July 13, 2010
Having recently surpassed the $1 billion mark in HSA assets, OptumHealth’s Todd Berkley shares how the consumer-directed accounts are fairing as the economy struggles to recover. Click here to listen
Source: Employee Benefits News used by permission
By Andrea Davis
U.S. health insurers will have to focus on overseas expansion opportunities if they want continued high rates of growth and profitability, according to a study that explores trends toward an expanded role for private health insurance in other countries.
“U.S. health insurers have been successful at focusing almost exclusively on the U.S. market up until now,” says Sherry Manetta, an analyst at Conning Research & Consulting, which conducted the research. “However, the U.S. now accounts for 80% of the global health insurance market, while representing just 4.6% of the world’s population. Looking forward, both profit pressures at home and higher growth rates overseas will drive increased multinational expansion interest among U.S. health insurers,” Manetta adds.
According to the study, the U.S. health insurance market is forecasted to grow approximately 7% annually from 2009 to 2011. However, “operating margins, which declined to 3.1% in 2008, will continue to be under pressure as proposed health care reform solutions are implemented and health care cost trends continue to outpace general inflation. … Other countries provide opportunities for U.S. insurers to diversify geographically and to leverage the considerable investments already made in health insurance and managed care systems and processes,” researchers note.
Asia and Europe represent the best near-term opportunities for U.S. insurers, according to the report.
“U.S. insurers have built and are managing the world’s most complex managed health care system,” says Stephan Christiansen, director of research at Conning. “With this infrastructure and expertise, U.S. insurers have the potential to emerge as front-runners of a vast global managed health care system, should they decide to enter the competition already underway with Western European and Canadian multinational insurers
Employee Benefit News Article used by permission.
The human resources department traditionally spends a great deal of time developing written benefit information within the corporate communications structure. Most companies spent a great deal of resources on of general benefit information as well as summaries of health insurance or deductions are printed at the bottom of employee paychecks. Since the role of the HR department has evolved since the 1990s, when the department began to change its role in the workplace, employee benefit communication can be conducted in a number of different ways. The point of solid corporate communications strategies is to make sure that you are providing your employees with as much information as possible to be completely effective at their daily jobs.
If you’re running a smaller company, your HR department will most likely consist of one or two people, so it may be a little easier to have effective employee communications regarding things like changes in health care benefits or paycheck deductions. Corporate communication in the form of mass emails detailing these changes, or reminders to read the new information that will appear on the bottom of pay stubs will most likely suffice in these instances. It may also help to partner will smaller health insurance companies to meet the needs of your employees. In many cases, larger corporations that handle employee benefits will relay employee communication to your company in the same way they would a national corporation. This could cause your employees to miss certain important internal communications regarding the amount of coverage they can receive for their families. Therefore, working with independent health insurance companies, and finding out about employee benefits from organizations may be the way to go.
No matter how large or small your business may be, holding an employee meeting to learn more about things like 401k, IRAs, Social Security, and health insurance is always a good method of corporate communication. Employees that may have joined the company in their 40s or 50s will most likely be especially concerned about retirement benefits, and those with children will have questions about health insurance. Being able to utilize hard-copy materials as a form of effective employee benefit communications during a face to face meeting may ease any doubts and answer any questions they may have about their benefits and compensation.
The importance of effective corporate communication is a huge part of your company’s success. Be sure that you are being clear and open any time you engage in employee communication and try to have some available at all times during regular business hours to answer any additional questions concerns.
 |
 |
 |
|
||
 |
|
 |
|
||
Powered by Yahoo! Answers