Although the edHEALTH Walking Challenge has ended, it’s an ideal time of year to keep your steps up. Walking is healthy, convenient, and boosts your energy and mood. Your activity tracker ...
Read Full ArticleThe edHEALTH Walking Challenge ended Sunday, July 4, but you’ll want to keep walking long after the program’s conclusion. A brisk walk provides multiple benefits according to Harvard Health Publishing:Promotes weight lossReduces stress and tensionPrevents or manages conditions including heart disease, stroke, high blood pressure, cancer, and type 2 diabetesStrengthens bones and musclesImproves muscle endurance, balance and coordinationEnhances cardiovascular fitnessIncreases energy levelsImproves mood, cognition, memory, and sleepStrengthens immune systemOne way to boost these benefits is to work your way up to faster walking. Another option is to practice interval training where you pick up the pace, drop down to a more leisurely pace, and then pick up the pace again. You can use a stop watch or markers on your route, such as the next side street, to keep you on track.See our Share-...
Read Full ArticleDo you want to reduce body fat, increase lean muscle mass, and burn calories more efficiently? Add strength training to your exercise regimen. Lean muscle mass decreases with age and strength training helps you offset this loss. According to Mayo Health, strength training can also help:Increase bone density and reduce risk of osteoporosisLose or manage weightImprove balance and protect joints from injuryReduce signs and symptoms of depression, arthritis, back pain, heart disease, and diabetesImprove thinking and learning skillsYou may think you have to go to a gym to practice strength training. It’s true that if you want to use weight machines or cable suspension training, such as TRX, a gym will have a variety of equipment. However, you also have options at home:Barbells, dumbbells, medicine balls, and kettle balls: Look for sales at a sporting goods store, online, many department st...
Read Full ArticleedHEALTH provides share-it employee engagement communications to help member school employees navigate and maximize their healthcare benefits. Check out these helpful communication tools:2021 Walking Challenge Recap: 2021 Walking Challenge Recap.pdf | Online Version2021 Week 4 Walking Challenge Update: 2021 Walking Challenge Week 4 Update.pdf | Online Version2021 Week 3 Walking Challenge Update: 2021 Walking Challenge Week 3 Update.pdf | Online Version2021 Week 2 Walking Challenge Update: Walking Challenge Week 2 Update.pdf | Online Version2021 Week 1 Walking Challenge Update: 2021 Walking Challenge Week 1 Update.pdf | Online VersionGet Ready to Step it Up - edHEALTH Walking Challenge Begins June 7: Get ready to step it up Walking Challenge Begins June 7.pdf | Online VersionActivity Conversion Chart - Some activity trackers don’t convert all forms of exercise into steps. If you’re b...
Read Full ArticleFind out:How advisors collaborate with the edHEALTH team to identify solutions for their clientsWhy the May 26 Thought Leadership Seminar is a not-to-be-missed eventThe 3 Steps to Find Out How Much Your School Will Save on Employee Health BenefitsWhy COVID-19 mandatory vaccines at colleges and universities are controversial and how our member schools are proceedingRead the May 2021 digital edition of our newsletterDownload the May 2021 edHEALTH newsletter.pdfSubscribe to newsletter
Read Full ArticleSavings Drive Consultant Recommendations to edHEALTHThe primary reason a health insurance consultant recommends edHEALTH to their higher and secondary education clients is when the pricing estimates support the change. Healthcare puts a huge strain on college, university, and private secondary school budgets, which drives up tuition costs. “Higher education is struggling with drops in enrollment and controlling costs is critical,” said Ben Lewis, Partner, Strategic Healthcare Practice Leader, Consiliarium Group, LLC. “Employee compensation and benefit costs represent the lion’s share of college budgets.”Through our purchasing clout, edHEALTH can negotiate lower administrative fees with less healthcare cost volatility than schools can generally realize on their own. The seven-year average health insurance premium increase is 2.9%, well below the industry average of 7.9%. “Self-funding ...
Read Full ArticleThere’s new urgency in finding ways to cut spending at higher education institutions and secondary schools. Compensation and benefits generally comprise at least 60% of a school’s budget; finding ways to reduce employee health insurance costs is an effective strategy for containing costs without sacrificing the quality of your benefits package.edHEALTH’s group purchasing power can generate significant savings on three key components of your employee healthcare benefit costs:Stop-loss coverageAdministrative feesPrescription drug benefits“If schools want to evaluate the potential savings they will realize by joining edHEALTH on January 1, we encourage them to start the process in June,” said Nancy McConaghy, edHEALTH’s Business Development Executive. “This helps ensure a seamless experience for the school, its faculty, and staff.”If your school is not on a January 1 plan year, edHEALTH ...
Read Full ArticleFind out:How to Unlock Additional Savings if You’re a Go-it-Alone Self-Insured Healthcare PurchaserInformation on edHEALTH’s May 26 Thought Leadership SeminarDetails on edHEALTH’s 4th Annual Walking ChallengeHow member school employees can access participating providers nationwideRead the April 2021 digital edition of our newsletterDownload the April 2021 edHEALTH Newsletter.pdfSubscribe to newsletter
Read Full ArticleDid you know that all member school faculty and staff have access to in-network healthcare providers regardless of where they live? Employees enrolled in any of edHEALTH’s PPO options can visit network doctors, hospitals, and other healthcare providers throughout the United States. This benefit is particularly helpful as higher education institutions modify their work-from-home and residency policies.Increase in Out-of-Area EmployeesThe burst in work-from-home arrangements during the pandemic has changed where and how people work – perhaps permanently. PwC’s March 2021 Pulse Survey found that almost a quarter of employees are considering or planning to move more than 50 miles away from the office; this is on top of the 12% of employees who have already made such a move since the start of the pandemic. Additionally, remote work arrangements allow schools to hire staff from further away...
Read Full ArticleWentworth Institute of Technology VP of Finance and Consultant Share Their AdviceSelf-insurance wasn’t a novel approach for Wentworth Institute of Technology’s employee health insurance program. They self-funded the program over twenty years ago, well before it became common practice. “Wentworth had been self-insured for many years before joining edHEALTH,” said Wentworth’s Vice President of Finance and CFO, Bob Totino. “This arrangement saves the school from paying profits on top of claims to the health insurance administrators."On average, compensation and benefits make up 60% of higher education budgets and fiscal departments are keen to find new solutions for reining in costs. "Wentworth Institute of Technology discovered edHEALTH through our participation in The New England Educators Insurance Association (NEEIA), a group of seven private higher educational institutions that coll...
Read Full ArticleFind out:How HR's Role Become More Interesting and Rewarding After Joining edHEALTHWhy it’s a Challenge to Control Rising Healthcare CostsDetails on New Complimentary Lunch and Learn Series for Faculty and StaffHow Football Holds Everyday Lessons for edHEALTHRead the March 2021 digital edition of our newsletterDownload the March 2021 newsletter.pdfSubscribe to newsletter
Read Full ArticleTime – it often seems like there’s not enough of it to get everything we want to do completed. College and university Human Resources departments are especially stretched thin with pandemic-related responsibilities and crises. One area where they don’t have additional worries and tasks is their edHEALTH employee healthcare program. “The amount of work HR departments do when enrolling in – or once they’ve joined – edHEALTH doesn’t increase,” said Cindy Bartelson, edHEALTH’s Operations Manager. “Instead, it’s just different as we assume administrative and troubleshooting tasks and they take on a more strategic role.”edHEALTH helps employees troubleshoot any issues they may have with a plan administrator, which frees HR staff to take on more interesting work. HR staff can also take part in edHEALTH procurements and wellness initiatives. Each school’s HR team decides their level of involv...
Read Full ArticleYou may hear the word “captive” and get nervous. What is it and what’s the risk? Not only are captives not scary, they also provide added value to a go-it-alone self-insured healthcare program according to John Burke, Boston College’s Financial Vice President and Treasurer. A captive is an insurance company that is owned and controlled by its members to insure the risks of its member owners. “As a captive owner, you have input in the direction of the captive including plan design, which is critically important during these challenging times,” says John Burke.Boston College implemented a self-insured employee health insurance program in June of 2009. “Making the transition to a self-insured program can be nerve-wracking for any large or small entity,” said John. “However, the benefits of moving to a self-insured program more than outweigh an entity’s concern.” Although the school was h...
Read Full ArticleEducational institutions with fully insured health insurance arrangements for their employees are leaving money on the table, according to Steven Keshner, Senior Vice President and Chief Actuary with Spring Consulting Group. Moving from a fully insured to a self-insured model creates the lowest possible margin for health plan administration. “By moving from a fully insured to self-insured arrangement, you retain any profits and gain claims transparency so you can bend the cost curve,” said Steven, who leads edHEALTH’s actuarial consulting team.The pandemic has shined a light on the importance of shifting to self-insured arrangements as insurers report record profits due to dramatic drops in healthcare utilization while self-insured purchasers realize lower healthcare spending. A recent Employee Benefit News article authored by the President of MagnaCare concurs: “Self-insured plan arr...
Read Full ArticleInquiring minds want to know: Why is edHEALTH’s stop-loss subsidiary, Educators Health Insurance Exchange, based in Vermont? David White, Vice President for American International Group’s (AIG’s) U.S. Captive Management Services, filled us in. “Vermont was one of the first states in the nation to establish captive-enabling legislation, and as a result, the regulators have deep expertise in the industry,” he said. “Vermont state employees are helpful to the captive industry, offering support, guidance, and a quick turnaround.”Vermont’s responsive and business-friendly philosophy helps promote a captive insurer’s agility. “When a captive wants to make a material change to its business plan, state regulators and captive managers work together to get it done,” said David. New lines of business, changes in investment policy, increased stop-loss limits, and service provider changes all requ...
Read Full ArticleWith compensation and benefits comprising 60% of Salve Regina University’s budget, Vice President for Administration and Chief Financial Officer, William Hall is always evaluating ways to keep costs in check while continuing to attract and retain top-notch faculty and staff. In the late 1990s he moved the health insurance benefits from an insured to a self-insured program where the university takes the responsibility for paying medical claims plus stop-loss to protect against high-cost claims. This approach creates the lowest possible administrative costs and means that the employer isn’t paying profits on top of claims. This was a bold move, especially at the time, as some small colleges and universities worry about the higher risk of a self-insured arrangement.“We were already self-insured and had been pleased with that decision,” said Mr. Hall. “However, healthcare costs were stil...
Read Full ArticleUnder edHEALTH’s captive, member organizations pick their own self-insured retention level based on their risk tolerance, philosophy, financial status, and experience. In addition to the stop-loss coverage schools automatically receive, they can purchase aggregate stop-loss coverage to further protect their risk. Here’s how the risk financing works:If a school picks a Self-Insured Retention (SIR) of $100,000 per claim:The college will pay any single claim up to $100,000.The Educators Health Insurance Exchange captive will pay the next $1-$650,000 for each individual claim from this school.edHEALTH purchases excess protection from a stop-loss insurer. This insurer reimburses edHEALTH for any part of a particular claim that exceeds $750,000.Members work with the actuaries to pick a Self-Insured Retention amount that balances their claims experience with the risk of paying claims and sto...
Read Full ArticleTwenty-two colleges, universities, and educational institutions own Educators Health, LLC (edHEALTH), a healthcare collaborative formed to address rising healthcare costs that were straining school budgets. By bypassing commercial insurers and pooling resources, edHEALTH leverages the combined schools’ purchasing power, thereby saving on healthcare costs for faculty, staff, and family members. But, did you know that edHEALTH’s wholly-owned subsidiary, Educators Health Insurance Exchange, is a group captive insurer?The captive insurance company’s main purpose is to insure its own risk. By joining colleges and universities together as a single purchaser, the schools gain market leverage. The captive manages its own risk through claims management, innovative programs aimed at loss control, and collaboration with strong business partners.Here are the ABCs on how the Educators Health Excha...
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