During the 18 month study, CMV drivers will also be asked about their attitudes toward onboard monitoring systems; as well as prior experiences and expectations. The in-depth study will be viewing all angles of the situation- the statistics, opinions, and behaviors. Results will incorporate into a broader study on enhancing driver safety and performance.

The outcomes of the FMCSA field study could make a point that provokes positive change in the rate of truck driver distraction, which is more valuable than any advanced technology system.

Pet health care as a benefit is more often than not overlooked, yet proves to be extremely valuable for families with pets and is an innovative way to draw in pet owners as prospective employees.

Offering the same old hat benefits is easy, considering there isn’t a large spectrum of choices in the first place. For a business to offer such a beneficial new advantage is sharp, and can help bring in a new crowd of family oriented employees. For modern U.S families including pets, this benefit can be as helpful as standard health insurance, since it functions the same way.

Most families don’t account for unforeseen pet care issues, just as humans don’t count on disease or accidents; and that is what health care is for after all. So insuring pets just like we insure ourselves is a wise decision which could end up saving pet owners from costly veterinarian fees.

1. A failure of employers to agree to “narrow networks” of providers and thus be able to drive down prices
2. The end of the oversupply of hospital beds
3. Provider clout due to name recognition (only for the “have” hospitals, not the have nots.

Further industry consolidation has taken three main forms over the last few years:

1. Multi-hospital chains are buying more hospitals,
2. Hospitals are employing more physicians directly, and
3. Physicians are consolidating into groups.

Physician consolidation is particularly interesting.  Physicians consolidate not only to gain negotiating leverage, but a larger practice allows for physicians to start performing ancillary services such as labs and imaging.

The corporate in-house medical care is geared to cut absenteeism while reducing employee medical bills, which in turn yields healthier employees that make for a greater workforce. Large companies such as Disney, American Express, and NBC Universal have invested in centers where employees are offered medical care at small costs. The benefits for patients are clear:

• Cost/Time efficient
• Convenient
• Family friendly
• Reduced stress levels

The innovative medical centers do it all- from orthopedics to orthodontics in the same place. Skeptics wonder if quality of care is sacrificed, yet there seems to be a high level of satisfaction in the companies and employees alike. Praveen Samudrala is a software engineer and patient who spoke to LA Times: “It saves me a lot of time,” he said of the health center. “I don’t go to outside doctors anymore.”

Critical illness insurance pays a set amount to insured people when they’re diagnosed with or suffer heart attacks, cancer, strokes, coronary artery bypass surgery, major organ failure, transplants or other specified major medical conditions.           

According to recent statistics, heart attacks, stroke and coronary artery bypass surgery together made up 58% of critical illness claims in 2010.  Cancer accounted for another 35%.  Other condition, including kidney failure and transplants, were responsible for the remaining claims. 

Not only can these illnesses be extremely expensive to treat, there are often significant nonmedical expenses, so even employees with good major medical coverage may be left with large bills unpaid. Voluntary critical illness plans pay benefits directly to the insured individuals, unless they specify otherwise. They can then use the money for nonmedical expenses – such as mortgages, groceries, electric bills, child care, or travel to and from a treatment center – or for uncovered medical expenses, including deductibles, treatment bills, rehabilitation or home health care expenses.           

Without adequate protection, people who suffer a heart attack or stroke, or undergo coronary artery bypass surgery, might have to use their savings or rely on the financial aid of family members to cover their expenses.  In fact, nearly a third of Americans report their family had had problems paying medical bills, with 18% reporting bills in excess of $1,000.  (Kaiser Tracking Poll, 2008) 

A critical illness plan is for survivors. Some people may never be able to return to their old lifestyle, go back to the same jobs or return to work at all.  Instead, they’ll face a new way of life focused on recuperation, recovery and rehabilitation.  Benefits from a critical illness plan can help ease financial worries so they can focus on getting well instead of paying the bills.

• Impulsivity
• Distractibility
• Hyperactivity

Untreated, these symptoms can lead to behaviors linked with addiction, spontaneous outbursts, trouble maintaining focus or organization, restlessness, etc. For the workplace, this can be the determining factor for who may be a fabulous worker to be let go or not. The average adult working a 9-5 job with ADHD could prove to be a struggle as they cope with the symptoms that compete with the typical office environment.

Thankfully, due to its’ recent popularity amongst physicians and recent addition to the DSM IV, there are many ways to treat and calm the symptoms of ADHD and help ease suffering adults into a lifestyle that is easier to cope with.  For work, this may mean a greater sense of self control in the workplace. Parents with ADHD raising a family will also reap benefits from medicine, for instance, by providing a more predictable environment for growing and learning children.

It depends on what you want to measure. When it comes to increasing access to health care, it has been an unqualified success.  According to the Economist, only1.9% of Massachusetts residents were uninsured in 2010.

Massachusetts’ health reform has not been able to offer universal access to health care or to constrain costs. “ One in five working-age adults say they have trouble finding a doctor who will see them…Spending on MassHealth, the program for the poor, rose 40% between 2006 and 2010….average monthly premiums rose by 12% between 2006 and 2008. True, a higher share of firms now offer coverage, but they are also shifting costs for that coverage to employees”

Massachusetts is trying to legislatively block health premium increases.  Reducing health insurance cost, however, will likely drive down provider reimbursement and either increase cost sharing or decrease access to health care.

The key take away from this is the following: “Access to health insurance does not guarantee access to health care.”

            Misconception1: COBRA is no longer required. Some employers have heard, and mistakenly believe, that COBRA is no longer required. This is wrong. The health reform law did not eliminate or change the COBRA rules.

            There’s also a belief that, since there will be no pre-existing condition exclusions for all health plans beginning in 2014 and everyone will be required to have health insurance, nobody will need COBRA. This is a dangerous assumption. Reform did not eliminate the employer-based system of health coverage. As long as there is employer-based coverage, the need for COBRA will continue.

            Misconception 2: Insurance exchanges are the only option. Not true. Health insurance exchanges are one option. Variations will still exist among employer-provided plans.  Furthermore, individual coverage, even through insurance exchanges, is likely to be more expensive and may not be as comprehensive as employer-provided group coverage. Therefore, for unemployed individuals, employment-based coverage through COBRA may be the more desirable option.

            Misconception 3: Exchanges will allow employers to wash their hands of COBRA responsibility. Some employers are looking forward to the day they can send employees who are losing coverage to insurance exchanges instead of offering COBRA. They’ll be surprised to learn that this day will not be coming in the foreseeable future. In fact, exchanges will likely create more of a burden because employers will have to make sure their COBRA programs do not exceed the requirement put for the in the exchanges.

            The requirement, also called the minimum essential coverage provision, sets a minimum baseline of coverage. Specifically, the plan must be “affordable” and provide “minimum value.”  The plan will not be affordable or provide minimum value if the individual’s required contribution toward the plan premium for self only coverage exceeds 9.5% of his household income OR the plan pays for less than 60% on average, of covered health expenses. You’re probably wondering who will be responsible to provide written notifications of these provisions. The employer, of course.

            Also, employers may not impose cost sharing in amounts greater than the current out-of-pocket limits for high-deductible health plans ($5,950 for individuals, $11,900 for families) and they may not impose a waiting period longer than 90 days for health care coverage. If the employer’s existing COBRA plan does not match these requirements, the company will need to adjust accordingly. This will especially impact employers with high turnover, such as restaurants and convenience stores, which often have longer eligibility waiting periods.

Clearly, this country is at the brink of financial apocalypse.  It has been coming for three decades – a convergence of demographics and economics that Congress has failed to prepare for – and its consequences are already starting to be seen.  Call Florida one battleground; there PPACA has been declared unconstitutional in a courtroom and a new Medicaid program is being developed that may no longer rely on or be part of the federal system.  Call Wisconsin a battleground; protestors there clog the streets of Madison about a bill poised to pass that requires state employees to contribute more money to their health and pension programs (but still less than most employees in Milwaukee-area businesses) and to give up collective bargaining (except for wages) that can only be changed at the ballot box.  Those that witnessed the riots in Greece and France over similar issues and thought it could never happen here did not have to wait long to see that, yes, in fact, it could.

All Florida and Wisconsin (and many other states) are trying to do is to balance their budgets.  This is just the proverbial tip of the iceberg:  Budgets will get harder to wrap fiscal arms around in the future, and problem-solving now requires sacrifices that will seem easy compared to what lies ahead if some of these early steps are prevented.

What does this have to do with CLASS?  Everything!  CLASS is a prototypical example of trying to solve a problem without any thought to the long-term financial consequences and what it could ultimately cost 10 or 15 years down the road.  The economic crises of today were sown years ago with programs just like this – short-term gain and long-term disaster.

CLASS is to be funded with employee contributions only – no taxpayer dollars – into something called an Independence Fund.  There is a five year vesting period of paying in (and working for at least three of those five years) before any benefits can be paid out.  The benefits have not been determined yet, nor have the premiums – with one significant exception:  Students and those who earn less than the Federal Poverty Level will pay only five dollars per month for long-term care cash benefits that are guaranteed issue and payable for life as long as one meets the disability definition.

Who will is appeal to? It will appeal to people with medical issues who probably would not qualify for long-term care insurance.

What kind of a pool does this leave?  How can this be reasonably expected to stay financially afloat 10, 15, or 20 years down the road?  And when it collapses, what happens?  Will taxpayers be forced to bail out?  Or will those participating in it for years just get their money back with a good-luck note for their future long-term care needs?  Will these Independence Fund contributors picket the White House, remembering that benchmark year of 2011 when those in Wisconsin exercised the same right?

Insurance agents and brokers are aware that employers are finding it more difficult to offer comprehensive group health care coverage.  New, affordable solutions can fill these coverage gaps – and a group critical illness plan may offer significant help.  Group critical illness insurance provides members and their families with a lump-sum cash benefit when it’s needed most – upon diagnosis of a critical illness.  This cash payment may be used any way an insured sees fit, whether that be paying the mortgage or taking a family vacation.

Although critical illness coverage is gaining awareness, the majority of employers and employees may have never heard of the product.  For those that have, it is often confused with major medical insurance.  Employers are more receptive to making critical illness insurance a voluntary offering once the features and benefits are fully explained.

This product is an excellent supplement to group medical plans as it can be a low-cost solution for both employers and employees.  Employees can enroll in voluntary group critical illness insurance at a low-cost group rate, and employers can provide this coverage at no cost to their business.  An average critical illness insurance plan offering about $20,000 of coverage can greatly supplement gaps in medical plan coverage – especially for those with a high-deductible plan – for just a few dollars a week.