Tag Archives: healthcare

Introducing VIVITY: Revolutionizing Healthcare for SoCal Small Groups

Are you ready for a game-changing healthcare experience that puts affordable, high-quality care within reach? Look no further than VIVITY, the groundbreaking health insurance product brought to you by Anthem Blue Cross. We are thrilled to unveil this innovative solution that offers premium savings of up to 22% compared to Anthem’s FULL HMO plans on average. With VIVITY, your journey to exceptional care begins now!

What is VIVITY?

VIVITY brings together the expertise of Anthem along with seven world-class healthcare systems, forging a unique partnership with one mission in mind: delivering outstanding healthcare. Say goodbye to compromise and hello to a seamless and engaging member experience. VIVITY is designed to provide affordable, top-notch care with concierge coordinated service, making healthcare accessible and convenient for Southern California Small Groups. And guess what? This means significant savings for your company!

Why choose VIVITY?

Let us tell you about the exciting benefits that await:

1. Affordable Savings

VIVITY takes the lead when it comes to cost advantage. You can expect savings of up to 22% compared to Anthem’s FULL HMO plans on average. Plus, your employees can enjoy high-quality healthcare without breaking the bank. It’s a win-win for everyone!

2. Exceptional Care

VIVITY is not your ordinary health insurance plan. It’s a joint venture with seven renowned healthcare systems that are globally recognized for their exceptional care. With this powerful partnership, you can rest assured knowing that you’ll receive the highest standard of medical services and treatments, all under one comprehensive plan.

3. Regional Focus

VIVITY is tailor-made to cater to the needs of Southern California Small Groups. They understand the unique challenges and requirements of this region, and have strategically focused their efforts to provide you with the best possible care at an affordable price. Prepare to witness significant savings for your business!

What sets VIVITY apart?

This is not just another run-of-the-mill insurance plan. VIVITY represents a true breakthrough in pricing, offering one of the first significant premium reductions in many years. It’s time to take advantage of this game-changing opportunity and put your healthcare savings into high gear.

VIVITY is all about creating a seamless and engaging member experience, ensuring that you receive affordable, high-quality care with concierge coordinated service. It is designed to make healthcare accessible and convenient for Southern California Small Groups, because we believe that exceptional care should be available to everyone, regardless of their budget.

To showcase the strength and expertise behind VIVITY, we proudly introduce our seven award-winning partners:

Cedars Sinai
Huntington Hospital
Providence
Memorial Care
PIH Health
Torrance Memorial
UCLA Health

These renowned healthcare systems have joined forces to deliver an unparalleled healthcare experience that sets a new standard in the industry. They’re breaking barriers and transforming the way you think about health insurance.

Ready to learn more about how VIVITY can significantly reduce your healthcare insurance premiums? Don’t hesitate to reach out to us at marketing@corpstrat.com or call us at 818-377-7260. We’re here to answer any questions and guide you through the exciting possibilities that await with VIVITY.

How to Encourage Employee Healthcare Comparison Shopping

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It’s a tough time for a lot of people out there: inflation is driving up the cost of everything from food to gas and your employees are feeling the sting. But even if this is the case, most Americans don’t realize they can comparison shop to make sure they’re getting the best price for their healthcare services. A survey from AKASA, a healthcare artificial intelligence company, revealed that nearly two-thirds (64%) of Americans have never tried to find the price of a specific healthcare service.

Paying more for healthcare doesn’t necessarily mean higher quality service or better outcomes. This is why shopping around for healthcare is so important, it can result in cost savings for both employees and employers. Today we’re going to talk about strategies employers can use to encourage employees to shop for high-value healthcare, which can help lower your organization’s health care costs.

1. Educate Employees

One of the first steps in helping encourage employees to shop around for healthcare is education. Employers have a unique opportunity to provide data and information to help employees understand the savings potential of healthcare comparison shopping.

Specifically, employers can help employees understand price variation and explain how to best shop around. According to Healthcare Bluebook data, U.S. healthcare prices vary an average of 650% for the same procedure. That’s a huge variance.

Additionally, the federal government has started increasing price transparency for health care services, which can help with comparison shopping. For example, new rules require hospitals to post pricing online for various services and procedures. Starting next year, health insurers must share their negotiated prices with the public. So, as health care pricing gets more transparent, employers can really help employees better understand these price lists.

2. Provide Transparency Tools

Employers can direct employees to user-friendly tools that break down pricing. Employers should connect with their benefits partners to understand what resources and transparency tools are already available for their employees. Some of these you’re already paying for but aren’t utilizing. There are also state-sponsored resources that offer tools to help consumers compare hospitals, health care facilities, and other providers in their state.

It’s essential to explain that if high healthcare costs are left unchecked, employees may experience reduced benefits or increased employee cost sharing. Of course, savings can help the organization, but it’s important to highlight how employees individually benefit.

3. Incentivize Behaviors

Another way to help make healthcare shopping top of mind for employees is to create rewards for certain consumer behaviors. Employers can create incentives for employees that use employer-provided price transparency tools to comparison shop for services and procedures.

Some employers may offer cash incentives, while others offer wellness program points. For example, wellness points could be redeemed for health savings account contributions or reduced cost sharing. As with any organizational initiative, employers should consider making it fun. Gamification (e.g., point scoring and social connection) can help facilitate friendly competition and increase employee engagement and motivation.

Conclusion

Healthcare costs are undeniably going to continue rising. Employers will need to take proactive approaches to reduce these costs. They have an opportunity to make employees feel empowered to take charge of their health and actively comparison shop for quality healthcare at the best price. A mix of education, provision of tools and incentivization may be the magic combination to help change employees’ health care shopping behaviors.

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If you’re interested in learning more about this, give us a call. We’re here to help.

What Can You Do about Rising Healthcare Costs?

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Healthcare costs are rising. Experts are predicting a 5-7% increase by the end of 2022.

Over the last couple of years during the pandemic, most people deferred health care services. Elective treatments like knee surgeries or hip replacements were either postponed by their doctor or hospital or were cancelled by the employee. Combined with the early part of the pandemic when the federal government was paying for all COVID related claims, taking employees off the liability of the insurance company, you now start to see why we’re seeing a humongous increase in consumption of healthcare across the country. Government’s no longer paying for COVID and people are beginning to access care they’d previously put off.

This increase in health insurance premiums is happening at exactly the wrong time, as employers are trying to attract and retain talent in one of the tightest labor markets ever. So, what can you do as an employer who’s looking to balance the rising costs of healthcare with wanting to provide rich benefit programs to attract and retain your staff?

Here are four strategies we think should be considered:

1. Partial Self Funding

Take a fresh look at partial self funding. This is a newer approach in California and they’ve traditionally been limited to larger employers, but they’re now being offered to companies with as low as 25 employees. In these programs, employers and the insurance company agree to share in the basic cost of care and administration, with the opportunity to reduce claims and save money. These are a great option for employers who are interested in being proactive in helping their employees be healthy, stay healthy, and manage their health.

2. Newer Companies in the Marketplace

A new insurance company has come into the marketplace and has really a different approach to offering healthcare; we think it’s what the future of healthcare looks like in this country. It may not be for everybody but for the right employer, this could be a great fit. Learn more about it here.

3. High Deductible Health Plans

HSAs and high deductible health plans, as they are referred to, are currently being used by almost 50% of employees across the nation. On the surface, these plans might seem unattractive in a tight labor market because they come with $4-5K deductibles. But there are a lot of different strategies out there an employer can put in place that can soften those deductibles. They can also put in other benefits to make up the difference, contact us to learn how.

4. Wellness Programs

No matter what industry you’re in, what size your company is, or what demographic you employ, integrating wellness programs is going to impact your population both culturally and physically. In the long run, this is going to provide more opportunities for your company to potentially leverage wellness as a cost savings tool as health plans evolve. Currently, insurance companies are talking about changing health plans to include lower rates if companies include a wellness program. It hasn’t been implemented yet but it’s on the horizon.

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Early indications are that we could see increases of up to 20% in both the employer and individual market in the coming year. That’s a huge cost. So, don’t have this conversation at renewal when you’re staring at a 20% rate increase, trying to figure out what to do. Have the conversation now so you’re working with someone you can trust who knows the market well and has a solid strategy going into the renewal.

If you’re interested in some new ideas in healthcare, consult with us today to learn more about how we can make these plans work for you and your budget. Email us at marketing@corpstrat.com or give us a call at (818) 377-7260 today.

Silicon Valley Attempts To Disrupt Healthcare

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Will Apple, Google, and Amazon be successful in disrupting the healthcare industry?

Some of the biggest and most famous brands in America are making big bets on health care. The blue chips of Silicon Valley — Amazon, Apple, Google, Uber, and JP Morgan— have announced in the past several weeks they’re interested in disrupting an industry that has challenged us with rising costs and inefficiencies for decades.

None of these companies appear to be competing directly with each other, (at least not yet). Some are focusing, for now, on helping their own workers with better health care administration and improving their employees’ health and establishing their own clinics. Others are testing the waters to collaborate with existing health insurance companies. Another is diving headlong into its new venture, ready to go toe-to-toe with the current top dogs in their field.

But taken all together, these ventures span much of the health care food chain, from insurance to distribution. They all share the goal of lowering costs, whether by more administrative efficiency, by encouraging better health, or by simply underselling the existing market. Yet, disrupting American health care won’t be simple, but they have a head start.

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Ensure That Your California Business Is Compliant

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Proposed HR Compliance Laws

California law makers are currently reviewing several proposed laws that effect employers of all sizes (and not necessarily in a good way.) The following laws are likely to become effective within the next 12 months.

Paid Sick Leave Expansion (AB 2841) – This bill would expand the current paid sick leave law on the books per county to 10 days (80 hours) of paid sick leave.

Employment Protection for Medical Marijuana Users (AB 2069) – This bill would amend the Fair Employment and Housing Act to make it an unlawful employment practice for an employer to take adverse action against an applicant or employee. All because of a positive drug test for marijuana (by a medical marijuana cold holder) or because of one’s status as a medical marijuana card holder.

[An employer may still discipline an employee for being under the influence while working or being on the employer’s property. Key change relates to the area of employee accommodations. Exceptions would be made from employers who would lose a license or monetary benefit under federal law.]

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