carriers/vendors providing more tools to prevent disease and live healthier life. one such example here; http://bit.ly/a5lPPC

New online tools allow consumers to track health insurance rate hikes: http://bit.ly/a4e3Sy

What is driving health insurance premium increases? Good read: http://bit.ly/aeNMpU.

Good article for detail on preventive care coverage following last post; http://bit.ly/d6daYH

Blue Cross opens network to retail health clinics: convenient, affordable and easy to access: http://bit.ly/deep4r

According to new report, anywhere from one-fifth to nearly one-third of the tests and treatments we get are estimated to be unnecessary and dangerous; http://bit.ly/9vZ8Xe

Health and Wellness

If you are a customer (business or individual) you should be aware of the great tools offered by Blue Shield at no cost to you:

Your employees can turn to Blue Shield's many prevention and wellness programs for additional help in managing their physical, psychological, and lifestyle well-being.

Wellness Discount Programs: As Blue Shield members, your employees receive discounts and access to popular, health-related programs and plans, including Weight Watchers, 24 Hour Fitness, and drugstore.com.

NurseHelp 24/7 (PDF, 62KB): Members can contact an experienced registered nurse for immediate and reliable answers to their health questions 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

LifeReferrals 24/7 (PDF, 108KB): This program offers our members referrals to master's-level counselors and a team of experienced professionals ready to assist them with personal, family, financial, legal, and work-related issues.

Lifepath ResourcesSM offer a variety of professional services that support a healthy lifestyle and informed healthcare decisions. Download the employer brochure (PDF, 87KB) or the employee brochure (PDF, 84KB) to learn more.

Lifepath Decision Guide: Members can research and compare hospitals, treatment options and medications.

Blueshieldca.com: Members, employers, producers and providers can access health and wellness and benefit information at any time. Examples of special services are:

RelayHealth: Members who choose physicians that participate in this program can conduct secure online visits with their doctor and request appointments and referrals.1

Direct-to-Physician: Delivers clinical reminders and patient-specific alerts to physicians.

Healthy Lifestyle Rewards: This interactive, online program is designed to help members and their families adopt and maintain healthy lifestyle behaviors. Learn how to promote Healthy Lifestyle Rewards to your employees.

Prenatal education: New parents can find healthy lifestyle guidance before, during and after pregnancy.

Preventive health guidelines: Members can learn about health screenings, immunizations and other health checkups.

You can find the info here.

wellness, tax credits and other ways to improve your employees health

I keep talking about this as it is central to our message; wellness, prevention and behavioral change is key to keeping your health costs down. However, with small group employers (under 50 employees) there has been no way to see measurable results when implementing such a plan.

We believe those changes are coming. In some states (see below) the conversation is already on the table. I had a discussion last week with Kaiser to see what they are up to. You can see some of it in a post from a few days ago on presenteeism. I admire what they have been doing as it is on the cutting edge of wellness, prevention and developing tools to allow employees access to better care. Aetna and others are doing similar things.

I found this article on Iowa State and some of their discussions for small businesses - highlights:

• Seventy five percent of costs related to health care in the United States can be attributable to chronic disease (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention [CDC], 2003). 
• Behavioral choice is one factor that contributes to the prevalence of these health conditions 
• Investment in wellness programs return $4.91 for every dollar spent
• Small businesses lack the resources to implement wellness initiatives
• Iowa is looking into tax credits for such initiatives
• Qualified wellness initiatives must include assessment, evaluation and education 

 I am particularly excited because we have been talking with our clients and prospects about this and believe that California carriers are moving in this direction. I had several conversations with them over the past two weeks to confirm. Give us a call as we are already doing it. Why not get ahead of the curve?