Today we welcome Jim White, Executive Director of the Nonprofit Association of Oregon, to the Nonstop Wellness blog. We discuss with Jim the importance of employee healthcare and why – and how – nonprofits should continue to offer benefits even in the face of ever-tightening budgets.
Photo: Getty Images
"Stashed away in the byzantine language of the Affordable Care Act are rules that have caused a big bang-size explosion in health care startups--led by founders who will reinvent the health care industry." -Jeff Bercovici recently commented on the opportunity the ACA presents to entrepreneurs, writing for Inc.
Felice J. Freyer of the Boston Globe writes about how publishing the cost of health care services does not actually lead to decreased consumer spending on those services.
Photo: engagingleader.com
Perhaps more than in any other industry, nonprofit organizations are strongly vested in keeping their employees happy, healthy, and productive. After all, nonprofits have some of the highest turnover rates in the US workforce, which can cost 20% (or more depending on the skillset being replaced) of total salary to replace.
It’s probably no surprise to hear that healthcare benefits matter to your employees. How much they matter is more likely the bigger question.Eighty-nine percent of surveyed employees*think that employer-sponsored healthcare is equally as important as getting a salary. What’s more, 63% of surveyed employees said that benefits play a factor in their choice to stay with their current job.
Lisa Aliferis recently wrote for KQED about the important differences between California's "active purchaser" exchange and exchanges in other states where any plan that seeks to participate is included without negotiation of premiums and benefits.
Employers have very apparent opinions on what they want to change about the Affordable Care Act.
Dave Chase recently wrote for Forbes about how the irrational set of circumstances in which the healthcare industry finds itself have certain implications - the continued hyperinflation of premiums would accelerate the employer realization that they need to take matters into their own hands and disintermediate healthcare plans. A growing number of employers are doing exactly that.
It’s the season for mid-year healthcare plan renewals. As such, many organizations are likely re-examining their current healthcare plans (and possibly brokers) to determine if there’s any room for improvement and/or more savings. But while a large percentage of small-to-midsize nonprofits typically opt for traditional fully-funded employee healthcare, partially self-funded healthcare might actually be a better option.
Photo: HCW Benefits
This week the Kaiser Family Foundation released an insight brief on actual employee cost-sharing data for healthcare spending as reported between 2004-2014. By analyzing a sample of health benefit claims over that decade, researchers were able to identify how consumer spending on deductibles, copays, and coinsurance has changed.
