by admin | Oct 25, 2023 | Employee Benefits, Health Insurance
Not understanding benefits terminology is near the top of the list of ways that open enrollment and benefits selection can stress you out. Open enrollment is coming quickly and soon you will be talking about benefit options. The world of benefits and insurance can be confusing. In-network, out-of-network, deductibles, co-pays and co-insurance? What?
Let us help break it down:
Premium – a monthly payment you make to your health insurance provider- it is the cost of having health insurance coverage. It’s perhaps the easiest component of a health plan – it’s the equivalent of a sticker price.
Here’s how it works: Coverage itself varies considerably from one health plan to another but in general, the less you pay for your coverage, the more you’re likely to have to pay when you need health care – and vice versa.
Co-insurance – A percentage of a health care cost—such as 20 percent—that the covered employee pays after meeting the deductible.
How it works: Let’s say you’ve paid $1,500 in health care costs and met your deductible. When you go to the doctor, instead of paying all costs, you and your plan share the cost. For example, your plan may pay 80% so then your share would be the remaining 20%.
Co-payment – The fixed dollar amount—such as $25 for each doctor visit—that the covered employee pays for medical services or prescriptions.
How it works: After your co-pay, your insurance picks up the rest of the bill for that visit. Co-pays typically count toward your annual out-of-pocket maximum (but there can be exceptions depending on your plan). The amount can vary depending on where you go for care, the type of doctor you see, and the type of prescription you are taking.
Deductible – How much you pay before your health insurance coverage kicks in. Your deductible resets every year.
How it works: If your plan’s deductible is $1,500, you’ll pay 100% of health care expenses until the bills total $1,500. After that, you share the cost with your plan by paying co-insurance.
Network – “In-network” refers to doctors and other health providers that are part of the insurer’s preferred network. Insurers sign contracts and negotiate prices with these in-network providers. This isn’t the case for “out-of-network” providers.
Here’s why that matters: Expenses you incur for services provided by out-of-network professionals may not be covered or may only be partially covered by your insurance; you will generally have a higher deductible and out-of-pocket limit when you see an out-of-network provider.
Out-of-pocket Maximum (OOPM) – the absolute most you pay in one year for your health care expenses before your insurance covers 100% of the bill.
Here’s how it works: What you pay toward your plan’s deductible, co-insurance and co-pays are all applied to your out-of-pocket max. If your plan covers more than one person, you will likely have a family out-of-pocket max and an individual out-of-pocket max. That means:
- When the deductible, co-insurance and co-pays for one person reach the individual maximum, your plan then pays 100% of the expenses for that person.
- When what you’ve paid toward individual maximums adds up to your family’s out-of-pocket max, your plan will pay 100% of the expenses for everyone on the plan.
Picking health insurance can be a dizzying adventure and making a mistake can be costly since you are generally locked into your health insurance for one year, with very limited exceptions. But when you understand how open enrollment works and how it impacts your family’s household budget, you can make wise, informed choices.
by admin | Oct 17, 2023 | Workplace
As the flu and RSV season gets underway, companies are asking themselves how they can support employees who need to stay home to care for their children. In fact, last October, 104,000 Americans missed work because of “childcare problems” – the highest total since the Bureau of Labor Statistics began tracking the figure in 2003. Although that number has since lowered, it has remained above historic levels. Experts have noted that one possible cause is the “Tripledemic” which includes flu, COVID, and RSV.
This isn’t just a problem for parents. Workplace absences are a problem for employers. When parents have to take time off work to care for their children due to illnesses, school closures, or other unforeseen circumstances, it can create challenges for employers in terms of maintaining productivity, meeting deadlines, and ensuring a stable work environment. This is especially true in situations where there is a lack of adequate family leave policies or flexible work arrangements.
How Can Employers Support Working Parents?
Remote Work Options: With the return to office in full swing, employers need to simply recognize that kids get sick. Allowing employees to work from home offers a distinct advantage. It makes all the difference to be able to take a mid-day appointment with your child’s pediatrician. In fact, a FlexJobs survey reported that two-thirds of working parents called remote options a top workplace priority. Additionally, 62% said they would quit their current job if they couldn’t work remotely at times.
Flexibility: Another key tool employers can offer is flexible hours. Kids’ schedules often don’t match up with their parent work schedule. Flexible hours allow parents to make appointments during the day to care for a sick child, allowing them to work in the evening or in the early morning while children are still sleeping is helpful to manage responsibilities both at work and at home.
Empathy and Understanding: Show compassion and understanding when employees need to take time off due to sick children. Avoid making them feel guilty for needing to prioritize their children’s health.
Cross-Training: Cross-train employees or have a backup plan in place so that work can continue smoothly even when someone needs to take unexpected time off.
Employee Assistance Programs (EAPs): Working parents can often feel isolated as employees, struggling with responsibilities they aren’t typically encouraged to share with others. Offer access to EAPs that provide counseling, resources, and support for managing work-life balance and stressors related to caring for sick children.
Remember that supporting working parents with sick children not only improves employee morale and retention but also contributes to a positive company reputation and a more productive work environment. Offering support to employees helps them thrive in their job as well as at home.
by admin | Oct 9, 2023 | Cybersecurity
Artificial intelligence, including so-called “large language models” like ChatGPT, has rapidly become a major talking point in the press, amongst governments, and maybe even in your office!
While AI has been a subject in the background for decades, everyday web users can now engage with AI like never before.
But whenever there is a sea change in technology, it is always smart to think about the security issues. This is how you can stay safe online over the years. And no AI wrote this article – we promise!
Should I use ChatGPT or other AI platforms?
With any shiny new technology, you should consider security and privacy risks before diving in. When it comes to AI-powered language models and other services, there are a few major factors to consider when loading up AI for help at work, school, or for fun:
Don’t Hand Over Your Crown Jewels?
AI models partly “learn” from what users input into the system. Therefore, you shouldn’t put any information into an AI model you want to keep private, from your company’s proprietary computer code to sensitive information about your family.
Prompting Isn’t the Same As Creating
When it comes to your child’s homework or perhaps your own work endeavors, know that putting a query to AI and then copy/pasting the results isn’t the same as doing the work yourself. Also, if you are asking a fact-based question to an AI model (like “what atoms are in a water molecule?”) you need to fact check everything, because these models have become infamous for giving very confident but very wrong information in many situations. Other times, people have noted that AI models produced bizarre – and sometimes creepy – responses suggesting that the model had a mind of its own, which have been deemed “hallucinations.” We say it’s best to look at AI models as tools: they can help you get the work done, but we think you’re more talented than a machine!
Privacy Concerns
There are many concerns over how AI models scrape the web, from how these programs utilize the creations of artists and writers to what sort of personal information they know about us. Many experts are worried that it is collecting data on children, for example, and how these services can alert people about sharing their data remains an open question. In many cases, your chats with an AI are not private – the company can see what you input, even if it is anonymized. Carefully read the privacy notices of any AI service you use and ensure that you are okay with sharing the data it collects.
Bad Guys Also Use AI
Another trend is the rise of cybercriminals using AI to get better at their crimes. There is evidence that bad actors are using AI to craft more deceptive phishing emails and help develop malware. When there is any big disruption in tech, take it as a good time to review your cybersecurity basics: use strong passwords, take advantage of password managers, and enable MFA for all accounts that allow it.
Originally posted on National Cybersecurity Alliance
by admin | Oct 4, 2023 | Hot Topics, Human Resources
Pushback on Remote Work
Nowadays, many employers are insisting that workers return to the office in full force. Last week, HR Exchange Network reported on Goldman Sachs enforcing a five-day RTO rule. The Street recently reported on how Dimon longs for the same at JPMorgan Chase. This is not new news. Some have suggested the big banks are concerned about compliance with However, The Street speculates that Dimon is most interested in strict RTO as a result of the organization’s real estate investments.
Walmart Lowers the Minimum Wage
Apparently, Walmart is paying some new hires less than it was paying others three months ago, according to the Wall Street Journal. The writer suggests that this is a sign that companies are trying to cut labor costs after significant wage increases during the Great Resignation. Most new hires will now earn the lowest possible hourly wage for their store.
“The wage-structure change comes after Walmart and other large employers have for years steadily raised wages and added benefits to attract workers in a tight labor market. The retailer’s latest move suggests that the stresses companies are facing in trying to find employees are easing and that they need to find ways to offset those wage increases,” according to WSJ.
UAW May Strike
The summer of strikes might just turn into the fall of strikes. The United Auto Workers (UAW) told General Motors that their proposal was insulting, according to CNBC. The contract for GM’s 46,000 UAW-represented workers included a 10% increase in wages. But the union rejected it and within days the UAW may go on strike.
“Despite the proposed wage increase being the largest under a UAW contract since 1999, it still falls far short of the union’s demands of a 40% hourly pay increase, a reduced 32-hour workweek, a shift back to traditional pensions, elimination of compensation tiers, and restoration of cost-of-living adjustments, among other items on the table,” according to CNBC.
Millennials Are the Hybrid Workers
LinkedIn is sharing data points from its latest Workforce Confidence survey, and it showed a difference in the way generations are experiencing work at the moment. About 20% of Millennials, compared to 17% of Gen X and 15% of Baby Boomers, are hybrid workers.
Cybersecurity Sees Layoffs
Cybersecurity was once considered a safe role to have because of the great necessity to protect data and technology from breaches. However, in the last month, nine cybersecurity companies have laid off employees, according to Axios. IronNet, Malwarebytes, Fortinet, NCC Group, Rapid7, Dragos, HackerOne, and Bishop Fox are among those that cut jobs. The publication reported that the companies have cut between 10% and 20% of their workforce, which amounts to hundreds of layoffs.
By Francesca Di Meglio
Originally posted on HR Exchange Network
by admin | Sep 27, 2023 | Employee Benefits
For millions of Americans, the end of the year is open enrollment season – a yearly opportunity to take stock of your health care needs and select the health insurance plan that works best for you. It is a window of time – typically in the fall – when you can sign up for health insurance, review, assess, and modify your existing benefits.
There are more choices than ever to help you find a plan that will best suit your health needs. Think of it like planning a trip: you don’t pack a surfboard if you are planning to hike in the mountains. Likewise, there is a lot to think about when selecting a health plan for the next year. What does it cost? Does it include your prescription or preferred doctors? Understanding health insurance basics and how open enrollment works is essential for making informed choices about your benefits and insurance coverage.
Here’s How Open Enrollment Typically Works:
- Eligibility: Anyone eligible for health insurance can participate in Open Enrollment. This includes you, your dependents, and individuals looking to buy insurance through the individual marketplace (e.g., through the ACA exchanges)
- Review Options: During the Open Enrollment period, you have the opportunity to review your current insurance coverage and assess their healthcare needs for the upcoming year. You should consider factors like changes in your health, anticipated medical expenses, and any new coverage options that might be available.
- Enrollment or Changes: You can use the Open Enrollment period to either enroll in a new insurance plan, make changes to your existing plan, or renew your current coverage. This might involve switching plans, adding or removing dependents, changing coverage levels, or adjusting other plan details.
- Deadline: Open Enrollment is time sensitive. Once the designated period ends, you generally cannot make changes to your insurance coverage until the next Open Enrollment period unless you experience a qualifying life event (such as marriage, birth of a child, job loss, or relocation), which triggers a Special Enrollment Period.
- Coverage Start: The new coverage usually begins at the start of the upcoming calendar year, though this can vary depending on the specific insurance plan and enrollment date.
Which Plans Don’t Use Open Enrollment?
- CHIP (Children’s Health Insurance Program) – CHIP offers low-cost health coverage for children from birth through age 18. CHIP permits enrollment at any time so you can ensure your children have coverage year-round.
- Medicaid – Medicaid is a joint federal and state program that helps cover medical costs for some people with limited income and resources. Medicaid allows enrollment in health insurance during any time of year, provided you qualify.
- Short-Term Health Insurance – health insurance plan with a limited duration, typically several months to a year. These plans are geared toward people who need temporary medical insurance to bridge the gap between longer-term plans. These plans don’t have enrollment periods because the need for this type of insurance is difficult to predict.
It’s important to note that missing the Open Enrollment period without a qualifying life event can result in being without health insurance coverage until the next Open Enrollment period. To ensure you have the coverage you need, carefully review your options and make any necessary changes during the designated Open Enrollment timeframe.
Health insurance providers are committed to helping all Americans make informed health coverage choices for themselves and their families. Open Enrollment is a great time to explore the benefits already available to you in your current plan, including discounts and wellness opportunities that can save you money and keep you healthy.
