Health Care Reform - Senate Finance Rejects Public Plan Option

After a day's worth of debate, members of the Senate Finance Committee voted 15-8 against a public plan option introduced by Senator Jay Rockefeller (D-WV).

Of all the various health reform bills moving through Congress, this is the only one without a provision for a government-run public plan option.

See the NY Times coverage at: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/30/health/policy/30health.html?_r=1&hp

Free AARP Workforce Assessment Tool

A big thank you to all who were able to attend today's Aging in the Workforce conference at the Association of the Bar of the City of New York!

If interested, one can access the free, confidential tool at http://www.aarpworkforceassessment.org

Designed to help your organization assess your current and future workforce needs, the AARP Workforce Assessment Tool is a resource for HR managers to:

• Assess how retiring workers will affect their organization
• Address skill shortage challenges due to staff attrition
• Create a work environment that attracts qualified workers of all ages
• Manage a multi-generational workforce
• Build an employer brand that attracts and retains top talent

The tool takes approximately 30 minutes to complete and generates a customized summary report based on your responses.

To register for the next NYBGH event, "Brain Health: How Brain Function Impacts Productivity and Healthcare Costs", please contact Jennifer Cole at jcole@nybgh.org or at 212.252.7440 x223

Two Employers from AARP's 2009 Best Employers for Workers Over 50 List to Speak at NYBGH Aging in the Workplace Conference

Two employers ranking in the 2009 AARP Best Employers for Workers Over 50 list will be speaking at an NYBGH conference next week. The half-day conference, "Aging in the Workplace: Its Impact on Cost, Priorities, and Health" will feature Lynette Chappell-Williams from Cornell University, which ranked #1 on AARP's rankings, as well as Bernadette Kenny from Adecco Group North America, which came in at #20 on this year's list.

Ms. Chappell-Williams is Cornell University's Associate Vice President for the Office of Workforce Diversity and Inclusion. Ms. Kenny is Adecco's Sr. VP of Human Resources & Chief Career Officer.

This event is complimentary for NYBGH employer members.

To RSVP, please contact Jen Cole at jcole@nybgh.org or 212.252.7440 x.223

Health Care Reform - The Costs of Inaction

Business Roundtable recently released a report, presented by Hewitt Associates, a human resources outsourcing and consulting company, on the costs of not reforming the nation's health care system. From the report:

This report makes a case for the potential benefits of health reform if it is done wisely. The United States can reduce upward health care cost trends and expand access for most Americans if:

• Health insurance coverage is expanded to as close to universal levels as we can reasonably get
• Existing sources of employer-based coverage are not disrupted or displaced or saddled with significant additional costs and compliance burdens
• Expanded coverage is accompanied by meaningful delivery system reform led by changes to Medicare; and
• As expected, purchasers in the private sector adopt these reforms.

The report can be found at: http://www.businessroundtable.org/sites/default/files/BRT_Hewitt_HC%20Reform%20Report_Sept2009_FinalONLINE.pdf

HealthPass Celebrates 10th Anniversary

HealthPass, an NYC-based health insurance exchange and a subsidiary of NYBGH, this week celebrates its tenth year in operation. Offering small businesses quality, affordable group health coverage, HealthPass was created 10 years ago through a partnership between NYBGH, the City of New York, and the health insurance industry.

The press release can be found at: http://www.marketwire.com/press-release/Healthpass-1046432.html

Health Care Reform - NewsHour with Jim Lehrer

Last week's health care stories from NewsHour with Jim Lehrer:

One-shot Solution Explored for H1N1 Vaccine

Obama Seizes on Momentum from Wednesday's Health Care Speech

Congress Reacts to President Obama's Speech

Axelrod Optimistic About Health Care Reform Push

Ahead of Obama Speech, Health Reform Debates Renewed in Congress

Kaiser Employee Health Benefits Survey - 2009

Today the Kaiser Family Foundation, along with the Health Research Educational Trust (HRET), released their 2009 Employee Health Benefits Survey that examines insurance premium costs as well as other items within a health benefits package including drug benefits, office visits, wellness benefits, health risk assessments, retiree benefits, and on-site clinics.

Premiums for employer-sponsored health insurance rose to $13,375 annually for family coverage this year, with employees on average paying $3,515 and employers paying $9,860. A number of the study's findings will be published today in a Health Affairs web exclusive.

To access the report, visit the KFF site at: http://ehbs.kff.org/?page=abstract&id=2
For the news release, visit: http://www.kff.org/insurance/ehbs091509nr.cfm

Health Care Reform - Adverse Selection

A new report released by the Rockefeller Institute of Government, the public policy research arm of the State University of New York (SUNY), examines the difficulties states encounter with "adverse selection" in their efforts to broaden coverage. Courtney Burke of the Rockefeller Institute and Katherine Swartz of the Harvard School of Public Health discuss a number of possible strategies, including an individual mandate, creation of an insurance exchange, and a merger of the small group and individual markets.

The report can be found at: http://www.rockinst.org/pdf/health_care/2009-09-HPRC_Managing_Risk.pdf

Health Care Reform - New Coalition Advocates Health Reform Faithful to Free Market

A recent press release from Employee Benefit News tells of a newly formed grassroots coalition made-up of 20 statewide business chambers and employer organizations from across the country. As a group, they oppose an employer mandate.

From Employee Benefit News:

Employers for Quality Health Care is an independent bevy that includes family-owned businesses and Fortune 500 companies, standing alongside national groups such as the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the National Association of Manufacturers as members. The participants, representing thousands of predominately small to mid-size employers who voluntarily offer coverage to millions of employees and families, delineated their needs and suggestions for health care reform in a letter to President Obama and members of Congress.

As a group they oppose an employer mandate, claiming that most employers who can afford to provide health care coverage already do so in an effort to attract and retain talent. New government-run coverage would shift millions of Americans off their existing private plans, they protest.

The article can be found at: http://ebn.benefitnews.com/news/new-coalition-advocates-health-reform-faithful-to-free-market-2681812-1.html?ET=ebnbenefitnews:e308:2126416a:&st=email

Health Care Reform - NewsHour with Jim Lehrer

Last week's featured stories on health care from PBS's NewsHour with Jim Lehrer:

Seattle Health Cooperative May Offer National Model

Surgeon Gawande Seeks More 'Rational Care' in Medicine

The Case Against the Public Insurance Option

Examining the Public Option in Health Care Reform

Health Care Coverage Tests Perceptions of the Media

Health Care Reform - Congressional Documents Reveal Health Costs

Kaiser Health News has obtained documents prepared by the House Ways and Means Committee that illustrate how the House Tri-Committee Health Reform Bill (America's Affordable Health Choices Act) will affect premium and cost-sharing maximums for low- and moderate-income families and individuals. Under this plan, premiums will be drastically reduced and out-of-pocket limits will decline. The documents only list families whose incomes are up to four times the federal poverty level: $88,200. These are the people who would be eligible for government subsidies.

The documents can be seen at: http://www.kaiserhealthnews.org/Stories/2009/September/04/House-Bill-Premiums.aspx#Families