July 19, 2022
Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion | The Power of Pronouns
Words are powerful. Names and pronouns, in particular, represent an important part of a person’s identity. LGBTQ+ colleagues are validated every time a colleague uses their appropriate pronoun. Inclusive employers send a strong signal to employees by asking and using their preferred pronouns. ...
July 15, 2022
Advocacy in Action | Specialty Pharmacy Prescription Drug
A member’s daughter has a chronic illness and needed help obtaining a special prescription drug to treat the condition. The child had been taking another prescription drug but had experienced an adverse reaction causing the child to be hospitalized. The member needed the daughter’s new ...
July 12, 2022
Workplace Culture | Building a Positive Workplace Culture
American workers were willing to depart their jobs for greener pastures during the “Great Resignation.” Unfortunately, one of the contributing factors to the record quit rate was toxic workplaces. For many companies, this reshuffle was a wakeup call to re-examine workplace culture and create an ...
July 5, 2022
Dear HR Manager from Hindsight
Dear HR Manager, I was promoted to management three months ago and have decided it was a mistake to accept this leadership role. I initially thought managing a team of salespeople was the next logical step in my career, but I miss being the person to make the sale. I enjoy the client ...
June 30, 2022
An Employer’s Guide to Workplace Protections for Abortion-Related Decisions
Employers likely have questions about abortion-related employment protections and healthcare benefits after Friday’s SCOTUS controversial decision that overturned Roe v. Wade. Given the ruling, people in states with strict abortion limitations may end up traveling to other states to receive ...
June 23, 2022
2022 The Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI) Fee
The Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI) fee, which is also referred to as the Comparative Effectiveness Fee, initially applied from 2012 to 2019. However, in December 2019, the Further Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2020 extended the fee to 2029. The fee is due based on ...
June 15, 2022
Compliance Recap | May 2022
The month of May again brought relatively little major employee benefit compliance guidance from federal agencies. However, there was plenty of activity in the courts to provide useful insight into steps employer plan sponsors can take to safeguard against benefits. Department of Labor Provides ...
June 15, 2022
Advocacy in Action | Preventative vs. Diagnostic Claims
A member contacted her Patient Advocate to find out why she was being billed $753.00 for her routine preventative colonoscopy. This was the first time she had ever had a colonoscopy and her doctor told her it was a preventative test. She told her Patient Advocate she had just lost her mother ...
June 14, 2022
Dear HR Manager from Under a Microscope
Dear HR Manager, I have a new supervisor, and he is a grade “A” micromanager. He proofs every single one of my client emails, tracks my arrival and departure times, and doesn’t let me make even minor decisions on my projects. As a result, I am starting to second-guess whether this is the right ...
June 8, 2022
Getting Clarity on Transparency: What Health Plan Sponsors Need to Know about Publishing Machine-Readable Files
As of July 1, 2022, group health plans must clear one of the first major compliance hurdles required by the Affordable Care Act’s (ACA) Transparency in Coverage (TiC) Final Rules. By that date, plans and insurance carriers must have prepared and posted two machine-readable files (MRFs) to a ...
