United Benefit Advisors Insight and Analysis Blog

The data are in for the 2015 Health Plan Survey! See our news release with the top cost trends. Download the UBA 2015 Health Plan Survey Executive Summary with more detailed findings. For quick reference, here’s a brief punch list of the top trends:

Topics: wellness, health plan survey, ACA, Cadillac Tax, UBA Health Plan Survey, Affordable Care Act, health plan trends, insurance costs

The 2014 UBA Health Plan survey of nearly 10,000 employers finds that employers are shifting more responsibility and cost to workers through increases in out-of-pocket costs and cutbacks in family benefits. 

Topics: health plan survey, UBA, employers, 2014, Baltimore Sun, survey, Maryland

 

We’ve rounded up the most popular UBA blogs of 2014, which have garnered thousands of views.

 

10. UBA Releases 2014 Health Plan Survey Executive Summary.

Recent survey data from the 2014 United Benefit Advisors Health Plan Survey, the nation's largest health plan survey, shows that employers continue to shift a greater share of expenses to employees through out-of-pocket cost increases and reductions in family benefits, as well as delay many effects of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) by utilizing an early renewal strategy. More

 

Topics: health plan survey, UBA, section 125 plans, PPACA Affordable Care Act, IRS, Self-Funded, HHS, EEOC, blog, Skinny Plans, out-of-pocket limits, top 10

While wellness programs have increased in popularity, according to the 2014 UBA Health Plan Survey, actual wellness program adoption has been in a holding pattern. As one might expect, the highest percentage (58.8%) of plans offering wellness benefits came from employers with 1,000 or more employees and the lowest percentage (8%) of plans offering wellness benefits came from employers with fewer than 25 employees. On average, wellness programs are down slightly by 1.3%. It’s no wonder given all the pending litigation and regulation surrounding these programs, including the fact that the health of an employee population is no longer a rating factor for smaller employers.

Topics: UBA, health plan survey, 2014, wellness, EEOC, Part 1, Jennifer Kupper, iaCONSULTING

Data in the 2014 UBA Health Plan Survey is based on responses from 9,950 employers sponsoring 16,967 health plans nationwide. Results are applicable to the small to midsize market that makes up a majority of American businesses, as well as to larger employers, providing benchmarking data on a more detailed level than any other survey. To help employers benchmark their health plan costs by organization size, the chart below shows average costs in descending order.

Topics: UBA, health plan survey, Rate Reprieve, Small Employers

By: Peter Freska, MPH, CEBS, Benefits Advisor
The LBL Group
A UBA Partner Firm

Topics: UBA, health care, Statistics, Peter Freska, health plan survey, Becker's Hospital Review, 100 Healthcare Statistics to Know

By Thom Mangan
CEO, United Benefit Advisors 

Topics: employee benefits, health plan survey, health care, health care costs, hr consulting, CDHPs, HDHPs

When it comes to managing employee benefits in the era of health care reform, it’s easy to want to take a “head-in-the-sand” approach but the clock is ticking and soon everyone will be forced to comply with the all of the PPACA regulations. Employers are faced with the dilemma of trying to contain the consistently upward spiral of health care costs while at the same time concerned with retaining top talent in an increasingly competitive market. Frankly, it can certainly be overwhelming and hard to know where to start.

United Benefit Advisors and its nearly 200 Partner Firms, who collectively work with 36,000 employers understand these frustrations all too well. However, in working with this volume of employers, they know the strategies that will make the job of designing cost-effective, yet attractive employee benefits a lot easier – while still taking PPACA compliance into account. In fact, these tried-and-true benefit strategies have proven themselves worthy – last year alone,  UBA Partner Firms helped their employer clients save an average of 5.2 percent on their medical renewal in 2012, for a combined $584 million in annual medical plan cost savings.

Topics: PPACA, Thomas Mangan, health care reform, health plan survey, HR webinars, hr consulting

Holly Parsons
The Wilson Agency, A UBA Partner Firm

Topics: employee benefits, health plan survey, hr consulting, CDHPs

United Benefit Advisors recently celebrated its 10-year anniversary in supporting its Partners’ efforts to provide quality employee benefits advisory services to their clients. With a decade of experience responding to the ever-changing health care industry, UBA understands the biggest pain points facing employers offering health care coverage to their employees.

To commemorate this 10^th anniversary, as well as continue its tradition of assisting the nation’s employers, UBA Partner Firms have compiled the top eight questions that every employer should ask their benefits advisor. These questions are based on many years of experience working with large and small businesses, across a range of industries:

Topics: PPACA, employee benefits, health plan survey, health care, health insurance exchanges, health care costs, health insurance