained on paper, they have to go through a lengthy process - on paper.

Among the most controversial requirements of health care reform is a preventive care provision that requires all insurers and nongrandfathered health plan sponsors to cover contraceptives without a deductible or copayment. Coverage includes all FDA-approved contraception methods, sterilization procedures, and patient education and counseling.

You may not be hearing it directly from your employees, but most are not happy with the customer service health plans provide. A new research report published by Temkin Group, a consulting firm, rates the customer experience of 206 large companies across 18 industries.

Diversity training, doing good in the communities in which it operates and encouraging employees to dream big dreams are the three pillars of Darden Restaurants’ human resources’ strategy, Clarence Otis, company chairman and CEO, told attendees at the Great Place to Work conference in Atlanta.

On Monday, the Supreme Court began hearing oral arguments addressing the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. Day one of the oral arguments focused on the application of the “Anti-Injunction Act,” which could prohibit the Supreme Court from ruling on the constitutionality of PPACA (if it is considered a tax law) because the penalties would not become applicable until 2015. Although both parties agree that the Supreme Court’s review should not be barred by the…

Protesters packed up signs and TV talkers put away their microphones Wednesday night, the beginning of the long wait till the Supreme Court decides the fate of the Affordable Care Act.

Companies that serve 401(k) plans are asking the Labor Department to reconsider its stance on mailed notification, so that they can save costs by using email instead of regular mail to send information to plan participants. However, the industry also is trying to balance that need with the needs of older workers, who tend to not be as computer-savvy.

Whole Foods Market — which has 300 stores in the U.S. Canada and the U.K. — puts benefits to a vote. Every three years the company lets employees nominate benefits and if other employees agree, the benefit is added. It’s just one of the ways the company empowers its employees and encourages innovation, co-founder and CEO John Mackey told a packed crowd in Wednesday morning’s opening keynote address at the Great Place to Work conference in Atlanta.

The Mayo Clinic launched an ambitious social media campaign in 2008 and within a year, had a 49% market share among health care websites. It started a blog for employees, which has been likened to a weather report that enables higher-ups to assess how employees are feeling about the organization. The end goal is to break down barriers between management and employees.

Just as bright yellow “Don’t Tread on Me” and American flags flew high in front of the Supreme Court this week, so did the tempers of the crowds of supporters and opponents of health care reform gathered outside.