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The Benefits and Wellness Bulletin (BWB) is dedicated to helping you explore new ideas around wellness and benefit offerings. If you are not an ASHHRA member, please check out the benefits here and consider joining ASHHRA here. 
FROM ASHHRA
Dear Health Care Executives:
For many of you it is open enrollment time again. You are probably inundated with a plethora of questions around changes to benefit offerings and helping employees to best understand how to utilize their benefits to aid in their daily lives. In this edition of the ASHHRA Benefits and Wellness Bulletin (BWB), we provide a spotlight on concepts that will work for you and your organizations, improving the life and the wellbeing of you and your employees. As a professional society we will continue these efforts each month. If you find something of interest here, then we have done our jobs. We hope that you find we inspire you to think out of the box and continue to serve your employees, thus enhancing the patient experience. ASHHRA promises that we will continue to focus on being your trusted and dependable resource, offering quality services that help you develop in your health care HR role. We want each of you to feel that by joining ASHHRA you have made a wise investment in your dollars. ASHHRA appreciates your dedication to the health care human resource profession, and we will continue to improve in assisting you in the way you do your work. Please feel free to email me at sdrake@aha.org for any reason — we are here to serve you, our valued members. Sincerely, Stephanie H. Drake ASHHRA Executive Director BENEFITS
By Erin O'Connor
For the past seven years, Cammack LaRhette Consulting has conducted the largest and one of the most comprehensive surveys of employer-sponsored health plans in the health care industry. The survey examines both medical and prescription drug benefits offered by hospitals in New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut. While complete findings are only offered to survey participants, Cammack did release select 2012 results to the public at the end of August. By Ed Bray, J.D.
Up until a few months ago, I worked as a director of compliance for a health and welfare benefits consultancy. As part of my job, I would have frequent conversations with external counsel, especially regarding ERISA and Section 125. Whenever I would speak to one attorney in particular, Marilyn Monahan of Monahan Law Office, we always seemed to get off on a tangent about why so many employers aren’t compliant in a few key areas. Here are our top three employee benefits legal areas where we see employers out of compliance the most often. SOURCE: EMPLOYEE BENEFIT NEWS By Jason Hammersla
The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) is a large and complex statute, involving many new responsibilities for employers and other stakeholders. Given that reality, the U.S. Treasury Department and Internal Revenue Service (IRS) have, overall, done a commendable job helping employers and others understand and comply with the law's requirements," Seth Perretta, a partner at the firm of Crowell & Moring, told a U.S. House of Representatives Ways and Means Oversight Subcommittee panel Sept. 11. SOURCE: AMERICAN BENEFITS COUNCIL With key provisions of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010 (PPACA) now in effect for more than a year, Truven Health Analytics, formerly the Healthcare business of Thomson Reuters, has assembled a compendium of data tracking the effects of reform and other industry trends on employer health-care costs.
SOURCE: WORLD AT WORK By James Werner
Are you ready for a harsh dose of reality? At their current rate of savings, most of your employees will be unable to retire comfortably and independently at the age of 65. It’s a good thing that I’m not a politician. If I were, I’d be thrown out of office for telling the truth. At the end of the day, however, the math is unavoidable. Let’s start with what it actually takes to retire. SOURCE: TLNT By Kaiser Family Foundation, NORC at the University of Chicago, and Health Research & Educational Trust
This annual survey of employers provides a detailed look at trends in employer-sponsored health coverage, including premiums, employee contributions, cost-sharing provisions, and other relevant information. The survey continues to document employer's implementation of health reform with question on the percent of firms with grandfathered health plans and enrollment of adult children due to the new health reform law. SOURCE: KAISER FAMILY FOUNDATION By Alicia Caramenico
While the ultimate fate of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act rests on the November election, healthcare leaders say efforts to prevent readmissions, foster communication and enhance preventive care will continue, regardless of the outcome. SOURCE: FIERCE HEALTHCARE By Steve Blakely & Nevin Adams
While thousands of smartphone applications (or "apps") have been developed to help people spend money, a new one has been developed to help Americans save: The Ballpark E$timate iPhone App. Available online, the Ballpark E$timate® has long helped millions of Americans quickly identify approximately how much they need to save to fund a comfortable retirement. The Ballpark E$timate® takes complicated issues like projected Social Security benefits and earnings assumptions on savings, and turns them into language and mathematics that are easy to understand. SOURCE: EMPLOYEE BENEFIT RESEARCH INSTITUTE By Karrie Andes
For the second year in a row, PGi has made the top 100 list of America’s Best Adoption-Friendly Workplaces by the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption. We’re especially honored to be ranked No. 1 in the communications and telecommunications industry category for 2012. The Foundation’s website provides free adoption resources, adoption kits for domestic and foster adoption, as well as testimonials. I’m especially fond of the Foundation’s Unadoptable is Unacceptable video. The Foundation provides Wendy’s Wonderful Kids grants to public and private adoption agencies. SOURCE: EMPLOYEE BENEFITS NEWS By Kathleen Koster
Employers that provide and market comprehensive benefits packages improve employee performance and productivity, attract new workers and boost worker job satisfaction. SOURCE: EMPLOYEE BENEFITS NEWS By Steve Blakely & Paul Fronstin
Satisfaction levels are rising among people enrolled in "consumer-driven" health plans, while they are declining among those in traditional health plans, according to a new report by the nonpartisan Employee Benefit Research Institute (EBRI). SOURCE: EMPLOYEE BENEFIT RESEARCH INSTITUTE U.S. workers rank choosing health-care benefits as the second most difficult major life decision behind saving for retirement, according to Aetna's Empowered Health Index Survey.
SOURCE: WORLD AT WORK By Victoria Stagg Elliott
When it comes to flexible scheduling, young physicians and many medical practices appear to agree on at least one thing: Both find advantages to the four-day workweek. Squeezing full-time work hours into four rather than five days is the most important flexible scheduling possibility when residents and fellows consider practice opportunities, according to a survey released Aug. 17 by Cejka Search, a physician placement firm based in St. Louis. SOURCE: AMERICAN MEDICAL NEWS WELLNESS
By Justin Bellante
Like the parable of the cobbler’s children going without shoes, many of today’s hospitals are so focused on providing quality patient care that they overlook the needs of their own employees. They understand the importance of prevention and early detection, but it’s difficult to ensure that employees receive the same health screening services that they recommend for their patients. That’s why Huntington Hospital, a 625-bed, not-for-profit hospital in Pasadena, California, chose to outsource health screening and wellness services to third-party wellness vendors that can spearhead the entire process and maintain the confidentiality of employee results. By Jay Greene
An increasing number of hospitals in Southeast Michigan are growing their own produce for patients and selling healthy food through farmer’s markets on their campuses. Experts say that 80 percent of chronic disease, including cardiovascular disease, diabetes and cancer, can be prevented, or conditions can be improved, through better diet and exercise. The latest health care facility to offer fresh produce is Henry Ford West Bloomfield Hospital. The nonprofit hospital hired a resident farmer and this week opened a new 1,500-square-foot greenhouse to grow organic produce for patients on its 160-acre campus in Oakland County. SOURCE: CRAIN’S DETROIT BUSINESS By Nicholas Tolson
HR managers are often confounded when their wellness programs experience less-than-expected employee engagement, but they should take heart — engagement can be a fickle metric. Employees sign up and start with enthusiasm, only to steadily decline. Once in decline, trying to lure an employee back into the fold can be tricky. In our experience, HR managers’ first reaction is to offer more wellness options, but this is not answer. SOURCE: TLNT By Sandra Diamond Fox
In a back stairwell of New Milford Hospital on late afternoons and early evenings, employees Henry Rappoli and Joseph Betkoski can be found racing each other up several flights of stairs. The men, who jokingly refer to themselves as "the bad boys of the second shift," race as part of a friendly competition in a program called "Your Wellness, Your Rewards." The program, which recently marked its one-year anniversary, is open to employees of the Western Connecticut Health Network, parent organization of Danbury Hospital, New Milford Hospital and other affiliates that serve Western Connecticut and New York. SOURCE: NEWSTIMES.COM By Karen Cheung-Larivee
Like a forgotten New Year's resolution, employee wellness sometimes gets pushed to the bottom of the strategic plan. But it's time to move wellness from a nice-to-have to a must-have. Speaking with one of the pioneers in the employee wellness movement, Cleveland Clinic, and hearing from readers about the topic confirms my belief that employee wellness has a domino effect — overall better care for individuals, improved care for populations and, of course, cost savings. SOURCE: FIERCE HEALTHCARE By Rheana Murray
Work-related stress increases employees’ risk of heart disease and even related deaths, according to a new study. The risk is especially great for workers who have little control over their stress levels — a retail employee who has no idea what to expect before a mass of people show up to shop, for example. "Job strain is composed of two things," Professor Mika Kivimaki of the University College of London told the Daily News. "One, you have lots of demands, a heavy work load. The other is how much control you have over that. Stress is more common in lower positions than among those who are on the top, who have more authority and control." SOURCE: NEW YORK DAILY NEWS By Michelle Breidenbach
When St. Joseph’s Hospital banned smoking from campus, some employees turned Kat Gridley’s front yard into the new smoking lounge. Gridley lives on Prospect Avenue, across the street from the emergency room entrance and a big yellow sign that says there is no smoking along the street, grounds and sidewalk. "For everyone’s health," the sign says. SOURCE: THE POST-STANDARD By Rebecca Vesely
Health programs get off the ground internationally, but local conditions can create challenges. SOURCE: WORKFORCE By Alina Konevski
Most of us sit at a computer all day, often leading to poor health — a problem that AHS has decided to take seriously. Alberta Health Services launched the Workplace Wellness Program last May to encourage businesses and organizations in Grande Prairie to take a hand in their employees’ wellness. Six are taking part in a pilot. "Albertans spend a lot of time at work each and every day," said Stephen Lockwood, new chairman of the AHS board. "There’s not just 8-hour days. There’s 9-hour days, 12-hour days." SOURCE: GRANDE PRAIRIE DAILY HERALD-TRIBUNE By Rebecca Birchler
"I am a huge believer that your health is everything — that taking care of it helps your mental status," said Kathy Eaton, standing in the hallway of The Women's Hospital, dressed in hairnet and scrubs in preparation for the lunch-time rush. Eaton's enthusiasm for health and wellness bubbles over as she talks about her 10 years in the nutrition department. Now a Nutritional Lead at the Deaconess Hospital facility, Eaton appreciates that her employer allows her to bring her passion for health to work. SOURCE: THE COURIER & PRESS By Alicia Caramenico
Wellness programs lead to employee engagement and cost savings, prompting more hospitals to incorporate employee wellness into their strategy to control future healthcare costs. And with research showing hospital employees have higher healthcare costs than the general population and are less healthy, hospitals are looking beyond simple "no smoking" policies to create healthier campuses for their employees, as well as patients and visitors. SOURCE: FIERCE HEALTH CARE By Marie Gilbert
It's not a typical 9-to-5 job. Instead, it's one that encompasses life-threatening injuries and illnesses, families who need comfort during difficult times, tight schedules, long hours, high expectations, sirens and emergencies. Each day can bring new stresses, accompanied by migraines, difficulty sleeping and changes in attitudes and behavior. Hospitals are busy, demanding places and Meritus Health Medical Center is no exception. But for a few minutes each day, employees can surrender their beepers, iPhones, laptops and stethoscopes and walk into a world of tranquility. SOURCE: THE HERALD-MAIL By Robin Gibson
What do you associate with a visit to the hospital? Maybe having your appendix removed, or getting stitches in the emergency room, or shakin' it in your weekly Zumba class. Wait .... Zumba? Amid its focus on providing health care, IU Health Ball Memorial Hospital's Fitness Center is intended to promote the fitness aspect of wellness, not only for the facility's employees but also for members of the public who take advantage of the chance to join in the low-cost classes offered there. SOURCE: THE STAR PRESS By John Lundy
A coalition of doctors, nurses and other interested parties is calling on Minnesota’s hospitals to eliminate sugary beverages, serve locally produced food and promote breast-feeding. "What we’re finding is most clinicians are spending their time counseling patients on how to reduce weight," said Jamie Harvie, executive director of the Duluth-based Institute for a Sustainable Future and one of the organizers of the effort. "Then they go out in the halls and see the vending machines and the candy machines." SOURCE: DULUTH NEWS TRIBUNE By Susan Ladika
As more employers embrace a culture of workplace wellness, farmers markets are sprouting in offices in the U.S. One such organization is the University of Alabama at Birmingham, which has a farmers market set up nearly year-round at various campus locations. "It has to be easily accessible so we can meet all of our employees where they are," says Lauren Whitt, the university's wellness coordinator. SOURCE: WORKFORCE 
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