edHEALTH at NEEBC Program to Discover New Tools to Manage RiskIt will soon be time to begin planning for 2023 employee total rewards strategies. Employers that are considering a self-insured healthcare arrangement, are self-insured and looking for new solutions to control costs, or want to learn about cost containment levers, will want to make time for the New England Employee Benefits Council’s (NEEBC’s) Risk Management Solutions program.At NEEBC’s Healthcare Risk Management Solutions Program, participants:Learned how the healthcare landscape is changing and why costs will continue to escalate.Heard the pros and cons of health funding arrangements.Discovered cutting-edge risk management levers.Found out how these programs work, when they’re beneficial, and how to access them.NEEBC’s Thursday, December 2, 2021 program took place in a hybrid format.  edHEALTH’s Nancy McConaghy describe...

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Plan Design and Finance Committees Welcome New MembersTwo committees are instrumental for monitoring claims and developing solutions – the Finance/Controller and Plan Design (PDC) committees. Member school representatives, business partners, and the edHEALTH team meet regularly to stay on top of what’s happening for edHEALTH and the healthcare industry at large. The Finance/Controller Committee meets quarterly and the PDC meets monthly during the school year.PDC Kicks off New Year on January 11 with Over 10 New Members HR and benefits representatives from each member institution will kick off the new year on January 11 to begin planning benefit design options for 2023. With industry-wide 2022 projected jumps of 5%, the Committee will be evaluating a range of options to control medical and prescription drug spending. The Committee includes over 10 new member school HR representatives a...

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Three of our higher education institution HR leaders shared how the edHEALTH coalition helped them navigate the pandemic at the October Association for Collaborative Leadership (ACL) Conference. This interactive forum provided a roadmap for other higher education consortiums. Higher education was hit particularly hard during the pandemic, and edHEALTH pivoted from a growth and retention trajectory to collaboratively focus on the needs of our member institutions. edHEALTH’s Tracy Hassett led a discussion that focused on three strategies that helped member schools.1) Collaboration Forums for MembersRecognizing that collaboration between colleges and universities could help HR departments learn from one another, we implemented bi-weekly virtual meetings for member schools toward the end of March 2020. Average attendance ranged from 60-65 people, primarily HR and financial staff along wit...

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Clark University Tops Highest Step School RankingsAlmost 580 faculty and staff from 17 colleges, universities, and secondary schools participated in this year’s edHEALTH “Walk This Way” Walking Challenge. This represented a 28.9% increase in participation over last year. Employees achieved remarkable results over the four-week challenge that positively affect their health and wellbeing:148.5M steps walked, 40.5M more than last yearAverage of 260,407 steps walked per walkerWeekly and Grand Prize WinnersFor every week of the walking challenge, participants were eligible for a “Walk This Way” gift card based on steps walked.5,000 steps per day or 35,000 steps per week - 72 employees received a $50 gift card7,500 steps per day / 52,500 step per week - 70 employees received a $75 gift card10,000 steps per day/ 70,000 steps per week - 70 employees received a $100 gift cardThe top stepper fr...

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Share with Faculty and Staff to Help Overcome Vaccine HesitancyDistribute these helpful videos from the National Alliance of Healthcare Purchasers Coalition to help address employee concerns about COVID vaccines.COVID-19 Vaccines: Informed Decision Making - Informed Decision Making VideoCOVID-19 Vaccines: Get the Facts - Get the facts videoCOVID-19 Vaccines: Get the Facts with Spanish Subtitles - Get the facts with Spanish subtitles videoThe History of Vaccines - The History of Vaccines videoThe History of Vaccines with Spanish subtitles - The History of Vaccines with Spanish subtitles videoTrusting Vaccines - Trusting Vaccines videoTrusting Vaccines with Spanish subtitles - Trusting Vaccines with Spanish subtitles video

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December 2021 | December 2021 edHEALTH Newsletter.pdfHow two edHEALTH committees gain trend perspectives and develop strategies to drive downWhy healthcare costs are rising and discover 3 risk management levers that unlock savingsWhich role Tracy Hassett has assumed on the VCIA boardWhich employee engagement communications are available to help faculty and staff understand and navigate their healthcare benefitsNovember 2021 | November 2021 edHEALTH newsletter.pdfWhy Saint Joseph’s College is a good fit for the captive solutionWhat is Advanced Primary Care and why is it an important healthcare policyWhich carrier Point32Health selected as its national network providerHow edHEALTH helped higher ed HR leaders during the pandemicWhich forums you won’t want to missOctober 2021 | October 2021 edHEALTH newsletter.pdfHow moving to self-insurance and edHEALTH will benefit the College of Holy C...

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From the December 5, 2016 issue of the Boston GlobeBy PRIYANKA DAYAL McCLUSKEY | December 5, 2016The faculty and staff at Olin College of Engineering are getting a rare and unexpected holiday treat this month: a break from health insurance.Olin College officials said they’ve made so much progress in curbing health care costs this year that their employees don’t have to pay any premiums in December.For 96 people who work at the small Needham college, that means extra cash they can use for holiday shopping, or anything else.Olin is one of a dozen local colleges and universities that have teamed up to cut health insurance costs. Instead of buying coverage from insurers, they formed their own insurance company, sharing the costs and risks for their combined 10,000 employees.When those employees stay fairly healthy and medical claims are low, the schools save on insurance costs.The consort...

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From the October 12, 2015 issue of Worcester Business JournalBy SAM BONACCI | OCTOBER 12, 2015One year ago, when Worcester Polytechnic Institute dove into the high-risk, high-reward world of self-insurance, it hoped the gamble would pay off enough to keep tuition in check. Luckily, WPI had friends. WPI joined a new collaborative of colleges and universities – called Educators Health LLC, or edHEALTH – that has allowed small- to mid-sized schools to pool their self-insurance efforts and keep potential outlandish costs in check. The result over that first year was less risk and more savings.Ditching full-coverage from insurance companies is typically a luxury reserved for large companies. Firms like Hopkinton computer giant EMC can customize their coverage while retaining money unspent on claims that would normally be profits for insurance companies. With a large pool of employees, they...

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