More than 150,000 individuals from Western New York registered for health insurance through the state’s online health exchange for 2016, according to a new report by the State Department of Health. The data comes from a new report on the New York State of Health online marketplace, which saw more than 2.8 million people sign up for health insurance through Jan. 31, the deadline for 2016 enrollment. Included in the 64-page report is a trove of demographics information, including a county-by-county…
Reported by bizjournals 9 hours ago.
NYS Health Department: 2.8M enrolled through online marketplace
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Donald Trump Has No Idea What 'Trump Kids' Actually Entails
Trump Kids is “the closest most children will ever come to feeling like royalty,” Eric Trump boasted at the program’s introduction in 2009.
Guests’ children are pampered with plush bathrobes and slippers, personalized Trump Kids’ business cards, and “kiddie cocktails.” There are specially priced Trump Teen facials and massages and a “Personal Attaché.” The program also provides more common hotel amenities like cribs and nanny services. “So relax,” the Trump Kids site implores parents, “pop in their favorite children’s DVD and see how easy family travel can be with the luxury family-friendly hotels of Trump Hotels™.”
But bathrobes and business cards for hotel guests’ kids are not what people mean when they ask if an employer provides child care. Donald Trump doesn’t seem to know that.
When he bragged about Trump Kids in Iowa last year, he claimed it was a child care benefit the Trump Organization offers its workers: “You know, it’s not expensive for a company to do it. You need one person or two people, and you need some blocks and you need some swings and some toys. You know really, it’s not expensive. It’s not an expensive thing. I do it all over. ... They call them Trump Kids. ... Another one calls it Trumpeteers.”
In fact, neither program is aimed at employees’ kids, and neither the Associated Press nor HuffPost has found any evidence that Trump provides child care for his employees in the U.S.
Trump Kids affords luxury amenities to guests’ children at Trump hotels, adding the cost of many of those services to the parent’s final bill.
The Trumpeteers program provides camps and other activities for the kids of club members and guests at his golf courses in Charlotte, North Carolina; Jupiter, Florida; and Miami. The Trumpeteers Kids Camp at Trump National Doral in Miami costs between $250 and $350 a week, according to a online registration form.On Thursday, AP first reported that calls to Trump hotels and golf courses found no Trump properties that provide child care services for employees. HuffPost reached the same conclusion from its own conversations with employees at every Trump hotel and golf course in the U.S.
HuffPost also searched state databases of registered child care facilities and did not find any at a Trump hotel, golf course or office building. The Trump International Beach Resort near Miami also offers another program called Planet Kids. A promotional video on YouTube says that “trained counselors will keep your kids happy all day long with beach and pool games, sports, arts and crafts, and evening events.”
But like Trump Kids and Trumpeteers, Planet Kids is neither for employees nor a registered child care program.
HuffPost reached out to the Trump Organization and received no immediate response. But Jill Martin, a company vice president and assistant general counsel, told AP, “The Trump Organization is very proud of the family-friendly environment it fosters.” She added, “We take an individualized approach to helping employees manage family and work responsibilities.”
When HuffPost called the company’s Trump Tower headquarters on Fifth Avenue in New York, the person who answered the phone seemed confused by a question about corporate child care benefits. “You must have the wrong number,” she replied.
Asked about on-site child care, an employee at Trump National Doral said, “You mean Trump Kids?”
A human resources employee at the Trump International Las Vegas said the hotel provided health insurance, paid time-off and 401(k) retirement plans to its white-collar workers. “You know, the basics.”
The hotel does not, she said, provide child care.
Editor’s note: Donald Trump regularly incites political violence and is a serial liar, rampant xenophobe, racist, misogynist and birther who has repeatedly pledged to ban all Muslims ― 1.6 billion members of an entire religion ― from entering the U.S.
-- 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.
Guests’ children are pampered with plush bathrobes and slippers, personalized Trump Kids’ business cards, and “kiddie cocktails.” There are specially priced Trump Teen facials and massages and a “Personal Attaché.” The program also provides more common hotel amenities like cribs and nanny services. “So relax,” the Trump Kids site implores parents, “pop in their favorite children’s DVD and see how easy family travel can be with the luxury family-friendly hotels of Trump Hotels™.”
But bathrobes and business cards for hotel guests’ kids are not what people mean when they ask if an employer provides child care. Donald Trump doesn’t seem to know that.
When he bragged about Trump Kids in Iowa last year, he claimed it was a child care benefit the Trump Organization offers its workers: “You know, it’s not expensive for a company to do it. You need one person or two people, and you need some blocks and you need some swings and some toys. You know really, it’s not expensive. It’s not an expensive thing. I do it all over. ... They call them Trump Kids. ... Another one calls it Trumpeteers.”
In fact, neither program is aimed at employees’ kids, and neither the Associated Press nor HuffPost has found any evidence that Trump provides child care for his employees in the U.S.
Trump Kids affords luxury amenities to guests’ children at Trump hotels, adding the cost of many of those services to the parent’s final bill.
The Trumpeteers program provides camps and other activities for the kids of club members and guests at his golf courses in Charlotte, North Carolina; Jupiter, Florida; and Miami. The Trumpeteers Kids Camp at Trump National Doral in Miami costs between $250 and $350 a week, according to a online registration form.On Thursday, AP first reported that calls to Trump hotels and golf courses found no Trump properties that provide child care services for employees. HuffPost reached the same conclusion from its own conversations with employees at every Trump hotel and golf course in the U.S.
HuffPost also searched state databases of registered child care facilities and did not find any at a Trump hotel, golf course or office building. The Trump International Beach Resort near Miami also offers another program called Planet Kids. A promotional video on YouTube says that “trained counselors will keep your kids happy all day long with beach and pool games, sports, arts and crafts, and evening events.”
But like Trump Kids and Trumpeteers, Planet Kids is neither for employees nor a registered child care program.
HuffPost reached out to the Trump Organization and received no immediate response. But Jill Martin, a company vice president and assistant general counsel, told AP, “The Trump Organization is very proud of the family-friendly environment it fosters.” She added, “We take an individualized approach to helping employees manage family and work responsibilities.”
When HuffPost called the company’s Trump Tower headquarters on Fifth Avenue in New York, the person who answered the phone seemed confused by a question about corporate child care benefits. “You must have the wrong number,” she replied.
Asked about on-site child care, an employee at Trump National Doral said, “You mean Trump Kids?”
A human resources employee at the Trump International Las Vegas said the hotel provided health insurance, paid time-off and 401(k) retirement plans to its white-collar workers. “You know, the basics.”
The hotel does not, she said, provide child care.
Editor’s note: Donald Trump regularly incites political violence and is a serial liar, rampant xenophobe, racist, misogynist and birther who has repeatedly pledged to ban all Muslims ― 1.6 billion members of an entire religion ― from entering the U.S.
-- 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.
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Cost, Not Choice, Is Top Concern of Health Insurance Customers
Millions of people looking for insurance in the federal marketplaces are more concerned with cost than with finding a favorite doctor or trusted company.
Reported by NYTimes.com 9 hours ago.
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Will Land of Lincoln members really have to pay deductibles twice?
Emily Burchfield knew that with a 1-year-old daughter, another child on the way and her own business, she'd be busy this year.
But she didn't realize that one of her biggest tasks would be scrambling to find new health insurance before her insurer, Land of Lincoln, shutters. She's also grappling... Reported by ChicagoTribune 7 hours ago.
But she didn't realize that one of her biggest tasks would be scrambling to find new health insurance before her insurer, Land of Lincoln, shutters. She's also grappling... Reported by ChicagoTribune 7 hours ago.
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This exclusive report reveals the ABCs of the IoT
The Internet of Things (IoT) Revolution is picking up speed and it will change how we live, work, and entertain ourselves in a million ways big and small.From agriculture to defense, retail to healthcare, everything is going to be impacted by the growing ability of businesses, governments, and consumers to connect to and control their environments:
· “Smart mirrors” will allow consumers to try on clothes digitally, enhancing their shopping experience and reducing returns for the retailer
· Assembly line sensors will detect tiny drops in efficiency that indicate critical equipment is wearing out and schedule down-time maintenance in response
· Agricultural equipment guided by GPS and IoT technology will soon plant, fertilize and harvest vast croplands like a giant Roomba while the “driver” reads a magazine
· Active people will share lifestyle data from their fitness trackers in order to help their doctor make better health care decisions (and capture discounts on health insurance premiums)
No wonder the Internet of Things has been called “the next Industrial Revolution.” It’s so big that it could mean new revenue streams for your company and new opportunities for you. The only question is: Are you fully up to speed on the IoT?
After months of researching and reporting this exploding trend, John Greenough and Jonathan Camhi of Business Insider Intelligence have put together an essential briefing that explains the exciting present and the fascinating future of the Internet of Things. It covers how IoT is being implemented today, where the new sources of opportunity will be tomorrow and how 17 separate sectors of the economy will be transformed over the next 20 years, including:
· Agriculture
· Connected Home
· Defense
· Financial services
· Food services
· Healthcare
· Hospitality
· Infrastructure
· Insurance
· Logistics
· Manufacturing
· Oil, gas, and mining
· Retail
· Smart buildings
· Transportation
· Connected Car
· Utilities
If you work in any of these sectors, it's important for you to understand how the IoT will change your business and possibly even your career. And if you’re employed in any of the industries that will build out the IoT infrastructure—networking, semiconductors, telecommunications, data storage, cybersecurity—this report is a must-have.
Among the big picture insights you’ll get from *The Internet of Things: Examining How the IoT Will Affect The World*:
· IoT devices connected to the Internet will more than triple by 2020, from 10 billion to 34 billion. IoT devices will account for 24 billion, while traditional computing devices (e.g. smartphones, tablets, smartwatches, etc.) will comprise 10 billion.
· Nearly $6 trillion will be spent on IoT solutions over the next five years.
· Businesses will be the top adopter of IoT solutions because they will use IoT to 1) lower operating costs; 2) increase productivity; and 3) expand to new markets or develop new product offerings.
· Governments will be the second-largest adopters, while consumers will be the group least transformed by the IoT.
And when you dig deep into the report, you’ll get the whole story in a clear, no-nonsense presentation:
· The complex infrastructure of the Internet of Things distilled into a single ecosystem
· The most comprehensive breakdown of the benefits and drawbacks of mesh (e.g. ZigBee, Z- Wave, etc.), cellular (e.g. 3G/4G, Sigfox, etc.), and internet (e.g. Wi-Fi, Ethernet, etc.) networks
· The important role analytics systems, including edge analytics, cloud analytics, will play in making the most of IoT investments
· The sizable security challenges presented by the IoT and how they can be overcome
· The four powerful forces driving IoT innovation, plus the four difficult market barriers to IoT adoption
· Complete analysis of the likely future investment in the critical IoT infrastructure: connectivity, security, data storage, system integration, device hardware, and application development
· In-depth analysis of how the IoT ecosystem will change and disrupt 17 different industries
*The Internet of Things: Examining How the IoT Will Affect The World* is how you get the full story on the Internet of Things.
To get your copy of this invaluable guide to the IoT universe, choose one of these options:
1. Purchase an ALL-ACCESS Membership that entitles you to immediate access to not only this report, but also dozens of other research reports, subscriptions to all 5 of the BI Intelligence daily newsletters, and much more. >> *START A MEMBERSHIP*
2. Purchase the report and download it immediately from our research store. >> *BUY THE REPORT*
The choice is yours. But however you decide to acquire this report, you’ve given yourself a powerful advantage in your understanding of the fast-moving world of the IoT.
Join the conversation about this story » Reported by Business Insider 1 day ago.
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WHY IT MATTERS: Issues at stake in election
WASHINGTON (AP) — A selection of issues at stake in the presidential election and their impact on Americans, in brief: HEALTH CARE About 9 in 10 Americans now have health insurance, more than at any time in history. But progress is incomplete, and the future far from certain. Rising costs could bedevil the next occupant […]
Reported by Seattle Times 20 hours ago.
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No electricity and bouncing paychecks: What it was like to work for Trump Magazine
In an extensive tell-all written for Politico, a former employee for Trump Magazine documents a cash-strapped and dysfunctional company where paychecks bounced, the power was shut off due to unpaid bills and important health insurance was cancelled — after a cancer diagnosis. One might call it...
Reported by Raw Story 14 hours ago.
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Experts to Identify Strategies on How Health Care Payers Can Use Digital Commerce in AIS-Softheon Webinar
In a complimentary webinar managed and moderated by Atlantic Information Services, experts from Softheon will explain how health care payers can use digital commerce to acquire new members, develop relationships, drive revenues and enhance customer experience strategies.
Washington, DC (PRWEB) August 15, 2016
Atlantic Information Services, Inc. (AIS) and Softheon, Inc. are pleased to announce “Digital Commerce Distribution: Driving Value in the Age of the ‘Digital Payer,’” an upcoming Aug. 23 webinar. Experts from Softheon will explain how health care payers can use digital commerce to acquire new members, develop relationships, drive revenues and enhance customer experience strategies. This webinar is complimentary and is moderated and managed by AIS.
In an hour-long program, Daniel Hughes, Managing Director of Sales at Softheon, and Dana Franke, Director of Operations at Softheon, will explain how health plans can:· Benefit by integrating digital commerce technologies with other channels, including offline channels such as health insurance retail locations and call centers
· Incorporate a greater portion of their business into digital channels
· Generate revenue and customer value through superior operations
· Increase customer experiences (payment, personalization, marketing, shopping tools and multichannel approaches, etc.) with the digital commerce ecosystem
· Gain insight into member behavior and market trends to develop processes for customer engagement
The webinar will also include a 15-minute question-and-answer session.
Webinar attendees will receive two complimentary reports from Gartner, an industry-leading information technology research and advisory services firm.
Visit http://www2.softheon.com/DrivingValue-in-the-Age-of-the-Digital-Payer for more details and registration information.
About Softheon
Empowering the nation's first state health benefit exchange since 2008, Softheon's vision and strategic direction address healthcare payer, provider, and government agencies' goal of meeting Affordable Care Act (ACA) milestones. Softheon provides HIX Integration, Direct Enrollment, Premium Billing, and Edge Server solutions for insurance carriers of all sizes participating in Federal and State Health Insurance Exchange (HIX) Marketplaces. Softheon's Marketplace Connector Cloud (MC2) has been trusted by health plans, in all 50 states, as an accelerated federal, state, and private exchange integration platform. Softheon MC2 is a Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) solution where insurers pay a one-time activation and ongoing PMPM fees for exchange members only, while eliminating most, if not all, risks associated with ACA enrollment compliance and other mandates. To find out more about Softheon, visit http://www.softheon.com.
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 and virtual conferences. Learn more at http://www.AISHealth.com. Reported by PRWeb 19 hours ago.
Washington, DC (PRWEB) August 15, 2016
Atlantic Information Services, Inc. (AIS) and Softheon, Inc. are pleased to announce “Digital Commerce Distribution: Driving Value in the Age of the ‘Digital Payer,’” an upcoming Aug. 23 webinar. Experts from Softheon will explain how health care payers can use digital commerce to acquire new members, develop relationships, drive revenues and enhance customer experience strategies. This webinar is complimentary and is moderated and managed by AIS.
In an hour-long program, Daniel Hughes, Managing Director of Sales at Softheon, and Dana Franke, Director of Operations at Softheon, will explain how health plans can:· Benefit by integrating digital commerce technologies with other channels, including offline channels such as health insurance retail locations and call centers
· Incorporate a greater portion of their business into digital channels
· Generate revenue and customer value through superior operations
· Increase customer experiences (payment, personalization, marketing, shopping tools and multichannel approaches, etc.) with the digital commerce ecosystem
· Gain insight into member behavior and market trends to develop processes for customer engagement
The webinar will also include a 15-minute question-and-answer session.
Webinar attendees will receive two complimentary reports from Gartner, an industry-leading information technology research and advisory services firm.
Visit http://www2.softheon.com/DrivingValue-in-the-Age-of-the-Digital-Payer for more details and registration information.
About Softheon
Empowering the nation's first state health benefit exchange since 2008, Softheon's vision and strategic direction address healthcare payer, provider, and government agencies' goal of meeting Affordable Care Act (ACA) milestones. Softheon provides HIX Integration, Direct Enrollment, Premium Billing, and Edge Server solutions for insurance carriers of all sizes participating in Federal and State Health Insurance Exchange (HIX) Marketplaces. Softheon's Marketplace Connector Cloud (MC2) has been trusted by health plans, in all 50 states, as an accelerated federal, state, and private exchange integration platform. Softheon MC2 is a Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) solution where insurers pay a one-time activation and ongoing PMPM fees for exchange members only, while eliminating most, if not all, risks associated with ACA enrollment compliance and other mandates. To find out more about Softheon, visit http://www.softheon.com.
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 and virtual conferences. Learn more at http://www.AISHealth.com. Reported by PRWeb 19 hours ago.
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NYS Health Department: 2.8M enrolled through online marketplace
More than 150,000 individuals from Western New York registered for health insurance through the state’s online health exchange for 2016, according to a new report by the State Department of Health. The data comes from a new report on the New York State of Health online marketplace, which saw more than 2.8 million people sign up for health insurance through Jan. 31, the deadline for 2016 enrollment. Included in the 64-page report is a trove of demographics information, including a county-by-county…
Reported by bizjournals 18 hours ago.
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Edifecs Unveils Updated Health Insurance Exchange Enrollment Platform
BELLEVUE, Wash.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Edifecs, a global health information technology solutions company, today announced the launch of the Edifecs Health Insurance Exchange Solution 8.5, which offers payers a single platform to seamlessly consolidate multiple enrollment channels while streamlining effectuation, payment and subsidy reconciliation. The solution also features an easy-to-use interface for correcting and disputing enrollment updates and audits. The Edifecs Health Insurance Exchange Solu
Reported by Business Wire 17 hours ago.
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FlexJobs Survey Finds Parents Rank Work Flexibility Ahead of Salary
Nearly 40 percent of parents have left a job because it did not have work flexibility
Boulder, CO (PRWEB) August 15, 2016
According to a recent FlexJobs survey of nearly 1,200 parents with children 18 and younger living at home, work flexibility (84 percent) and work-life balance (80 percent) are the most important factors when parents consider a job opportunity. Parents placed these ahead of other factors, such as salary (75 percent), health insurance (42 percent), company reputation (39 percent) and 401(k)/retirement benefits (29 percent) when evaluating a job prospect.
The interest in work flexibility for working parents has increased dramatically in the past several decades. Now that both parents work full-time in nearly half of two-parent households in America, and single parents account for 26 percent of family households with children, flexible work arrangements are one of the most critical components to making the work-life juggle possible. FlexJobs survey shows that 91 percent of working parents said having children living at home affects their interest in a flexible job. Only 4 percent of parents are very concerned that having a flexible work arrangement will hurt their career progression.
“These survey findings indicate that work flexibility is not just a convenience for working parents, but a real necessity,” said Sara Sutton Fell, Founder and CEO of FlexJobs. “In fact, nearly 40 percent have actually left a job because of the lack of work flexibility options, and an additional 20 percent are actively looking for new work because of it. From recruiting and retention perspectives, it is costly to any company for more than half of their working parent employees to leave or consider leaving, especially when 86 percent of working parents would be more loyal to an employer if they simply had flexible work options.”
Work-life balance was named the top reason working parents seek flexible work (84 percent), followed by family (83 percent), time savings (45 percent), and commuting stress (43 percent). In addition to paying for basic necessities, child-related costs and saving for retirement, 56 percent of parents say they work so they can travel, and because they are passionate about success in their career (46 percent). They also cite wanting to contribute to charity (27 percent) and to pay for continuing education for themselves (26 percent).
Additional findings from the survey uncovered other benefits of work flexibility, including:
Parents want to work and are confident in their dual parent/employee roles:· The majority of parents report “needing” to work, but 68 percent--more than two out of three parents--also report “wanting” to work.
· 91 percent are entirely sure that they can simultaneously be both great employees and great parents
· 8 percent are hopeful that they can simultaneously be both great employees and great parents
Increased parental involvement at schools:· 93 percent of working parents indicated that flexible work arrangements would increase their volunteerism at their children’s schools or organized activities
· Of those, 56 percent are parents who said they would start volunteering
· Another 34 percent who already currently volunteer said they would be able to volunteer more
Improved health and savings:· 98 percent think having a job with flexibility would have a positive impact on their overall quality of life
· 87 percent think it would allow them to be less stressed
· 78 percent think it would make them more healthy
· 88 percent think it would save them money
The most in-demand type of flexible work arrangement for working parents is 100 percent telecommuting (89 percent), but flexible schedule (74 percent), part-time schedule (51 percent) partial telecommuting (49 percent), alternative schedule (49 percent) , and freelance (42 percent) are also in demand.
*Demographic breakdown of the 1189 respondents, all with children under 18 living at home: Ages: 20-39 (48 percent), 40-59 (51 percent), 60+ (1 percent); Education: high school degree or equivalent (3 percent), some college but no degree (15 percent), associate or bachelor degree (48 percent), graduate degree (34 percent); Career level: entry-level (8 percent), experienced (60 percent), manager or higher (32 percent).
For more information visit: https://www.flexjobs.com/blog/post/survey-parents-rank-work-flexibility-ahead-salary/
To request additional information, please contact Kathy Gardner at kgardner@flexjobs.com.
About FlexJobs
FlexJobs is the leading online service for professionals seeking telecommuting, flexible schedule, part-time, and freelance jobs. With flexible job listings in over 50 career categories, and opportunities ranging from entry-level to executive and freelance to full-time, FlexJobs offers job seekers a safe, easy, and efficient way to find professional and legitimate flexible job listings. Having helped over one million people in their job searches, FlexJobs has appeared on CNN and Marketplace Money and in TIME, Forbes, Fortune, and hundreds of other trusted media outlets. FlexJobs' Founder & CEO Sara Sutton Fell has also launched two additional partner sites, Remote.co and 1 Million for Work Flexibility, to help provide education and awareness about the viability and benefits of remote working and work flexibility. Sutton Fell is also the creator of The TRaD* Works Forum (*Telecommuting, Remote, & Distributed), dedicated to helping companies leverage the benefits of telecommuting, remote and distributed teams. Reported by PRWeb 16 hours ago.
Boulder, CO (PRWEB) August 15, 2016
According to a recent FlexJobs survey of nearly 1,200 parents with children 18 and younger living at home, work flexibility (84 percent) and work-life balance (80 percent) are the most important factors when parents consider a job opportunity. Parents placed these ahead of other factors, such as salary (75 percent), health insurance (42 percent), company reputation (39 percent) and 401(k)/retirement benefits (29 percent) when evaluating a job prospect.
The interest in work flexibility for working parents has increased dramatically in the past several decades. Now that both parents work full-time in nearly half of two-parent households in America, and single parents account for 26 percent of family households with children, flexible work arrangements are one of the most critical components to making the work-life juggle possible. FlexJobs survey shows that 91 percent of working parents said having children living at home affects their interest in a flexible job. Only 4 percent of parents are very concerned that having a flexible work arrangement will hurt their career progression.
“These survey findings indicate that work flexibility is not just a convenience for working parents, but a real necessity,” said Sara Sutton Fell, Founder and CEO of FlexJobs. “In fact, nearly 40 percent have actually left a job because of the lack of work flexibility options, and an additional 20 percent are actively looking for new work because of it. From recruiting and retention perspectives, it is costly to any company for more than half of their working parent employees to leave or consider leaving, especially when 86 percent of working parents would be more loyal to an employer if they simply had flexible work options.”
Work-life balance was named the top reason working parents seek flexible work (84 percent), followed by family (83 percent), time savings (45 percent), and commuting stress (43 percent). In addition to paying for basic necessities, child-related costs and saving for retirement, 56 percent of parents say they work so they can travel, and because they are passionate about success in their career (46 percent). They also cite wanting to contribute to charity (27 percent) and to pay for continuing education for themselves (26 percent).
Additional findings from the survey uncovered other benefits of work flexibility, including:
Parents want to work and are confident in their dual parent/employee roles:· The majority of parents report “needing” to work, but 68 percent--more than two out of three parents--also report “wanting” to work.
· 91 percent are entirely sure that they can simultaneously be both great employees and great parents
· 8 percent are hopeful that they can simultaneously be both great employees and great parents
Increased parental involvement at schools:· 93 percent of working parents indicated that flexible work arrangements would increase their volunteerism at their children’s schools or organized activities
· Of those, 56 percent are parents who said they would start volunteering
· Another 34 percent who already currently volunteer said they would be able to volunteer more
Improved health and savings:· 98 percent think having a job with flexibility would have a positive impact on their overall quality of life
· 87 percent think it would allow them to be less stressed
· 78 percent think it would make them more healthy
· 88 percent think it would save them money
The most in-demand type of flexible work arrangement for working parents is 100 percent telecommuting (89 percent), but flexible schedule (74 percent), part-time schedule (51 percent) partial telecommuting (49 percent), alternative schedule (49 percent) , and freelance (42 percent) are also in demand.
*Demographic breakdown of the 1189 respondents, all with children under 18 living at home: Ages: 20-39 (48 percent), 40-59 (51 percent), 60+ (1 percent); Education: high school degree or equivalent (3 percent), some college but no degree (15 percent), associate or bachelor degree (48 percent), graduate degree (34 percent); Career level: entry-level (8 percent), experienced (60 percent), manager or higher (32 percent).
For more information visit: https://www.flexjobs.com/blog/post/survey-parents-rank-work-flexibility-ahead-salary/
To request additional information, please contact Kathy Gardner at kgardner@flexjobs.com.
About FlexJobs
FlexJobs is the leading online service for professionals seeking telecommuting, flexible schedule, part-time, and freelance jobs. With flexible job listings in over 50 career categories, and opportunities ranging from entry-level to executive and freelance to full-time, FlexJobs offers job seekers a safe, easy, and efficient way to find professional and legitimate flexible job listings. Having helped over one million people in their job searches, FlexJobs has appeared on CNN and Marketplace Money and in TIME, Forbes, Fortune, and hundreds of other trusted media outlets. FlexJobs' Founder & CEO Sara Sutton Fell has also launched two additional partner sites, Remote.co and 1 Million for Work Flexibility, to help provide education and awareness about the viability and benefits of remote working and work flexibility. Sutton Fell is also the creator of The TRaD* Works Forum (*Telecommuting, Remote, & Distributed), dedicated to helping companies leverage the benefits of telecommuting, remote and distributed teams. Reported by PRWeb 16 hours ago.
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Insurance Industry Reference Model Workshop Planned Next Month in Chicago
NEEDHAM, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--#OMGChicago--The Object Management Group and the Business Architecture Guild will co-host the Business Architecture, Insurance Reference Model Building Workshop on September 13-14, 2016 at the Loews Chicago O’Hare hotel in Rosemont, Illinois, USA. The workshop is organized into general orientation and multiple breakout sessions. Breakout sessions will focus on capability and value mapping for Property & Casualty and Health Insurance. A third breakout session centered on
Reported by Business Wire 16 hours ago.
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CEO of NM health exchange stepping down
Amy Dowd, CEO of New Mexico's Health Insurance Exchange, also known as beWellnm, is leaving the position in September to work with Molina Healthcare as the associate vice president of marketplace operations. "She will be working with the [NMHIX] board to establish a transition plan," said Tom Garrity, spokesperson for NMHIX. "This is a fluid process." Garrity says Dowd has committed to stay on with the exchange until at least Sept. 16, which is the next NMHIX board meeting. Lisa Rubino, senior…
Reported by bizjournals 15 hours ago.
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The sad fact about Wall Street trading startups
The majority of startups fail. A little googling told me that over 90% fail within three years. Despite the fact that the cost of starting a company has decreased considerably via cloud computing and open source technology, taking into account the personal sacrifice required to start a company and the high failure rate it's amazing that so many people think the path of an entrepreneur is a good one.
The prospects of creating the next unicorn are of course a major driver, but that's not really the reason people do it.
Escaping big company bureaucracy and wearing a hoodie to work certainly is motivating too, but the real reason is passion for an idea. Passion that the world is missing something, and you have the idea that can help fill that void. This passion is what gives founders the confidence that they can beat the odds, and the world will see in their idea the opportunities that they saw when they first wrote it on a napkin.
The past few years have introduced us to several people and new companies with this passion for changing how bonds are traded. In every single meeting that I've been lucky enough to have with these innovators, I'm continuously impressed with their willingness to go against the grain and quite literally put their money where their mouth is.
Most left high profile and high paying jobs with good health insurance to go off on their own and roll the dice. I'm fully self-aware that I do not have that level of risk taking in my blood.
But the sad fact is most of them will fail, or best case be acquired for a fraction of their original valuation. Trading desks don't like change, and building liquidity from a standing start has to be one of the hardest things to do in institutional FinTech.
But before we start dismissing anyone as an unimportant flash in the pan, it’s important to remember a few things.
First, incumbents were startups once too. Bloomberg, MarketAxess and Tradeweb were also just ideas a few decades back, but managed over decades to drive change in markets that people thought impossible when they first launched.
They are now all market leaders in electronic trading, and handle between them the vast majority of electronically traded fixed income in the world. One of today’s startups could very well become the incumbent of the future.
Second, startup trading venues make the markets better before they've ever done a single trade. The ideas they bring to the table and conversations they catalyze amongst market participants about the current market structure at a minimum make everyone step up their game, and occasional start full-scale disruption.
Incumbent platforms are driven to innovate even faster than they already are, dealers reexamine their trading desk to ensure they're still servicing clients as efficiently as possible, and investors stop and wonder if what they're currently doing is the best path forward or there is in fact another way.
My point here is that we should never minimize the importance of new trading venues, regardless of whether they succeed, fail or end up somewhere in between. They're stirring the pot in a way that will only improve the markets.
So even if some of them do ultimately fail, it will have been a failure for the sake of progress.
Kevin McPartland leads Greenwich Associate's market structure and technology research and has nearly 15 years of capital markets industry experience with a deep expertise in OTC derivatives and financial services technology.
*SEE ALSO: A startup backed by Peter Thiel and George Soros just hit a key milestone*
Join the conversation about this story »
NOW WATCH: This Excel trick will save you time and impress your boss Reported by Business Insider 14 hours ago.
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Carlos A. Medina Elected to Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey Board of Directors
Chairman of Statewide Hispanic Chamber of Commerce of New Jersey joins Horizon board
Newark, NJ (PRWEB) August 15, 2016
Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey (Horizon BCBSNJ) announced today that the company’s Board of Directors has elected Carlos A. Medina, Esq. as a member of the board. Mr. Medina is the President of Robinson Aerial Surveys and the Chairman of the Board of the Statewide Hispanic Chamber of Commerce of New Jersey.
“I am thrilled to have Carlos join our Board,” said Robert A. Marino, Chairman, CEO, and President of Horizon BCBSNJ. “As an attorney, executive at a small business and leader of the state’s largest Hispanic business organization Carlos Medina brings to our Board perspectives and insights that will be invaluable in shaping the future of this company. Horizon has worked closely with Carlos and the Statewide Hispanic Chamber of Commerce of New Jersey to build stronger connections to our state’s rapidly growing Hispanic population and ensure their access to high quality, affordable health insurance.”
“It is an honor to join the Board of New Jersey’s largest and most experienced health insurer. Having worked closely with Horizon, I have seen firsthand the company’s commitment to the people and communities it serves and to helping them manage their health and pay for their health care,” said Mr. Medina. “Nowhere is that commitment more clearly demonstrated than in Horizon’s aggressive outreach to New Jersey’s Hispanic residents, nearly 1 in 5 of whom were uninsured as of last November.”
“Horizon understands the importance of bridging the language and cultural gaps that can interfere with Hispanics’ access to healthcare and health insurance,” Mr. Medina continued. “From a dedicated website and Spanish-speaking customer service line to opening an enrollment and service center with HolaDoctor to engaging in neighborhood outreach through events like Brunch Con Beneficios, Horizon is leading the way to better health for Hispanic New Jerseyans.”
“As a small business operator, I am keenly aware of the challenges organizations face in obtaining high quality, affordable health insurance for employees and their families. Horizon is challenging the status quo and putting a focus on reducing costs, improving results and giving patients a more holistic and positive experience through innovative partnerships with doctors and hospitals. Healthcare is undergoing a rapid and revolutionary change and I am looking forward to helping Horizon fulfill its mission to provide excellent and affordable health insurance to as many New Jerseyans as possible,” Mr. Medina concluded.
Mr. Medina is a graduate of Rutgers University and Rutgers School of Law. He has previously served on the Boards of the NJ Economic Development Authority, the Hispanic Bar Association of New Jersey, and The Super Bowl 2014 Host Committee Business Connect. He has been a member of the Statewide Hispanic Chamber of Commerce since 2005 and became Chairman in 2012. Under Mr. Medina’s leadership, the organization has nearly doubled its membership becoming the largest Chamber in the State by membership and the pre-eminent voice of the more than 80,000 Hispanic-owned businesses in New Jersey.
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.
### Reported by PRWeb 14 hours ago.
Newark, NJ (PRWEB) August 15, 2016
Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey (Horizon BCBSNJ) announced today that the company’s Board of Directors has elected Carlos A. Medina, Esq. as a member of the board. Mr. Medina is the President of Robinson Aerial Surveys and the Chairman of the Board of the Statewide Hispanic Chamber of Commerce of New Jersey.
“I am thrilled to have Carlos join our Board,” said Robert A. Marino, Chairman, CEO, and President of Horizon BCBSNJ. “As an attorney, executive at a small business and leader of the state’s largest Hispanic business organization Carlos Medina brings to our Board perspectives and insights that will be invaluable in shaping the future of this company. Horizon has worked closely with Carlos and the Statewide Hispanic Chamber of Commerce of New Jersey to build stronger connections to our state’s rapidly growing Hispanic population and ensure their access to high quality, affordable health insurance.”
“It is an honor to join the Board of New Jersey’s largest and most experienced health insurer. Having worked closely with Horizon, I have seen firsthand the company’s commitment to the people and communities it serves and to helping them manage their health and pay for their health care,” said Mr. Medina. “Nowhere is that commitment more clearly demonstrated than in Horizon’s aggressive outreach to New Jersey’s Hispanic residents, nearly 1 in 5 of whom were uninsured as of last November.”
“Horizon understands the importance of bridging the language and cultural gaps that can interfere with Hispanics’ access to healthcare and health insurance,” Mr. Medina continued. “From a dedicated website and Spanish-speaking customer service line to opening an enrollment and service center with HolaDoctor to engaging in neighborhood outreach through events like Brunch Con Beneficios, Horizon is leading the way to better health for Hispanic New Jerseyans.”
“As a small business operator, I am keenly aware of the challenges organizations face in obtaining high quality, affordable health insurance for employees and their families. Horizon is challenging the status quo and putting a focus on reducing costs, improving results and giving patients a more holistic and positive experience through innovative partnerships with doctors and hospitals. Healthcare is undergoing a rapid and revolutionary change and I am looking forward to helping Horizon fulfill its mission to provide excellent and affordable health insurance to as many New Jerseyans as possible,” Mr. Medina concluded.
Mr. Medina is a graduate of Rutgers University and Rutgers School of Law. He has previously served on the Boards of the NJ Economic Development Authority, the Hispanic Bar Association of New Jersey, and The Super Bowl 2014 Host Committee Business Connect. He has been a member of the Statewide Hispanic Chamber of Commerce since 2005 and became Chairman in 2012. Under Mr. Medina’s leadership, the organization has nearly doubled its membership becoming the largest Chamber in the State by membership and the pre-eminent voice of the more than 80,000 Hispanic-owned businesses in New Jersey.
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.
### Reported by PRWeb 14 hours ago.
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With $128 Billion In Equity Outflows, Barclays Asks "Who's Buying Stocks" And Gives An Answer
It has been one of the greater paradoxes of the record S&P rally from the February lows: how has the market continued to rise even with unprecedented outflows? In other words, "*Who*'*s buying equities?*"Overnight, Barclay's chief equity strategist Keith Parker asks that very question, pointing out that global equities have continued to rally *despite $128bn of outflows from equity funds **since mid-March. *His answer: futures buying (which has traditionally been associated with central bank intervention), whiuh since March ($60bn notional) *has surpassed the amount of buying between October 2011 and May 2013,*and which together with short-covering has more than offset the outflows.
He notes that with that dramatic shift in positioning basically done, retail and foreign investors are the incremental buyers/sellers of equities; S&P 500 returns have been 49% correlated with shifts in their combined ownership over the last 20 years. Active equity MFs are selling amid large retail redemptions while foreign investors are also selling US equities.
In other words, it may be all up to retail now:
"*A turn in retail/foreign sentiment and a resumption of equity inflows would get markets back to more of a grind since the positioning-driven bounce has played out, *but still elevated active manager positioning leaves the market vulnerable to risks."
So, to better assess the path for equities and identify potential opportunities, Barclays seeks to better understand the buying dynamics across the investor and corporate landscape and provides the following observations:
· *Since March, $60bn of net buying of US equity futures (notional) and $60bn of flow from short-covering in S&P 500 stocks more than offset the $50bn of outflows from US equity ETFs and MFs. *Dynamics outside the US were likely similar. Short interest is back to 2015 lows and the equity HF beta is very high, leaving equities vulnerable.
· *Equity MFs are net sellers given $164bn of redemptions since April, driven by retail. *ETF inflows only offset some of the MF outflows. We are concerned that US equity funds are not prepared for a continuing redemption cycle with cash levels low.
· *The rebalance into equities the end of June helped drive stocks higher, fuelled by the $2.5tr jump in the market value of bonds globally YTD ($1tr since May). *The bond-equity correlation has risen over the last month, *which is a risk to equity returns, and Fed comments at Jackson Hole (August 26) could be pivotal once again.*
· *Foreigners have been buying US bonds ($28bn per month) but selling US equities. *Weekly data show that Japanese net buying picked up after May and spiked in mid- July, suggesting a return of the foreign buyer. Importantly, while net purchases of equities have fluctuated, gross purchases by Europe and Japan have surged, suggesting that QE may indeed be having a sizeable impact.
· With $1tr of annual dividends paid out globally and S&P 500 firms buying back over $500bn of stock on net, corporates remain the primary driver of equities. Strong Q1 buybacks likely primed the pump for the rally, but S&P 500 gross buybacks declined by $22bn in Q2 and 12m announcements are down $115bn YTD. Across sectors, actual net buybacks for healthcare and discretionary declined markedly from Q1 to Q2, while those for staples and financials rebounded sharply. Announcements for staples fell considerably, while those for technology rose and financials jumped.
· Across regions, Europe equity outflows YTD (-$85bn) reversed two-thirds of the post QE inflows and Europe MF positioning is underweight. EM equity MFs are also underweight as inflows have picked up. Across sectors, short-covering has been the primary driver of performance, but recent fund flows have gone to cyclical sector funds as defensives have had outflows. Across styles, small cap MF positioning is underweight as inflows picked up last week.
This brings us to the key disconnect: equity rally despite large equity fund outflows.
To better assess the path for equities, we seek to better understand who has actually been buying through the equity rally. In particular, there is a clear disconnect between the magnitude of the equity rally (MSCI AC World +8% since mid-March) and the magnitude of the outflows from equity ETFs and MFs ($128bn since March). Thus, it raises the questions of who has been the incremental buyer and whether the dynamics are sustainable.
What Barclays finds is simple: *Futures buying and short-covering has fueled the rally*, specifically "buying of US equity futures and short-covering in single stocks have been a primary source of fuel for the equity rally (~$120bn since March), more than offsetting the $50bn of outflows from US equity ETFs and MFs. Although the analysis below is based on US futures and short interest because of data availability, we would suspect that the same dynamic has played out outside the US as well; that futures buying and short-covering have offset the outflows from equity funds."
Barclays also notes, that *n**et buying of US equity futures since March ($60bn notional) has surpassed the amount of buying between October 2011 and May 2013 (Figure 2). *In less than five months, *positioning in futures has seemingly swung as much as it did over the 20-plus month period following the 2011 lows. *We would argue that the dramatic shift was more warranted after 2011 given the introduction of extraordinary Fed policy (calendar guidance, Twist, QE3), a pickup in growth after a mid-cycle slowdown and a reduction in risk from Europe. Central bank policy globally has remained extremely accommodative, but the economy is grappling with some later cycle dynamics as the Fed is still trying to hike a second time.
Separately, for S&P 500 stocks, the flow to US equities from short-covering since March has been $60bn, and $26bn since June (Figure 3).
*Indeed, short interest has fallen to the lows of last year as perceptions of risks have seemingly reset*. Commensurately, our measures show equity HF net exposures are very high (Figure 4) amid the futures buying and shortcovering. The wall of worry, as measured by short interest and HF net exposure, has come down.
A quick look at the sellers reveals that active equity mutual funds continue to sell. As a result, Barclays says that *one key risk to equities was the acceleration of redemptions from active equity MFs as positioning at funds was very elevated *(i.e. low cash levels). *Total outflows from equity MFs have been $196bn YTD with a monthly pace of about $40bn since April (Figure 5). *
Accordingly, mutual funds have been large net sellers of equities. On the other side, *ETF inflows have not been enough to offset the MF outflows. *The DOL’s new fiduciary regulation is likely to keep MF redemptions at an elevated pace, and as such Barclays is again concerned that higher risk exposures and lower cash levels at equity MFs make the market more vulnerable (Figure 6). US equity MF beta is 1.4 std above average, levels that have historically coincided with market pullbacks.
And while the current trading pattern of increase equity futures buying coupled with a short squeeze, may well continue, Barclays notes that "the rise in the bond-equity correlation is a risk." To wit:
The S&P 500 and the Barclays 20+yr US bond index have more than doubled since 2005 as yields have fallen with the long bond considerably outperforming since last year (Figure 7). *The $2.5tr increase in the market value of bonds globally YTD ($1tr since May) dwarfed the excess cash on the sideline on our measures. *The ensuing rebalance into equities around the end of June helped drive stocks higher as rates stayed relatively low. Equity-bond allocations are back to fall 2015 levels while cash ratios have fallen notably as both equities and bonds rallied.
However, as equities and bonds have both moved higher, the correlation between bonds and equities has risen considerably over the last month (Figure 8). The extreme negative correlation allows many multi-asset funds to have higher (and leveraged) exposures to both bonds and equities given the lower volatility of the diversified portfolio. A shift in that correlation could lead to weaker equity returns, as it did last spring and in 2013.
As a reminder, this is a concern voiced by BofA last week which pointed out that a sharp, concurrent move in equities and bonds, in either direction, could unleash another round of "risk parity" deleveraging, and lead to the next market drop.
So if index future buying is set to fizzle, and no more shorts are left to be squeezed, who will keep on buying? To Barclays the answer is two-fold: *foreign and retail buyers.*
From a demand perspective, the bank believes that foreign and retail investors are the incremental buyers (or sellers) of equities with US institutional equity allocations already at or near the highs and their cash levels fairly low. Against a secular downtrend, household ownership of equities plummeted during market collapses of 2000-2003 and 2007-2009 (Figure 15). On the other hand, flat to higher household ownership through 1996-2000, 2004-07 and since 2009 (or 2012) coincided with market rallies. All the while, foreign investors have been increasing exposure to US equities, particularly the late 1990s and 2008-2014.
Meanwhie, foreign investors have been selling US equities on net since 2014 and foreign ownership levels have edged lower. Household ownership has drifted higher, suggesting that retail investors in the US are buying equities. Figure 16 shows the change in the combined ownership of households plus foreign (x-axis) graphed against S&P 500 yoy returns; US equity returns have been 49% correlated to the combined shifts since 1996.
So far we have ignored the elephant in the room: not the marginal, but the base buyer - corporate buybacks. Here is a quick recap on where they stand currently.
The biggest buyers of equities are corporates themselves with S&P 500 net buybacks rising to $500bn over the last four quarters from $375bn in 2013. To put that into perspective, total inflows into equity MFs and ETFs were $159bn in 2013. With about $1tr of dividends being paid out globally, reinvested dividends are also a key source of flow, particularly outside the US where buybacks are less popular. Reinvested dividend payments rose in early August. The drop in IPOs YTD (~50%) and the continuation of M&A have also been supportive from a demand-supply perspective.
Based on those S&P 500 companies that have reported buyback data for Q2, gross buybacks fell by $22bn (-15%) from Q1 to Q2 and net repurchases declined by $11bn (-10%) (Figure 16). For the first time since 2012, more S&P 500 companies reduced the amount of buybacks in Q2 than increased the size (Figure 17). However, this followed a strong Q1 when companies seemingly upped repurchases during the selloff. Trailing four quarter buybacks remain stable. We would expect flat to mildly lower growth in Q3 as weak comps roll off. As a percentage of market cap, net buybacks in Q2 are 1.5% annualized, about the same level of 2012-2014 as buybacks have kept pace with market value.
What has been unsaid about all the above is that the one thing that is permitting all of the noted trends, are record low government and corporate yields, which in turn continue to lead to "financial repression" and a forced TINA purchase of equities around the globe. As some strategists have pointed out, as of this moment the only thing that could spoil the part is a pick up in inflation, which however is paradoxical since to a majority of the US population, those who are affected by record high rents and surging health insurance costs, not to mention college tuition costs, inflation is already a major issue. Which is why it is unlikely that the Fed will proactively intervene, even though as Deutsche Bank warned over the weekend, doing that will lead to even more pain for the economy until the disconnect between asset prices and fundamentals will grow so massive, that an entirely new paradigm shift will have to arrive to justify valuations. Then again, considering that GAAP PEs are in the mid-20 range, one can argue that the paradigm has already arrived. Reported by Zero Hedge 10 hours ago.
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How to verify your HIPAA compliance
Keeping patients’ confidential records secure is of utmost importance to healthcare organizations and the vendors who work alongside them. Not only is the proper safeguarding of information a good practice, it’s the law. The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) seeks to protect the sensitive data of patients and to empower healthcare practitioners to keep that information safe through strong security and privacy policies. HIPAA does not have specific recommendations for how to best protect much of the electronic storage and transmission that takes place with medical data today. The HIPAA requirements do, however, inform practices on the conceptual… [Continue Reading]
Reported by betanews 9 hours ago.
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The Health Insurance Industry's Last Ditch Holdup
Two mergers of health insurance giants in the U. S.--Anthem/Cigna and Aetna/Humana--are in process, although now being challenged in the courts. If approved, they will collectively cover more than 132 million Americans, controlling most of the market share for private health insurance in this country (1). With less and less competition in concentrated markets, the industry has wide latitude to set their premiums with little regulation. It threatens to leave the Affordable Care Act's (ACA's) exchanges, thereby unraveling the Obama administration's signature domestic program, if it is not further protected from claimed financial losses.
Humana plans to pull out of Obamacare exchanges in all but a few states in 2017, citing losses of almost $1billion. (2) UnitedHealth Group and Aetna are also planning to cut back sharply from the exchanges next year amidst deepening losses. (3) The CEO of Anthem has recently said that the future success of the ACA's exchanges hinges on whether his $54 billion offer to buy Cigna can be completed. Wendell Potter, former long time executive at Cigna and author of Deadly Spin: An Insurance Company Insider Speaks Out on How Corporate PR Is Killing Health Care and Deceiving Americans, observes:
What the insurers are implying here is that if the Obamacare marketplace doesn't "stabilize" to their satisfaction (even though the companies will still be making money hand over fist) they'll threaten to take their marbles and go home . . . big for-profit insurers are simply not reliable partners for the government (or any other customers for that matter). (4)
This is in effect a last ditch holdup of the federal government as the industry faces a future of less profitability unless it once again gets its way for further subsidization. From the beginning, it has been clear that the Obama administration and the insurance industry need each other, and also that the industry has the upper hand in negotiating their way forward. The ACA needs maximal enrollment in the exchanges, as a way of sharing risks, making it vulnerable to insurers leaving the market when that enrollment falls short.
Despite the ACA, insurers still have all kinds of ways to increase their revenues by issuing policies with less and less value. These include high-deductible plans that won't even cover initial physicians' visits; changing, narrowed networks without out-of-network coverage; networks that exclude a majority of physicians and some major hospitals in an area; high co-insurance for specialty drugs; manipulation of risk scores to get higher Medicare payments; restrictive interpretations of what constitutes a medical emergency; marketing short-term plans in order to avoid the ACA's coverage requirements; and denial of services.
Insurers are finding that their enrollees are sicker than they expected and costing them more, so they raise their premiums. (5) As examples, the Providence Health Plan, the largest insurer for people buying coverage through the Oregon health exchange, is seeking an average premium increase for 2017 of 29.6 percent , while a competitor, Moda Health Plan Inc., is asking for an average increase of 32.3 percent after an increase of 25 percent last year. (6) The largest health insurer in Texas is seeking rate increases of 59 percent. (7)
The industry claims financial distress even when its shareholders have seen its stocks recording the highest gains of any sector in the S & P 500, and its CEOs taking in huge sums. As one example, Stephen Hemsley, CEO of UnitedHealth Group, had $66 million in salary, stock options and other forms of compensation in 2014, lower than his total pay of $102 million five years earlier. (8)
These examples from across our market-based system illustrate how we get less and pay more as a result of the insurance industry's profiteering:
· Insurers have been gaming the ACA's risk-coding program, under which they are paid more by covering older and sicker enrollees, by overstating their health risks. (9)· Medicare Advantage beneficiaries who need nursing home and home health care disproportionately leave it for traditional Medicare, raising questions about how well privatized Medicare plans serve sicker higher-cost Medicare beneficiaries. (10)· Many patients who believe they are enrolling in the traditional Medicare program are surprised to find themselves automatically enrolled in private Medicare Advantage plans; CMS actually secretly allows these plans to enroll traditional Medicare patients without requiring them to opt in. (11)· Overpayments by the government to private Medicaid managed care plans are endemic in more than 30 states, often involving unnecessary or duplicative payments to providers and calling for more scrutiny by auditors. (12)· Some states have received federal waivers to impose premiums and/or copays to Medicaid patients; this cost-sharing has been shown to result in disenrollment and decreased access to care. (13)
These latest demands by the industry show how desperate it has become to protect these financial rewards even when it is so obviously gaming the system for maximal profit and least service to the public. The industry is on a death march, kept alive mainly by government subsidies and the generous provisions of the ACA. The industry doesn't deserve any further bailout by the government. It has proved itself unworthy of the public trust and too inefficient and wasteful to be propped up indefinitely.
There are three major alternatives before us in financing U. S. health care--tweaking the ACA as Hillary Clinton proposes, repealing or replacing it as part of the GOP's "plan", or adopting single-payer national health insurance, as Bernie Sanders has called for. Whatever happens depends on results of the elections and who controls the White House and Congress. The incoming president could well be faced with an Obamacare meltdown early in 2017. (14) Gridlock or further bailout of the industry will perpetuate an insoluble problem. Single-payer national health insurance is the only long-term solution to our system problems of restricted access, runaway costs and prices, unaffordability and unacceptable quality of health care. To get there, we need a government that works in the public interest, as John Adams, second president of the United States and one of our founding fathers, recognized more than two centuries ago:
Government is instituted for the common good: for the protection, safety, prosperity and happiness of the people; and not for the profit, honor, or private interest of any one man, family or class of men.
(15)
John Geyman, M.D. is the author of The Human Face of ObamaCare: Promises vs. Reality and What Comes Next and How Obamacare is Unsustainable: Why We Need a Single-Payer Solution For All Americans
visit: http://www.johngeymanmd.org*References:*
1. Mattioli, D, Hoffman, L, Mathews. AW. Anthem nears $48 billion Cigna deal. Wall Street Journal, July 23, 2015: A1.
2. Ferris, S. Humana to leave 'substantially all' ObamaCare markets. The Hill, July 21, 2016.
3. Mathews, AW. Aetna backs off plans to expand its ACA business. Wall Street Journal, August 3, 2016.
4. Potter, W. The insurance empire strikes back. Wendell Potter Blog, August 2, 1016.
5. Pear, R. Newest policyholders under health law are sicker and costlier to insurers. New York Times, March 30, 2016.
6. Radnofsky, L, Mathews, AW. Health insurers struggle to offset new costs. Wall Street Journal, May 5, 2016: A1.
7. Associated Press. Insurance rates going up: New concerns for Obamacare. New York Times, June 2, 2016.
8. Whitman, E. Rising costs of medical care, health insurance: Median pay for CEOs in health care companies higher than any other industry. International Business Times, May 26, 2015.
9 .Potter, W. Health insurers working the system to pad their profits. Center for Public Integrity, August 15, 2015.
10. Rahman, M, Keohane, L, Trivedi, AN et al. High-cost patients had substantial rates of leaving Medicare Advantage and joining traditional Medicare. Health Affairs 34 (10): 1675-1682, October 2015.
11. Jaffe, S. Some seniors surprised to be automatically enrolled in Medicare Advantage Plans. Kaiser Health News, July 27, 2016.
12. Herman, B. Medicaid's unmanaged managed care. Modern Healthcare, April 30, 2016.
13. Levey, N. Four largest states have sharp disparities in access to health care. Los Angeles Times, April 10, 2015.
14. Ferris, S. Next president faces possible ObamaCare meltdown. The Hill, August 11, 2016.
15, Adams, as quoted by Hartmann, TA. A red privatization story. The Progressive Populist, November 15, 2014, p. 11.
-- 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.
Humana plans to pull out of Obamacare exchanges in all but a few states in 2017, citing losses of almost $1billion. (2) UnitedHealth Group and Aetna are also planning to cut back sharply from the exchanges next year amidst deepening losses. (3) The CEO of Anthem has recently said that the future success of the ACA's exchanges hinges on whether his $54 billion offer to buy Cigna can be completed. Wendell Potter, former long time executive at Cigna and author of Deadly Spin: An Insurance Company Insider Speaks Out on How Corporate PR Is Killing Health Care and Deceiving Americans, observes:
What the insurers are implying here is that if the Obamacare marketplace doesn't "stabilize" to their satisfaction (even though the companies will still be making money hand over fist) they'll threaten to take their marbles and go home . . . big for-profit insurers are simply not reliable partners for the government (or any other customers for that matter). (4)
This is in effect a last ditch holdup of the federal government as the industry faces a future of less profitability unless it once again gets its way for further subsidization. From the beginning, it has been clear that the Obama administration and the insurance industry need each other, and also that the industry has the upper hand in negotiating their way forward. The ACA needs maximal enrollment in the exchanges, as a way of sharing risks, making it vulnerable to insurers leaving the market when that enrollment falls short.
Despite the ACA, insurers still have all kinds of ways to increase their revenues by issuing policies with less and less value. These include high-deductible plans that won't even cover initial physicians' visits; changing, narrowed networks without out-of-network coverage; networks that exclude a majority of physicians and some major hospitals in an area; high co-insurance for specialty drugs; manipulation of risk scores to get higher Medicare payments; restrictive interpretations of what constitutes a medical emergency; marketing short-term plans in order to avoid the ACA's coverage requirements; and denial of services.
Insurers are finding that their enrollees are sicker than they expected and costing them more, so they raise their premiums. (5) As examples, the Providence Health Plan, the largest insurer for people buying coverage through the Oregon health exchange, is seeking an average premium increase for 2017 of 29.6 percent , while a competitor, Moda Health Plan Inc., is asking for an average increase of 32.3 percent after an increase of 25 percent last year. (6) The largest health insurer in Texas is seeking rate increases of 59 percent. (7)
The industry claims financial distress even when its shareholders have seen its stocks recording the highest gains of any sector in the S & P 500, and its CEOs taking in huge sums. As one example, Stephen Hemsley, CEO of UnitedHealth Group, had $66 million in salary, stock options and other forms of compensation in 2014, lower than his total pay of $102 million five years earlier. (8)
These examples from across our market-based system illustrate how we get less and pay more as a result of the insurance industry's profiteering:
· Insurers have been gaming the ACA's risk-coding program, under which they are paid more by covering older and sicker enrollees, by overstating their health risks. (9)· Medicare Advantage beneficiaries who need nursing home and home health care disproportionately leave it for traditional Medicare, raising questions about how well privatized Medicare plans serve sicker higher-cost Medicare beneficiaries. (10)· Many patients who believe they are enrolling in the traditional Medicare program are surprised to find themselves automatically enrolled in private Medicare Advantage plans; CMS actually secretly allows these plans to enroll traditional Medicare patients without requiring them to opt in. (11)· Overpayments by the government to private Medicaid managed care plans are endemic in more than 30 states, often involving unnecessary or duplicative payments to providers and calling for more scrutiny by auditors. (12)· Some states have received federal waivers to impose premiums and/or copays to Medicaid patients; this cost-sharing has been shown to result in disenrollment and decreased access to care. (13)
These latest demands by the industry show how desperate it has become to protect these financial rewards even when it is so obviously gaming the system for maximal profit and least service to the public. The industry is on a death march, kept alive mainly by government subsidies and the generous provisions of the ACA. The industry doesn't deserve any further bailout by the government. It has proved itself unworthy of the public trust and too inefficient and wasteful to be propped up indefinitely.
There are three major alternatives before us in financing U. S. health care--tweaking the ACA as Hillary Clinton proposes, repealing or replacing it as part of the GOP's "plan", or adopting single-payer national health insurance, as Bernie Sanders has called for. Whatever happens depends on results of the elections and who controls the White House and Congress. The incoming president could well be faced with an Obamacare meltdown early in 2017. (14) Gridlock or further bailout of the industry will perpetuate an insoluble problem. Single-payer national health insurance is the only long-term solution to our system problems of restricted access, runaway costs and prices, unaffordability and unacceptable quality of health care. To get there, we need a government that works in the public interest, as John Adams, second president of the United States and one of our founding fathers, recognized more than two centuries ago:
Government is instituted for the common good: for the protection, safety, prosperity and happiness of the people; and not for the profit, honor, or private interest of any one man, family or class of men.
(15)
John Geyman, M.D. is the author of The Human Face of ObamaCare: Promises vs. Reality and What Comes Next and How Obamacare is Unsustainable: Why We Need a Single-Payer Solution For All Americans
visit: http://www.johngeymanmd.org*References:*
1. Mattioli, D, Hoffman, L, Mathews. AW. Anthem nears $48 billion Cigna deal. Wall Street Journal, July 23, 2015: A1.
2. Ferris, S. Humana to leave 'substantially all' ObamaCare markets. The Hill, July 21, 2016.
3. Mathews, AW. Aetna backs off plans to expand its ACA business. Wall Street Journal, August 3, 2016.
4. Potter, W. The insurance empire strikes back. Wendell Potter Blog, August 2, 1016.
5. Pear, R. Newest policyholders under health law are sicker and costlier to insurers. New York Times, March 30, 2016.
6. Radnofsky, L, Mathews, AW. Health insurers struggle to offset new costs. Wall Street Journal, May 5, 2016: A1.
7. Associated Press. Insurance rates going up: New concerns for Obamacare. New York Times, June 2, 2016.
8. Whitman, E. Rising costs of medical care, health insurance: Median pay for CEOs in health care companies higher than any other industry. International Business Times, May 26, 2015.
9 .Potter, W. Health insurers working the system to pad their profits. Center for Public Integrity, August 15, 2015.
10. Rahman, M, Keohane, L, Trivedi, AN et al. High-cost patients had substantial rates of leaving Medicare Advantage and joining traditional Medicare. Health Affairs 34 (10): 1675-1682, October 2015.
11. Jaffe, S. Some seniors surprised to be automatically enrolled in Medicare Advantage Plans. Kaiser Health News, July 27, 2016.
12. Herman, B. Medicaid's unmanaged managed care. Modern Healthcare, April 30, 2016.
13. Levey, N. Four largest states have sharp disparities in access to health care. Los Angeles Times, April 10, 2015.
14. Ferris, S. Next president faces possible ObamaCare meltdown. The Hill, August 11, 2016.
15, Adams, as quoted by Hartmann, TA. A red privatization story. The Progressive Populist, November 15, 2014, p. 11.
-- 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.
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Obamacare Sticker Shock: Average 2017 Premium Surges 24%
Two weeks ago, we asked readers to spot the "odd inflation out" when looking at the map below.The reference, of course, was to the state by state surge in proposed 2017 Obamacare premiums, contrasted with what the government contends is a modest 1.0% inflation rate.
Now, courtesy of a new study by independent analyst Charles Gaba - who has crunched the numbers for insurers participating in the ACA exchanges in all 50 states - we can also calculate what the average Obamacare premium increase across the entire US will be: using proposed and approved rate increase requests, the average Obamacare premium is expected to surge by a whopping 24% this year.
As Politico notes, Cigna and Humana recently revised their rate requests in Tennessee, and the new filings are dramatically higher. Cigna is now asking for a 46% average increase, up from 23%, and Humana is requesting a 44% increase, up from 29%, The Tennessean reported on Friday. Expect these numbers to rise even more as insurance companies exit even more states.
So far, the average approved rate increase is roughly 17% according to weighted averages across just five states, Mississippi, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island and Vermont, Gaba reports. "Combined, all [five states] only make up around 6.3 percent of the total population," Gaba writes. "The numbers will no doubt jump around quite a bit as additional, larger states are plugged into the mix."
Here is what Charles Gaba calculated:
[I] noted that since I originally crunched the numbers for some states as far back as April, the situation in some states has likely changed somewhat due to carriers dropping out, joining in or re-submitting their rate request filings.
There have been significant changes to the requested rate filings in at least four states: Arizona, Connecticut, Maryland and Tennessee. In all four cases, I'm afraid the statewide weighted average has increased, either due to resubmitted filings, a carrier dropping out or both.
As a result of these updates*, the national average increase requested now stands at 23.9%, up from the previous average of 23.3%.*
Gaba will have to redo his numbers again, as moments ago Aetna announced that in 2017 it would exit 11 of 15, or more than two thirds, of Obamacare state exchanges in which it was a participant as of this calendar year. The only states in which Aetna will continue to provide Obamacare, are Delaware, Iowa, Nebraska and Virginia. Here is what CEO Mark Bertolini said in a statement:
“Following a thorough business review and in light of a second-quarter pretax loss of $200 million and total pretax losses of more than $430 million since January 2014 in our individual products, *we have decided to reduce our individual public exchange presence in 2017, which will limit our financial exposure moving forward.* More than 40 payers of various sizes have similarly chosen to stop selling plans in one or more rating areas in the individual public exchanges over the 2015 and 2016 plan years, collectively exiting hundreds of rating areas in more than 30 states. As a strong supporter of public exchanges as a means to meet the needs of the uninsured, we regret having to make this decision.
Aetna will reduce its individual public exchange participation from 778 to 242 counties for the 2017 plan year, maintaining an on-exchange presence in Delaware, Iowa, Nebraska and Virginia. The company will continue to offer an off-exchange individual product option for 2017 to consumers in the vast majority of counties where it offered individual public exchange products in 2016.
And while as a result of this latest exit, rates are set to go up even more, here is how much more citizens in various US states can expect to pay for their health insurance. Reported by Zero Hedge 3 hours ago.
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Aetna pulls back on Obamacare health insurance plans in 2017
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Aetna Inc, the No. 3 U.S. health insurer, on Monday said that due to persistent financial losses on Obamacare plans, it will sell individual insurance on the government-run online marketplaces in only four states next year, down from the current 15 states.
Reported by Reuters 2 hours ago.
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