New Jersey’s Oldest Multi-Association Benefits Trust Chooses Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey's OMNIA to Serve More Employers in the Garden State

June 1, 2016, 8:07 am

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AMT to begin offering OMNIA Health Plan

Newark, NJ (PRWEB) June 01, 2016

Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey (Horizon BCBSNJ) is teaming up with Association Master Trust (AMT) to offer OMNIA health plans to more employers in the Garden State. AMT is a not-for-profit, multi-association benefits trust that offers self-funded health and dental benefits to 15 independent trade association employers, covering about 18,000 employees and their dependents.

Beginning June 1, 2016, AMT will be offering several different OMNIA plans to all existing and prospective AMT member employers.

“Horizon and AMT share the goal of providing New Jersey workers and their families a high quality plan at an affordable cost,” said Joseph Albano, Vice President, Commercial and Major Accounts, Horizon BCBSNJ. “We are pleased to join forces so that AMT can offer OMNIA health plans as an option for their members throughout New Jersey,” he said.

“AMT’s mission is to offer self-funded health plans that provide comprehensive benefits design and extraordinary service to our members. Adding Horizon’s OMNIA plan to our mix makes sense because its’ design aligns perfectly with our goals. Participating association employer members will now have more options to enroll into AMT plans. I firmly believe OMNIA will deliver great rates, coverage and service with a health plan run by members for members,” said Harvey Mishkin, COO, Association Master Trust.

OMNIA is the health insurance choice for 235,000 New Jerseyans across all market segments, including over 41,000 previously uninsured residents who purchased OMNIA during the 2016 Individual Open Enrollment period. The OMNIA Health Plans offer significantly lower premiums, access to the largest network in New Jersey, and the option to save more money on out-of-pocket costs when seeking care at certain doctors and hospitals.

About Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey
Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey, the state’s oldest and largest health insurer is a tax-paying, not-for-profit health service corporation, providing a wide array of medical, dental, and prescription insurance products and services. Horizon BCBSNJ is leading the transformation of health care in New Jersey by working with doctors and hospitals to deliver innovative, patient-centered programs that reward the quality, not quantity, of care patients receive. Learn more at http://www.HorizonBlue.com. Horizon BCBSNJ is an independent licensee of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association serving more than 3.8 million members.

About Association Master Trust
AMT is a unique not-for-profit multi-association benefits trust formed in 1979 to serve the group benefit needs of participating association employer members. AMT offers self-funded health and dental benefit programs, combining employers from fifteen independent trade associations to maximize claim stability, administrative efficiency, cost savings and a full menu of comprehensive benefits. Through its not-for-profit structure, AMT has returned nearly $10 million in dividend credits to eligible participating members over the past five years. Learn more at http://www.amt-nj.com.

### Reported by PRWeb 16 hours ago.

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United States: Recent Congressional Health Policy Hearings - 31 May 2016 - Reed Smith

June 1, 2016, 8:44 am

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House Energy and Commerce Committee hearings on HHS cybersecurity responsibilities, Medicare and Medicaid program integrity, the Administration's proposed Medicare Part B drug payment model, and patient-focused health insurance reforms. Reported by Mondaq 15 hours ago.

Election 2016: The First of Many Referenda on Neoliberalism

June 1, 2016, 9:13 am

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Directing public money to private organizations to look after the common good is a story as old as the American republic, and a practice inherited from colonial times.

When the Great Depression overwhelmed the country's patchwork system of private charities and fraternal benefit organizations, President Franklin Roosevelt launched a new era of public policy by establishing a federal role in the welfare of American citizens, and forging the mechanisms to deliver it. The unfinished business of the New Deal, like federal aid to primary and secondary schools or national health insurance, preoccupied reformers for a generation, until Lyndon Johnson signed important precedents for both into law.

This well-known story is often poorly told. As I have argued in two separate books (on very different subjects), the ambition and institutional capacity of both the federal and state governments grew in tandem, not at each other's expense. Old and animated debates on federalism cannot be regarded as adequate storytellers of the state: the real story of the twentieth century is the expansion of the government power at all levels. For instance, the federal income tax, first assessed to most Americans in times of peace only after World War II, and the subsequent derivation of "federal gross adjusted income" figure, gave various states a path to calculate an income tax for all their wage-earning residents, rather than negotiate it from only a few. During that same time, the World War II GI Bill, which delegated administrative authority to the states for its famed education benefit, added large numbers of staff and new expectations to individual state departments of education.

In a variety of ways, standardized federal processes and expanded federal programs coaxed and cajoled growth and renovation throughout the states. As the late legal scholar Bill Stuntz once observed, the Bill of Rights, the first 10 amendments to the Constitution widely celebrated as a restraint on state power, may have endured precisely because they are not. Though much political rhetoric depicts otherwise, Americans are not governed by a "weak state," even when measured by social policy alone.

The survival and recently expanded role of private organizations in the conduct of public policy is a better known story, but also subject to its own distortions. Many date the privatization of federal functions back to Ronald Reagan, but in fact, seminal New Deal policies made concessions to both state governments and pre-existing private providers. Depending upon the program, some private providers receive money directly from the government; many others are compensated in the form of deductions from their tax bill. Legislators reluctant to raise taxes in the wake of the Reagan revolution have availed themselves of the latter funding method so much that anyone looking to understand the nature and scope of U.S. government intervention in the lives of its citizens must inspect the tax code and revenue collection well before looking to federal and state budgets.

Contrary to the run of political discourse, we have not lived in an era governed by deficit politics -- that is, a reluctance to spend money on the public good. Such a notion should be absurd on its face, given the extraordinary $2.7 trillion the United States has expended on a futile war in Iraq. But the observation holds even without the military: according to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, the United States hosts the second largest welfare state in the world. Instead of austerity, what we've had is a political establishment that invokes its rhetoric in order to dictate how, and for whom, public money should be spent.

Certainly the majority of Americans are not the primary beneficiaries of this enormous and expensive web of activity. There is no national or single-payer healthcare in the United States; nor is there a defined benefit public pension that allows Americans to plan for and live comfortably in retirement. In fact, unlike the array of cradle-to-grave benefits that other wealthy nations sponsor as their social safety net, the United States ranks only 23rd in direct government spending on social welfare. To put it differently, New Deal public policy as it is traditionally understood, and against which conservatives ostensibly premise their revolution, accounts for only a portion of US investment in social policy.

This election has produced consistent -- albeit neglected -- evidence that especially young people are no longer satisfied with how the political equation of public policy is balanced in this country. The unimpressive performance and results of neoliberalism, or the withdrawal of government from the public sector, have driven insurgent candidacies in this presidential election cycle no less than disadvantageous trade agreements. Young people's hunger for better public policy has most often been recognized in our national conversation only indirectly, usually as derision for its projected costs. But in point of fact, the United States already has strong social policy state and robust social welfare investments; over the course of time, we have simply strayed from placing these in the service of the American people.

Of course the issue of privatization extends far beyond welfare provision: outsourcing formerly public functions to the private sector has fundamentally altered the US military, as well as how government builds infrastructure and performs maintenance. The residual and delegated powers vested in state and local government bears significance beyond the safety net as well. Both traditional and newly assigned forms of autonomy have ushered in a home and charter school revolution, often at the expense of local public schools; they have facilitated the divestment in public higher education and driven an unprecedented expansion in incarceration; local and state control has also enabled disparate treatment on a range of issues, from policing to access to healthcare.

Many Americans have begun to ask whether this public policy model performs as efficiently, or as equitably, as it should. Without detailed knowledge of adequate exposition of the inner workings of policy, they nonetheless gravitate toward proposals that implement policy through government budgets, via public mechanisms, and according to the principle of universal entitlement entailed in federal policy. Instead of an obscure and unevaluated "submerged state" of tax transactions, or private corporations enriched by but unaccountable to the public, millions of Americans seem willing to consider the proposition that government exists for a reason, and is itself a reasonable, sometimes superior option.

Among Democrats, President Obama's most celebrated domestic accomplishment is the Affordable Care Act, a "kludgey" piece of legislation designed to defer to private corporate interests and individual state governments in order to establish some basic rules of insurance coverage. Yet even the face of this acclaim, a recent poll found that a majority of all Americans (58 percent) prefer a single-payer or "Medicare for All" health care system.

Broadly speaking, in detectable but mostly unexamined ways, the public option is back on the table. This is itself a stunning rebuke of the political establishment, given that a case for government has been not been championed by either major party; if anything, it has been disparaged and dismissed. In spite of the ridicule, one of its most concrete expressions, single-payer healthcare, pulls in significantly higher approval rates than either presidential frontrunner. The idea of a government working on behalf of its people is the true underdog running in this race; if it were placed on the ballot, it would win. Not that it wouldn't face opposition: in Colorado a single-payer health policy proposal will be voted on in November and both parties, including Democratic Governor John Hickenlooper, have mobilized to defeat it.

-- This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website. Reported by Huffington Post 15 hours ago.

One-on-One Medicare Counseling @ Elwood Public Library

June 1, 2016, 9:04 pm

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Patch Northport, NY -- Get answers to your questions and provide information specific to your own needs regarding Medicare health insurance. Reported by Patch 3 hours ago.

Why Trump's Health Insurance Deductions Don't Add Up

June 1, 2016, 7:13 pm

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Presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump has a seven-point plan for reforming healthcare, and a notable element is allowing individuals to deduct insurance premiums from taxes.

This proposed change to the tax code is meant to mirror how employer-based insurance is subsidized. It would mean that whether you buy health insurance directly from an insurance company, or get it through your job, you wouldn't pay income taxes on your premiums.

Trump seems to suggest that this change would even the playing field between employer-based insurance and individual coverage.

But that isn't true. Deducting individual premiums from taxes is not as good as employer-based tax exclusions. To understand why, let's calculate the impact of both approaches for the typical American family.

Let's meet our example family and get their financial basics:

Jane and her husband John have a household income of $80,000. They are subject to a 25 percent marginal income tax and a 7.65 percent FICA tax, which funds Social Security and Medicare. Their family health plan costs $12,000 per year.

Their take-home pay is higher if their health plan comes through their employer, rather than purchased individually. This is true even if Trump made it so they could deduct the cost of the individually-purchased plan. The following explains why.
*
Employer-sponsored approach*

Employer-sponsored health insurance has been considered nontaxable by the IRS since the inception of the federal income tax in 1919. The practice of providing compensation in the form of "benefits" became more popular after World War II, and the tax-excluded status of employer benefits was officially cemented in the Revenue Act of 1954.

This system benefits both the employee and the employer, who can avoid income and FICA taxes from any funds spent on health insurance.

This means Jane can subtract $12,000 in health insurance costs from her salary before it is taxed. WIth $68,000 in taxable income, Jane pays $22,202 to the IRS. After taxes and insurance, Jane has a take-home pay total of $45,798.
*
Individual-purchased approach*

Individual insurance is currently not excluded from taxes. But Trump's plan would change that--kind of.

In this example, Jane's full $80,000 is considered taxable. This means she pays $26,120 in taxes, which leaves $53,880. She then pays $12,000 for health insurance with take-home pay. That leaves her with $41,880.

When she pays her taxes, she can retroactively deduct the $12,000 in premiums from her taxes. That comes to $3,000 in her tax return, which leaves her with a total of $44,880 after taxes and health insurance.

*Conclusion*

As you can see, with employer-based health insurance, Jane's household has almost $1,000 more in take-home pay. So while Trump's plan would make individual health insurance more attractive than it is now--all else being equal--it still would not be as good as getting coverage from an employer.

-- This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website. Reported by Huffington Post 5 hours ago.

Fitch Affirms Blue Shield of California's IFS at 'A'; Outlook Negative

June 2, 2016, 5:42 am

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CHICAGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Fitch Ratings has affirmed Blue Shield of California's (BSC) Insurer Financial Strength (IFS) rating at 'A' and revised the Rating Outlook to Negative from Stable. Today's rating action completes a periodic review of BSC's rating. BSC's rating considers the company's diverse enrollment and large market share in the California health insurance market, strong capitalization and solid earnings. Also considered in the rating are risks derived from the company's geographica Reported by Business Wire 19 hours ago.

Zenefits Goes Mobile with HR App for Small Businesses

June 2, 2016, 5:48 am

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New Zenefits iOS app gives employees mobile access to employee directory, health insurance, time off, pay stubs, and more on-the-go. Reported by PCMag.com 18 hours ago.

Bad News For Texans: Your Health Insurance Costs Are About To Soar 60%

June 2, 2016, 11:46 am

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When last week we showed how much the average health insurance premium proposal would rise in a 14 select states...

 

... but one state was missing: Texas, which is the health-care law's third-largest market behind Florida and California. We now may have found the reason why.

According to the Houston Chronicle which cites federal regulator filings, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Texas - the state's largest insurer* - has asked for rate hikes of nearly 60% for next year in three popular HMO plans*. According to filings listed on healthcare.gov, Blue Cross and Blue Shield seeks increases between *57.33 percent and 59.35 percent for two of its Blue Advantage Plus plans.* A Blue Advantage Health Maintenance Organization Plan is asking for a 58.6 percent hike.

The company, which is the only carrier to offer health coverage in all of Texas' 254 counties, would not specify Wednesday what would happen if does not get the rate increase it says it needs. "No final decisions have been made regarding our 2017 Texas offerings," spokesman Gustavo Bujanda said in a statement emailed to the Houston Chronicle.

"The rates we have submitted for review and approval are supported by strong actuarial principles, science and data," the statement continued.

The company said in its request that the hike could *affect nearly 603,000 Texans buying individual policies through the federal exchange mandated by the Affordable Care Act*. It is not known what increases will be requested for employer-sponsored group policies. "The anticipated health risk of the people in any given market is the largest component of determining rate changes," the company statement said.

Judging by the soaring premium, the "health risk" is likewise going through the roof: risk which it appears nobody had anticipated five years ago when the ACA tax was passed.

BlueCross is not alone: insurers across the nation have complained vigorously that they are losing money in the federal exchanges as some customers have proven more costly to cover than anticipated. Under the health-care law, an insurer can no longer deny coverage to someone based on her or his health status or pre-existing condition.

Texas Department of Insurance spokesman Ben Gonzalez confirmed his agency had received requests for rate hikes, but he said that because the insurer had marked them "confidential" he was unable to comment on the amounts. He said the department is *"going to go back to ask more questions*."

To be sure, the Texas administrator is stumped by this soaring premium request: in Texas a rate request, especially one so large, must be deemed "not excessive, unfairly discriminatory and premiums must be reasonable in relations to the benefits provided," Gonzalez said. In other words, he said, the agency will ask, "Is it justified, does the company need this?"

Something tells us that the answer is yes, and that this is only the start of even greater rate increases in coming years as the full impact of Obamacare on insurer top and bottom line is unveiled.

Even if Texas balks at the rate increase demand, it likely can do nothing about it. Stacey Pogue, a senior policy analyst at the Center for Public Policy Priorities in Austin, said Texas typically lacks the teeth in its insurance regulations to block a rate increase. "There's not a process in Texas for it to be denied," she said.

Ironically, the rate request may esclate all the way to the Federal level since Texas is one of five states that does not determine its own rate reviews for the federal exchange. Instead, any rate hike request is checked by the Insurance Department to make sure it complies with state law and is considered "actuarially justified." The request then moves to the federal level, for the U.S. Health and Human Services Department to conduct the rate review for exchange plans. While HHS can ask for an adjustment, in practice the final rate increase is typically left up to the insurance company, Pogue said.

"Even if they find it unreasonable they can't stop it," she said.

* * *

Going back to the reason for the rate hike request, it is simple: the insruance company is spending far more than it is bringing in. Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Texas, for example, has said it lost $321 million last year in the individual market, both on and off the exchange, *and that it spent $1.26 for every $1 it took in. *The loss was also less than the $400 million loss it reported in 2014. It was due to those losses that the insurer said it was necessary to drop all preferred provider organization plans, typically favored by those with greater medical needs, across the state. Many of those who lost PPO coverage, including 88,000 in Houston, were shifted to HMO plans.

Other insurers won't even bother asking for rate hikes. Instead companies such as America's largest insurer, UnitedHealthcare, has said it plans to leave the exchanges in 2017 in Texas and most other states, has predicted it will lose about $650 million in the Affordable Care Act marketplace this year. Humana warned earlier this month it plans "a number of changes … to address the significant risk selection issues we have and continue to face." The company reported a 46 percent loss in the first quarter of 2016, but analysts have said some that is due to expenses involved in a takeover bid by Aetna. Cigna has called its participation in the exchanges "contingent upon future market conditions and approval of our regulatory filings," according to a previous email to the Chronicle.

To be sure, this won't be Blue Cross and Blue Shield's first rate hike request. Last year Blue Cross and Blue Shield of New Mexico, a division of the same parent company of Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Texas, asked for a 51 percent rate increase for its exchange plans. *When New Mexico insurance officials refused, the company withdrew all individual plans from the state*.

Withdrawing from Texas, which is the health-care law's third-largest market behind Florida and California, may be more problematic for all involved..

Meanwhile, the government, realizing it has made a big mistake, is putting the onus on "the people" to push back:



Wichita Falls insurance broker Kelly Fristoe told the Associated Press that people in rural areas of Texas will be the hardest hit by the rate increase because Blue Cross and Blue Shield is often the only option in remote areas. Pogue said insurance regulators in many other states are more aggressive against large rate increases. *"We need people who can push back in Texas," *she said.



Yes, the people - many of whom can not afford a 60% surge in their insurance costs - will push back, and it will be the only way they can: *with their wallet. *Which means either billions in diposable income will be removed from other sector of the economy (leaving economists stumped why retail spending is plunging) or will be forced spend much more on Obamacare. The silver lining: healthcare spending is on pace to surpass housing as the single biggest contributor to GDP. A few more quarters of Obamacare and it will be there. Reported by Zero Hedge 13 hours ago.

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The Gig Economy Is a Rigged Economy

June 2, 2016, 1:32 pm

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**By 2020 an estimated 40% of American workers, 60 million people, will be independent contractors. The travel-the-world, live-it-up digital nomad movement has become the prevailing voice on this growing freelance trend, masking the silent and glum: the future of work might be as much about what's to come as it is about undoing the important work we've done.

***I've worked remotely for 7 years. Truth be told, since graduate school and except for a 6-month stint, I have only worked remotely.

I wasn't trying to be part of some movement, and I wasn't forecasting where things were headed. I just needed a decent job, and couldn't for the life of me find one near where I lived.

So, in a desperate 2-week scramble that left my nerves and nails frayed, I finally landed a gig teaching an online Shakespeare class for a university in Kansas--a state I'd never been to and a school I'd never heard about.

The work was better than nothing. I made about $2500 per class, but the university typically could only give me one class per semester (including summer session). I could work anywhere, but insurance wasn't offered. It felt great to help students and to have a job in my field, but at the end of each semester I was scared because I rarely knew if they'd give me a class for the following semester.

So the scramble continued, and since I still couldn't find something decent in the area, I picked up two additional gigs--one teaching two sections of online English composition for a university in Florida, and another teaching an online creative nonfiction class for talented high school students all throughout the country.

With three gigs that now amounted to full-time work (I had about 100 students at every point throughout the year, including summers), you'd think I'd be rolling, or at least stable. But I was still left in the scramble. I was making about $20k each year, and none of the programs offered health insurance or any stability from semester to semester.

I found myself searching for other gigs while I should have been focusing on my students. And what this cool concept of "work from anywhere" really meant was that I mostly lived at coffee shops or libraries while contemplating moving back in with my parents.

But I marched on, and picked up two other gigs--as a freelance writer for several publications, and as a public speaker. Juggling 6 or 7 gigs at any one time, I'd boosted my yearly revenue to about $30k, but felt plagued by the multitasker's mind; I never felt like I could give any gig my full focus and therefore my best work.

Plus, after rent, health insurance, the car payment, a consolidated student loan payment, a phone bill, and groceries, I was barely keeping my head above water. When a car problem arose, for example, I'd pay with my credit card, and only be able to make $30 payments each month on it. It was always almost maxed out, and I always felt on the brink.

By working for everybody I was working for nobody. I was just spinning the wheels, and wasn't able to develop a core specialty other than my growing ability to not have a specialty. The companies I worked for didn't seem to care about me as an individual, and why would they? I wasn't a long-term asset, and others in the gig economy queue were ready to take my spot if I didn't want to keep on spinning. The more I spun in this frenetic, desperate way the more I realized millions of other people were doing the same.

-*The Digital Nomad Coin*-On one side of the coin, the side of the coin most often shown, we have the prevailing bright and promising narrative. It's the one that posits now as the greatest time to work remotely and travel the world, that everybody, especially millennials, increasingly have the ability to choose and be empowered by their work, and the notion put forth by some economists that this rapidly growing gig economy (PDF here) can shore up income inequality because it grants those with lower incomes a greater ability to find work.

As the first of my friends to enter this 'future of work' gig economy, I found myself, as the modern digital nomad movement does now--playing up the coolness and potential of this side of the coin (not having to dress up for work, make a commute, etc.).

And, for me, the true coolness finally did open up a bit. In the past few years, and while regularly filing anywhere from six to ten W-2 forms come tax season, I've worked in and traveled throughout 15 countries -- without actually working for any organizations within those countries. I'd spend time diving into some part of a country's culture I was fascinated by -- sumo wrestling in Japan or Buddhism in Laos, for example -- and then find some wifi, get a big ol' mug of tea, and grade papers or edit articles or work on my next book.

On the other side of the coin, we have compelling research, some of which is presented here at The Wall Street Journal, pointing to how the gig economy likely benefits higher-earning Americans just as much if not more than everybody else. We have brutally honest reporting, such as "The gig economy is coming. You probably won't like it." over at The Boston Globe, which projects a likely scenario: the end of salaries, the end of health insurance, the end of pensions.

In other words, the end of many of the benefits that generations of labor activists have fought for and are still dying for, and that many millennials haven't been around long enough to understand or really give a shit about.

And it's all moving so fast that methods to capture snapshots of a nation's economic health are quickly becoming antiquated. Take this piece, published a few weeks ago by Patrick Gillespie and Sara Ashley O'Brien, which shows how the gig economy is inflating traditional economic indicators:

"The U.S. economy in recent months isn't adding a healthy number of jobs. However, the unemployment rate is at a robust 5.1%, almost half of the 10% it was at during the aftermath of the financial crisis."In other words, the gig economy is still part and parcel of the larger rigged economy--where huge swaths of the U.S. middle class have remained economically stagnant for 20 years, union membership has been declining for decades, income inequality has reached a 30-year high, and the percentage of Americans making $25 million or more has grown 73% since 2008.

 So while the gig economy may give rise to incredible stories like "How to Travel to 20+ Countries While Building a Massive Business in the Process", and make certain economic figures glisten in a way that hides their deeper truths, it's important that we all at once embrace this gig economy and figure out how to make the best of it. And for starters this means we refuse to become complacent, refuse to believe that access to hundreds of short-term gigs is good enough for people.

I often highlighted the cool factor as a newb in this gig economy, but the secret story was that I was often miserable in the moment and always terrified of what the future held. For years I was working so hard to grade papers that each night before bed I'd dip my fingers for 30 minutes in plastic food storage containers filled with ice water to reduce inflammation so I could do it all again the next day.

To be clear, that is a ridiculously minor complaint compared to the crushing conditions labor movements of years past (and even still today) fought to address, but I do think the thousands of similar stories and the quiet financial desperation faced by many freelance workers highlight a need to be cautious of the loud and cool becoming a smokescreen for the dismantling of knowledge worker labor conditions.

-*The Future of the Future of Work*-
Intuit's 2020 Report paints a clear picture of what the next decade is going to look like. Contingent workers will likely hit that 60 million mark and only grow from there, full-time jobs with benefits will be harder to find, startups and companies of all sizes will gain access to the best talent available while minimizing fixed labor costs, and employees will increasingly have the world as their oyster and their mind on the next gig.The gig economy will keep rolling, and with it I believe these three strategies will help ensure that both employers and employees can roll with it rather than get rolled over by it:

*1. *Employers should strive to hire freelancers on a multiple-project basis, and strive to hire under a retainer fee (and assist with insurance) when possible. This will allow the employer to think about the future just as much as the immediate work that needs to be completed, which will save them the time and hassle of having to vet, hire and onboard another freelancer for the next project. In addition, it gives the employee some peace of mind and even brand engagement because they'll know that they're locked in for a reasonable period of time.

*2. *Traditional labor unions need to get with the program. Their work has been the only voice for the middle and lower class physical labor workers for decades, and perhaps nobody both should and is more equipped to carry the lessons they've learned into the future of work. Stay true to your machinists and aerospace workers, IAMAW, but know it's a crucial part of your job to keep tabs on the future and to not be afraid to create massive partnerships with increasingly powerful nonprofit groups like the 300,000-strong Freelancers Union.

*3. *Employees should--and I know from experience how hard this is to do--strive to take on better (not just more) gigs. If the gig economy is the future of work, focus in this age of mass distraction is the future of how we'll work. Take it from me: You're far better off to stay patient and take one or two solid gigs where you can focus, feel a sense of loyalty, and maybe even get some benefits, than you are taking seven gigs that will leave you in an endless scramble. Lastly, join up with local union chapters, join up with the Freelancers Union, and remember that you're not alone in this.

If in thinking about the future of work we forget to carry with us the lessons of the past, we're setting the stage for a brutal knowledge worker revolution.
It's one where tech savvy knowledge will be viewed as little more than the hammer and shovel of yesteryear, where traditional forms of organized labor strikes and protests will have to merge with their digital equivalents, where most have part-time gigs but a relative handful have insurance (let alone a pension) or any security for even the near-term future, and where perks like "work from anywhere!" become the bullfighter's muleta--the stick and cloth we run towards again and again and again all throughout our lives, completely oblivious to what it all obscures: the sword.

*****

Enjoy this? Get more like it at *The Modern Team*.

*See Also:*

What Does the Gig Economy Mean for Workers? (PDF)

OnLabor's Gig Economy section

Working Remotely Isn't Always a Dream

Radically Remote: Building Workplace Culture When "Place" Is An Idea

-Art: Bully

-- This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website. Reported by Huffington Post 11 hours ago.

Obamacare Co-ops Failing, Just 10 Remain

June 2, 2016, 2:14 pm

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More than half of the health insurance co-ops set up under Obamacare have failed, including one in Ohio that has left almost 22,000 people scrambling for coverage. Reported by Newsmax 10 hours ago.

AP FACT CHECK: Trumped-up charge on "Obamacare" premiums

June 2, 2016, 1:29 pm

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WASHINGTON (AP) — Donald Trump says the Obama administration plans to keep consumers in the dark about premium increases for 2017 under the president's health care law — for political reasons. Nov. 1 is actually the long-designated start of the 2017 sign-up season under President Barack Obama's health care law, not the date for the unveiling of premium levels. Clare Krusing, spokeswoman for the main industry trade group, America's Health Insurance Plans, said there's no indication the administration plans to change the date. About 12.7 million people renewed or signed up for coverage this year in the health care law's insurance markets, which offer subsidized private plans to those who don't have access on the job. Citing financial losses from the program, many insurers are requesting bigger premium increases. Returning customers are supposed to get advance notice from their insurance company about their premiums for the upcoming year. Reported by SeattlePI.com 11 hours ago.

"Here's the Truth": President Obama Busts 4 Myths About the Economy

June 2, 2016, 2:55 pm

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President Barack Obama delivers remarks at Concord Community High School, the site of his first trip as President, in Elkhart, Indiana, June 1, 2016. (Official White House Photo by Chuck Kennedy)

In 2009, just three weeks into his presidency, President Obama traveled to Elkhart, Indiana. In his first speech as president, he assured a community reeling from the economic recession that he would do all he could to recover and rebuild an economy that is stronger than ever before—for Elkhart and communities just like it across the country.

Seven and a half years later, President Obama returned to the city to recount the progress we've made since that day. And we've made quite a bit of progress. Over the past six years, our businesses have created more than 14 million jobs. Our manufacturing sector is seeing the first sustained growth since the 1990s. The unemployment rate has been cut in half—same for the oil we buy from foreign countries. And we've doubled our production of clean energy. For the first time ever, more than 90 percent of the country has health insurance.  

However, if you ask Republicans in Congress, you'll get an entirely different—and entirely false—story. It goes something like this (as told by President Obama): 

"America’s working class, families like yours, have been victimized by a big, bloated federal government run by a bunch of left-wing elitists like me. The government is taking your hard-earned tax dollars and giving them to freeloaders and welfare cheats. It’s strangling business with endless regulations. And it’s letting immigrants and foreigners steal whatever jobs Obamacare hasn’t killed yet."

 

The truth is, by almost every economic measure, we are better off than we were when President Obama took office. So the President decided to do a little myth-busting in Elkhart, taking on the four tallest tales that Republicans in Congress like to tell and laying out the real story behind our economic progress. Take a look:



4 myths Republicans in Congress continue to spread about the economy—busted by @POTUS: https://t.co/IryDjICFDM

— The White House (@WhiteHouse) June 1, 2016

- Myth 1: Government Spending -

 



"Our deficits haven’t grown these past seven and a half years—we’ve cut them by almost 75 percent."—@POTUS https://t.co/8oQETqIXhJ

— The White House (@WhiteHouse) June 1, 2016

"No, government spending isn’t what’s squeezing the middle class."

 

When it comes to government spending, here are the facts: We spend less on domestic priorities outside of Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid than we did under President Ronal Reagan. Under President Obama, we've cut the deficit by almost 75 percent. Today, fewer families are on welfare than in the 1990s, and funding has been frozen for two decades. 

And while almost all opponents of the Affordable Care Act like to claim the historic law is killing jobs and exploding spending, their claim is demonstrably false. Businesses have added jobs every month since the President signed health care reform into law in March of 2010. 

The ACA is actually leading to less spending for the average family as well. The average family's premium cost $2,600 less than it would have if premiums had kept growing at an earlier rate. 

- Myth #2: Overregulation-

 

— The White House (@WhiteHouse) June 1, 2016

"I’ve issued fewer executive orders than any two-term President since Ulysses S. Grant—that’s a long time ago."

 

It's true. It's a fact that the President has issued fewer regulations than President George W. Bush. And the ones he has issued benefit our economy—from protecting our air and water to protecting families from getting cheated when they buy a house or invest their savings. 

- Myth #3: Trade-

 



"The truth is trade has helped our country a lot more than it’s hurt us."—@POTUS in Elkhart, IN. https://t.co/unuRhiHTSU

— The White House (@WhiteHouse) June 1, 2016

"The truth is, the benefits of trade are usually widely spread —it’s one of the reasons why you can buy that big, flat-screen TV for a couple hundred bucks, and why the cost of a lot of basic necessities have gone down."

 

Now, it is also true that past trade deals haven't lived up to the hype—especially when other countries don't play by fair rules.  By keeping U.S. goods out of their markets, they unfairly subsidize their businesses to undercut our own. The worst violators don't even have trade deals with us at all. That's why the President has brought more trade cases against other countries for cheating than any other president.  

As the president said, "Trade has helped our country a lot more than it’s hurt us." For example, companies that export pay workers higher wages than companies that don't. And under the President's trade agreement—the Trans-Pacific Partnership—we will eliminate over 18,000 taxes various countries put on Made-In-America products. With the TPP, we can rewrite the rules of trade to benefit America’s middle class. Because if we don’t, competitors who don’t share our values, like China, will step in to fill that void.  

- Myth #4: Immigration-

 



4 myths Republicans in Congress continue to spread about the economy—busted by @POTUS: https://t.co/IryDjICFDM

— The White House (@WhiteHouse) June 1, 2016

"Right now, the number of people trying to cross our border illegally is near its lowest level in 40 years."

 

As the President noted yesterday, not only do immigrants start about 30% of all new businesses in the U.S., they actually pay more in taxes than they receive in services. And no, immigrants are not the main reason wages haven't gone up for middle-class families. That's a reflection of the decisions made by companies in which the top CEOs are getting paid more than 300 times the income of the average worker. So deporting 11 million immigrants would not only cost taxpayers billions of dollars and tear families apart, it would do nothing to seriously help the middle class. What our immigration system needs is comprehensive reform, the kind that President Obama has been pushing Congress to pass. That way, families who have been here for decades can come out of the shadows, go through background checks, and pay their taxes.   Reported by The White House 9 hours ago.

The Healthcare Paradox

June 2, 2016, 3:24 pm

≫ Next: Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey joins LPGA players Natalie Gulbis and Candy Hannemann in Horizon Healthy Steps Challenge for charity during ShopRite LPGA Classic Presented by Acer

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Do we really need comprehensive healthcare reform? Is it a right, privilege, or just a pipe dream for those who cannot afford it or even worse, a crutch for the politicians to build their careers upon by rooting for or against depending on their lean, loyalties or the general direction of the wind?

I have always considered myself to be a staunch supporter of the first. I believe that it is a right; not the health insurance per se, but the availability of affordable care without worrying about total financial ruin.

I am also a staunch supporter of quality and low cost education, and hence rapidly becoming a member of the third group with a pipe dream that is as out of reach as a ban on lobbies from Washington and term limits on congress. I do not believe in such rights because I am a socialist, or even worse, a politician with an agenda, but an academic healthcare provider who believes that America will not be "Great", or "Whole" again unless we secure these basic necessities for the next generation of great American innovators, thinkers and leaders.

Spending the past 17 years, tending to the needs of the underserved population of the county at a safety net clinic, and training our next generation of physicians in two institutions who share the same vision of bringing quality healthcare to people at the basic level, I have seen, first hand, the devastation caused by the lack of, or limited access to basic healthcare and quality education.

In theory, healthcare reform makes perfect sense. I may be one of the fifty percent in the middle and left of the great American divide who believe that to ensure availability of quality and affordable healthcare, whether a right or a privilege, squarely falls into the lap of the government.

Even if we need the private sector to fill the need, strict regulation of their business models is not only required, but vital to the success of this mission. Unless we achieve that and stop listening to special interest groups, the results will not change. Whether we are dealing with healthcare reform or an overhaul of our higher education system, we need to let go of our partisan blinders and reach across the aisle to achieve our common goals.

Special interest groups, lobbies and corporations need to be eliminated from the discussions as the conflict of interest is blindingly obvious and frankly, disabling. As a physician, I am not allowed to receive a pen from a pharmaceutical representative as that small token of advertisement somehow holds the power to sweep me off my moral ground, while billions are spent in Washington by lobbies and are somehow powerless on the same politicians who passed such laws because in their minds, physicians were easily corrupted by a mere pen or post-it pad. Am I the only one who sees this contradiction?

The end result of all this is a system, which looks good on paper but does not deliver. While, one is free to buy insurance from the marketplace (as long as one perfectly times their financial strength to coincide with the enrollment period), the plans are nothing but a glorified parlor trick. So, for example, in Pennsylvania, if you are a family of 1, you can receive Medicaid if income is less than $16,000, however, if you are in a red state that has not passed the Medicaid expansion bill, you do not qualify for anything.

If you make more than $47,000, there are no tax credits and you have to pay the whole premium for an insurance plan. This amount goes up so the number is $97,000/year for a family of 4. Premiums can be anywhere from $350 for a bronze plan to over $1000 for platinum plan a month per person. Since these are not group plans, the numbers keep getting higher and higher with increasing deductibles and out of pocket costs; most of those insured in the bronze range end up paying all of their costs out of their own pockets without truly availing any payments from the insurance.

The only true benefit is that they are charged the contracted rates as opposed to the ridiculously high rates from the Master Charge list reserved for the uninsured. Legal immigrants who are in the country less than five years are in an even deeper mess. If their household income makes them ineligible for a tax credit, they have to go to the marketplace, however, unlike others, if their income is less than $16,000 or they are over 65, they are ineligible for Medicaid or Medicare respectively, even if they choose to pay for them out of pocket. Elderly immigrant parents of US citizens end up without any health insurance and end up becoming a burden on the healthcare system. Even if they can afford some form of health insurance, their deductibles make their situation unaffordable and many choose not to pay the premiums, relying on fate and possibly state funding in case of a catastrophe.

We would not be here if lawmakers had thought about the people they serve rather than the people who fund their campaigns. This is not a red or blue issue. This is an issue that extends across the aisle. Each year that passes, we are closer to a precipice. Our healthcare costs are skyrocketing while people are increasingly unable to afford them. Our college education is rapidly becoming a fantasy for the middle class, marking the beginning of an end where innovation will fail to be nurtured. We are witnessing an expanding bubble that can burst at any moment and if we are not prepared with measures to strengthen its foundation, we are in for a bumpy ride.

-- This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website. Reported by Huffington Post 9 hours ago.

Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey joins LPGA players Natalie Gulbis and Candy Hannemann in Horizon Healthy Steps Challenge for charity during ShopRite LPGA Classic Presented by Acer

June 2, 2016, 3:31 pm

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Horizon supports Boys and Girls Cllub of Atlantic City with $2,500 Donation

Atlantic City, NJ (PRWEB) June 02, 2016

Before even the first stroke of the 2016 ShopRite LPGA Classic Presented by Acer, charity is already seeing a slice, thanks to two top LPGA golfers and Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey (Horizon BCBSNJ). That’s because Horizon BCBSNJ today announced a $2,500 gift to the Boys & Girls Club of Atlantic City, and more charitable contributions will follow after tourney play opens tomorrow as the two pros -- Natalie Gulbis and Candy Hannemann -- go spike-to-spike in the Horizon Healthy Steps Challenge.

The Health and Wellness sponsor of the ShopRite LPGA Presented by Acer, Horizon BCBSNJ uses the annual South Jersey event to increase public awareness of the importance of fitness and to join peer organizations in supporting local charities. During last year’s event, Ms. Gulbis recorded 32,000 steps on her Fitbit during a Horizon step challenge, helping to personally raise $3,000 for the Boys & Girls Club of Atlantic City. For 2016, Ms Gulbis will again accept the Horizon Healthy Steps Challenge, but will be challenged herself by Ms. Hannemann. For the player who racks up the most steps on her Fitbit, Horizon BCBSNJ will contribute $1,000 for every 10,000 steps to the charity of her choice.

“Horizon proudly supports the Boys & Girls Club of Atlantic City, and we were thrilled last year when Natalie accepted our step challenge and helped us to more than double our donation to the club,” said Jonathan R. Pearson, Director of Corporate Social Responsibility for Horizon BCBSNJ. “For 2016, we’re excited about seeing a spirited step contest between Natalie and Candy as they compete this weekend against each other and the world’s best lady golfers at
Stockton Seaview Hotel & Golf Club,” he said.

During a check presentation ceremony in Atlantic City today, representatives for the Boys & Girls Club of Atlantic City accepted a ceremonial donation of $2,500 from Horizon BCBSNJ.

“Charitable donations make it possible for the Boys and Girls Club of Atlantic City to fulfill its mission of providing a safe place in the community where young people can learn and grow and develop to their full potential,” said Dr. Michelle Carrera, Chief Executive Officer, Boys & Girls Clubs of Atlantic City.

Ms. Gulbis and Ms. Hannemann will start their fund-raising competition tomorrow, June 3, as golfers begin play for the ShopRite LPGA Classic Presented by Acer. The golfers will provide a summary of her steps and other commentary through updates on their twitter accounts, @natalie_gulbis and @candyhannemann, through the end of play on Sunday, June 5.

“The support our partners provide to this community is an important part of this event,” said tournament director Leela Narang. “We’re proud to collaborate with Horizon and assist them in their charitable efforts.”

As the 2016 ShopRite LPGA Classic Presented by Acer gets underway, getting close to the action will be as easy and affordable for Horizon BCBSNJ members. On Friday, Saturday and Sunday, Horizon members will receive a free admission for two by showing their health insurance ID card at the Main Entrance Gate.

About Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey
Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey, the state’s oldest and largest health insurer is a tax-paying, not-for-profit health service corporation, providing a wide array of medical, dental, and prescription insurance products and services. Horizon BCBSNJ is leading the transformation of health care in New Jersey by working with doctors and hospitals to deliver innovative, patient-centered programs that reward the quality, not quantity, of care patients receive. Learn more at http://www.HorizonBlue.com. Horizon BCBSNJ is an independent licensee of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association serving more than 3.8 million members.

About the ShopRite LPGA Classic Presented by Acer
The ShopRite LPGA Classic Presented by Acer is one of the largest and most prestigious events on the LPGA tour. It is held annually in Atlantic City and features the world's best female golfers competing over three rounds for a $1.5 million purse. The event, owned and operated by Eiger Marketing Group, is held on the Bay Course at prestigious Stockton Seaview Hotel and Golf Club. To date, the tournament is responsible for donating $29 million to local charities. The 2016 ShopRite LPGA Classic Presented by Acer will be held May 31 – June 5.
### Reported by PRWeb 9 hours ago.

Four Reasons Not to Fear Donald Trump

June 2, 2016, 4:43 pm

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Of all the worries expressed over a Trump presidency (e.g., We'll lose the respect of the world, He'll deport the Mexicans, He'll prohibit Muslims from entering the U.S., He'll repeal Roe v. Wade, He likes Putin too much, He couldn't find Estonia or Cambodia on a world map if his life depended on it, etc.), the silliest one is this: "As U.S. president, Trump would have his finger on the button, and that is terrifying."

Really? People are actually afraid that this narcissistic, non-religious, uber-pragmatic Manhattan real estate tycoon would launch a thermonuclear war? That is even more absurd than the SEIU (Service Employees International Union) inviting Hillary Clinton to speak to their group, given that this woman was on the board of directors of Wal-Mart, the most breathtakingly anti-union corporation in America.

Trump may be a pompous, clownish ass, but Hillary Clinton is a world-class dissembler whose most prominent personality trait happens to be pure, old-fashioned, unbridled Ambition. While Trump's reason for wanting to be president remains a mystery, Hillary's reason for wanting the job can be expressed in four words: It's my turn, goddamnit.

Of course, I would never vote for Trump, not on my worst day, not in my wildest dreams, not even if I found out I had three months to live. But I don't "fear" Trump the way some do. The following are four reasons why.

1. He has no center, which is bad. Although he's a nominal Republican, he is far too malleable to be trusted. He has given money to Democrats, endorsed single-payer health coverage, criticized the Supreme Court's "Citizens United" ruling, advocated raising taxes on the wealthy, and been as critical of U.S. trade agreements as Bernie Sanders.

But is it all talk? Of course it is. Does he mean any of it? Does he believe in anything? Who the hell knows? When he campaigned in West Virginia wearing a miner's hard hat, and promised to "bring back coal," did that mean that if he's elected president he will oppose the environmentalists? Or was it simply to gain votes in an economically blighted area that has always depended on coal?

2. He has no center, which is good. Beware of "highly principled" people. As ex-congressman Barney Frank pointed out, if it's principled people you respect--if it's the company of principled people you seek--then look no further than the Tea Party, the "most principled" faction on the political landscape.

The Tea Party knows everything. They know what's right and wrong, what's true and false, what's good and evil. Because they know everything, and are morally committed to their principles, they are unwilling to compromise. And wouldn't we all agree that that's exactly what this country needs? More people on both sides of the spectrum who are unwilling to compromise?

3. He has no center, which is bad. Without a clear agenda, without any discernible set of deep-seated "beliefs" to fall back upon, Congress will be able to push him around, get him to do their bidding, get him to appoint substandard cabinet members, nominate dangerous Supreme Court justices, and send unpopular ambassadors to countries all over the world.

When he said he wanted single-pay health insurance, and disapproved of "Citizens United," was he serious or was he bullshitting us? In the absence of any "philosophical position," will his staff and the Party leadership be able to point him in any direction they wish--more or less reduce this strong-willed ego-maniac to their puppet?

4. He has no center, which is good. Anyone who thinks Trump would insist that Ivanka not get an abortion if she desired one, is out of their ever-loving mind. Despite his rhetoric, Trump doesn't give one, infinitesimal shit about abortion. He's not a Christian evangelical like Mike Huckabee or Rick Santorum, both of whom deny evolution and believe that life begins AFTER we die (You want to be scared? Picture Santorum's finger on that button!).

Despite the hoopla and alarmism, a Trump presidency could easily turn out to be this century's most profound anti-climax. It could be marked by boring stuff like indecision, gridlock, contradictions and frustration. A "liberal" Trump is boxed in by a conservative Congress, and a weird, "impulsive" Trump is de-fanged by the Democrats. Go, Bernie!

-- This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website. Reported by Huffington Post 8 hours ago.

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Sacramento Court Reporter Accuracy-Plus Moves to WebEx for Remote Depositions to Enhance Court Reporting Services

June 3, 2016, 12:08 am

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In an attempt to strengthen services Sacramento court reporter Accuracy-Plus has migrated to WebEx for remote depositions due to its security features and HIPAA compliance.

Sacramento, CA (PRWEB) June 03, 2016

In an effort to improve the quality of service of remote depositions, Sacramento Court Reporting Firm Accuracy-Plus has moved to Cisco’s WebEx platform.

Clients who were looking to save money on travel costs had approached court reporter Lori Leroy, owner of Accuracy-Plus about using free consumer grade video chat software for remote depositions. While doing research, Ms. Leroy found that many of the popular free programs available did not have the encryption features necessary for HIPAA compliance.

HIPAA or the Health Insurance Portability Accountability Act of 1996 was a bi-partisan bill passed by Congress and signed by President Bill Clinton. Among other things, HIPAA regulates the disclosure of protected health information. Court reporters must adhere to HIPAA rules when undergoing a remote deposition.

Cisco’s website states the importance of its privacy compliance program and in March 2012 Cisco obtained Safe Harbor certification for customer and partner data. Reported by PRWeb 8 minutes ago.

Gilsbar Recognized By WEX Health For Outstanding Achievements

June 3, 2016, 12:02 am

≫ Next: vCitadel, Leader in Hosting/Colocation, IP and Managed Services, Successfully Completes Rigorous 3rd-Party Data Security Exams

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Gilsbar Earns Market Maker Award

Covington, LA (PRWEB) June 03, 2016

Gilsbar has been honored by WEX Health with a 2015 Partner Excellence Award for outstanding business achievements. Gilsbar was selected for this award because of its efforts in working with WEX Health to reach – and surpass – new heights in the consumer-driven healthcare market. Gilsbar is utilizing innovation and creativity to increase plan adoption and revenue generation.

WEX Health is the nation’s largest electronic payment, on-premise, and cloud computing healthcare solution provider. The Excellence Awards, established in 2009, are presented yearly and recognize WEX Health Partners that have achieved extraordinary notable accomplishments. Award recipients were recognized for reaching significant milestones in 2015 across several areas including growth, leadership, innovation, and customer service as well as overall outstanding Partner successes. At last year’s conference, Gilsbar was presented with the Trailblazer Award in recognition of being the fastest-growing partner with the highest growth percentage during the January 1, 2015 enrollment period.

Gilsbar received the Excellence Award for Market Maker at Partner Conference 2016, the annual WEX Health Partner conference held recently in Scottsdale, Arizona. Gilsbar is proud to have been selected for this award and for the dedication and hard work it represents for both our sales and account management teams.

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About Gilsbar, LLC
Established in 1959, Gilsbar, LLC® is one of the largest privately-held insurance services organizations in the country. Recognized as a catalyst for creating healthy businesses, Gilsbar, LLC® offers self-funded and fully-insured benefit plan management services, along with Wellness, Advocacy, and overall Population Health Management. Gilsbar, LLC’s integrated delivery model improves the health and well-being of its members, resulting in significant health plan savings for its clients.

Gilsbar, LLC® has been honored by Inc. magazine for its sustained growth, Modern Healthcare and Business Insurance magazines as a Best Place to Work, and WELCOA and the American Heart Association for its proven wellness methodology.
For more information, visit http://www.Gilsbar.com.

About WEX Health
WEX Health simplifies the business of healthcare. They do that through WEX Health Cloud, a cloud-based healthcare financial management platform that drives efficiency for benefit administration technology, consumer engagement, and advanced billing and payments. Their network of partner organizations enables them to deliver industry-leading and award-winning solutions to 200,000 employers and more than 17 million consumers across the United States and Canada. WEX Health takes the complexity out of defined contribution, HSAs, HRAs, FSAs, VEBAs, PRAs, premium billing, public and private health insurance exchanges, COBRA, wellness plans, and transit plans. For more information, visit http://www.wexhealthinc.com. Reported by PRWeb 14 minutes ago.

vCitadel, Leader in Hosting/Colocation, IP and Managed Services, Successfully Completes Rigorous 3rd-Party Data Security Exams

June 3, 2016, 12:02 am

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The thorough analysis of vCitadel’s multi-level protocols and final report of compliance was completed by global IT assurance and compliance services firm 360 Advanced.

Atlanta, GA (PRWEB) June 03, 2016

vCitadel, a leading data center operator in colocation, cloud solutions, managed services and custom solutions, has completed a rigorous third-party examination of its policies and procedures under the Service Organization Controls (SOC) 1, Payment Card Industry (PCI) and Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) standards. Completing the audits demonstrates vCitadel’s commitment to data security and privacy at all levels of its operations.

The thorough analysis of vCitadel’s multi-level protocols and final report of compliance was completed by global IT assurance and compliance services firm 360 Advanced.

Alla Tsitsior, Director of IT Infrastructure for vCitadel, said having formalized data center security and compliance processes audited by an outside third-party is becoming a standard of business in the colocation and managed services industry.

“It is really expected, and all large players in the data center business have it,” said Tsitsior. “It is a requirement of being competitive.”

Completing the HIPAA examination, however, will strengthen vCitadel’s market advantage in becoming a data center provider to healthcare industry customers, she commented.

ABOUT VCITADEL
Since 1999, the vCitadel team has been delivering the most demanding custom solutions, focusing on data center and network services, cloud, and managed services from small to enterprise organizations throughout the United States. vCitadel’s professionals have the wisdom and experience required to design and manage solutions that meet the unique long term needs of its clients’ mission-critical business applications. vCitadel specializes in data center and network services, cloud solutions, managed services, and custom solutions.

ABOUT 360 ADVANCED
Known for its responsiveness, experience and professionalism, 360 Advanced has clients in more than 35 states that are major service providers in various industries, including cloud and SaaS based organizations. 360 Advanced is one of only a few specialized firms in the U.S. that assist service providers as their independent IT assurance and compliance assessor in maintaining and communicating security and compliance to their clients.

360 Advanced’s services are provided, but not limited to, the following industries: Title Services, Hosted and Managed IT, Data Center and Colocation, Software as a Service (SaaS), Healthcare, Financial Services, Insurance, HR | Payroll | PEO, Legal and Collections, Bulk Mail Printing and Distribution, Background Screening, Business Process Outsourcing and Marketing.

Services provided by 360 Advanced include SOC 1 (SSAE 16), SOC 2, SOC 3, PCI DSS, HIPAA Security/HITECH, Microsoft Vendor Policy and other security and compliance services.

Contact:    Eric Ratcliffe
eratcliffe(at)360advanced.com
866.418.1708 ext.710 Reported by PRWeb 14 minutes ago.

AP FACT CHECK: Trumped-up charge on 'Obamacare' premiums

June 3, 2016, 1:37 am

≫ Next: Biosimilars, PCSK9s, Value-Based Care Among Hot-Button Topics Tracked in New AIS Book

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WASHINGTON (AP) — Donald Trump says the Obama administration plans to keep consumers in the dark about premium increases for 2017 under the president's health care law — for political reasons. Nov. 1 is actually the long-designated start of the 2017 sign-up season under President Barack Obama's health care law, not the date for the unveiling of premium levels. Clare Krusing, spokeswoman for the main industry trade group, America's Health Insurance Plans, said there's no indication the administration plans to change the date. About 12.7 million people renewed or signed up for coverage this year in the health care law's insurance markets, which offer subsidized private plans to those who don't have access on the job. Citing financial losses from the program, many insurers are requesting bigger premium increases. Returning customers are supposed to get advance notice from their insurance company about their premiums for the upcoming year. Reported by SeattlePI.com 23 hours ago.

Biosimilars, PCSK9s, Value-Based Care Among Hot-Button Topics Tracked in New AIS Book

June 3, 2016, 3:06 am

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New from Atlantic Information Services, Specialty Pharmacy Trends and Strategies: 2016-2017 Edition is a convenient source for details on the latest management strategies and tactics.

Washington, DC (PRWEB) June 03, 2016

Recently published by Atlantic Information Services, Inc. (AIS), Specialty Pharmacy Trends and Strategies: 2016-2017 Edition, tracks hot-button issues in the specialty pharmacy industry that will affect PBMs and insurers in 2016 and beyond, including the rise of biosimilars, PCSK9s and value-based initiatives:· According to reporting in Specialty Pharmacy Trends and Strategies, Express Scripts, Inc. has estimated that Zarxio — the first biosimilar approved by the Food and Drug Administration — has the potential to save U.S. patients and payers $5.7 billion between 2014 and 2024 and additional drugs in the biosimilar pipeline could save an estimated $250 billion in savings over the next 10 years. But a lawsuit (Amgen Inc., Amgen Manufacturing Limited v. Sandoz Inc., No. 15-1499) raised several questions, including patent issues based on the language of the Biologics Price Competition and Innovation Act of the Affordable Care Act, and delayed Zarxio’s launch. The book tracks the lawsuit and its implications, as well as the biosimilar space as whole, and provides historical background and future insight.
· Specialty Pharmacy Trends and Strategies also follows the impact of cholesterol-lowering PCSK9 inhibitors hitting the market, boasting costs $5,000 higher than industry insiders expected and causing pharmacy benefit managers to either balk at coverage or negotiate pay-for-performance deals with manufacturers. Cardiologists are excited for their potential, but health plans and PBMs have shown reluctance to fully embrace these super-statins. The book charts the implications for specialty pharmacy spend.
· One way payers are attempting to control costs of new drug innovations is the use of value-based initiatives, from bundled payments and other strategies in the oncology space to the use of quality-based pharmacy networks to drive better outcomes and thus lower prices. Specialty Pharmacy Trends and Strategies follows pilots and proposals undertaken by insurers, PBMs and the federal government to tie reimbursement and benefit design to more positive results for patients and payers.

For more information on Specialty Pharmacy Trends and Strategies: 2016-2017 Edition, including a full table of contents, visit https://aishealth.com/marketplace/specialty-pharmacy-trends-and-strategies.

About AIS
Atlantic Information Services, Inc. (AIS) is a publishing and information company that has been serving the health care industry for nearly 30 years. It develops highly targeted news, data and strategic information for managers in hospitals and health systems, health insurance companies, medical group practices, purchasers of health insurance, pharmaceutical companies and other health care organizations. AIS products include print and electronic newsletters, databases, websites, looseleafs, strategic reports, directories, webinars, virtual conferences and training programs. Learn more at http://AISHealth.com. Reported by PRWeb 22 hours ago.