Amazon has announced that it’s launching a virtual health clinic for Seattle-based employees and their families. What is the goal of this virtual health clinic? It will aim to provide telemedicine, in-person services, in-home follow-up appointments for employees, as well as serve as a vehicle for prescribing medications. This new …
On Monday, July 29, 2019, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid (CMS) proposed rules that would require all Medicare-participating hospitals to post their negotiated prices for standard healthcare services. The Outpatient Prospective Payment System (OPPS) & Ambulatory Surgical Center (ASC) proposed rule is intended to increase pricing transparency and help …
On Tuesday, Feb. 5, 2019, President Donald Trump delivered the 2019 State of the Union Address (SOTU). The SOTU is an annual message delivered by the president to a joint session of Congress at the beginning of each year. At this year’s SOTU, President Trump discussed issues that have the …
Announced November 28, 2018, CVS Health, the nation’s premier health innovation company, has completed its acquisition of Aetna. This venture is speculated to have transformative impacts on the industry and the way consumers access health care. In an announcement released yesterday, Aetna revealed that the goal of the acquisition is …
On Wednesday, Oct. 10, 2018, President Donald Trump signed two bills into law that ban the “gag clauses” that can result in consumers overpaying for their prescriptions. Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services, Alex Azar, said this action is the first of a series that will be …
The UPMC Health Plan and network, primarily utilized throughout Western and Central Pennsylvania, is continuing its rapid expansion into the Eastern region of the state. Effective January 1st, 2019, UPMC’s insurance product lines will now be available throughout the majority of Pennsylvania, with the exception of the 5 counties of …
Interesting times…. The Affordable Care Act (“ACA”) and its volumes of regulations have been the law of the land since 2010. Implementation was sometimes messy (the exchange websites), confusing (1095-C coding), and unreliable (late December extensions of filing deadlines). However, it is the law, and employers have spent billions of dollars to comply. While …
Working in the benefits world, we understand the sense of pride employers feel in being able to offer a strong benefits program to their employees. With benefit premiums constantly climbing and budgets tight, many scramble to find benefits that add value but don’t break the bank. For some employers, Commuter …
For most of us, seeing the doctor means making an appointment, trekking to the doctor’s office and having a face-to-face meeting. With its increasing accessibility and popularity, however, many consumers are turning to telemedicine as an alternative to a traditional doctor’s office visit. At Creative Benefits, we have observed a …
The Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA) offers protections to employees for family and medical needs in all the United States. But some states have decided that FMLA doesn’t go far enough. They have responded by enacting laws of their own to offer employees protections that extend beyond those offered by …
Though the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) and Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) are separate pieces of legislation, there is interplay between them. When an employee takes medical leave and exhausts their FMLA entitlement but returns to work with ongoing medical issues, the employer is expected to make adjustments …
How do we address the financial side of parental family leave? We see this question coming up more and more. The issue is the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) offers employees the option of unpaid leave. While FMLA has helped many people balance the needs of work and family …
As companies continue to struggle with rising healthcare premiums, more and more attention is being paid to what is driving the increases. Even companies with low or diminishing medical claims are seeing their rates climb, leaving the frustrating question of Why? The conclusion being reached by many is rising pharmaceutical …
Another month, another industry-shaking merger of major insurance providers. Assuming it clears antitrust hurdles, last month’s $48 billion Anthem/Cigna merger brings the number of major national health insurance companies down to just three, after Aetna purchased Humana for $37 billion less than a month earlier. UnitedHealth Group rounds out the …
Much has been written about Obamacare’s effect on large businesses. The employer mandate has changed the game completely, and the question for larger companies has been “How can we afford all these new expenses?” But what about the little guys? Although companies with fewer than 50 employees (and for 2015, …
