As premiums continue to rise, small employers are looking for new cost sharing strategies that bridge the gap between company goals and employee satisfaction. High deductible plans are one way purchasers are reducing costs.

As of January, we expect 30% of our membership to be in high-deductible plans. Interestingly the cost-sharing trend is nothing new: over the last five years, we have seen a steady decline in the value of benefits offered across our entire small employer book of business.

This decline is measured by the relative benefit factor, which compares the relative value of benefits to our 15-100 plan (1.0 factor.) From December 2001 through November 2005, the relative value of benefits offered declined by 8%. This is significant considering that in 2001 less than 10% of enrollment was in deductible plans and the vast majority was in the 15-100 plan. Fast forward to November 2005, and 40% of HealthPartners membership has a deductible plan.

This trend is driven primarily by the acquisition of new business rather than renewals. Half of all new groups buy deductible plans. Contrast this with the fact that only 20% of renewing groups even reduce benefits. In addition, on average, the relative value of benefits for new sales is 10 points below that of renewals. One possible explanation is that it’s easier to make significant benefit changes upon carrier change than it is at renewal time.

One strategy brokers are using to ease the cost-sharing transition is to offer multiple benefit designs. By offering a higher cost-sharing plan along side a traditional plan, employers are able to give employees more choice in their health coverage, thus bridging the gap between corporate goals and employee satisfaction

Here’s what your clients will be reading about in this month’s issue of Beyond Benefits.

Nobody engages people to improve their health like HealthPartners. From award-winning Achieve^SM health improvement programs to our proven CareSpan® disease management programs, we deliver better health and better savings to your clients.

And it all starts with the unique way we identify risk early and proactively engage members – with tools like our online health assessment that delivers real ROI.

Now, we’re giving it away at no cost to your clients with Jump Start – coming in February to HealthPartners members. With Jump Start, members take the online health assessment for free to get:

• Their own health potential score
• A personalized action plan with links to HealthPartners programs and services – tailored to meet their health needs and goals
• Free membership in the 10,000 Steps® Program – complete with pedometer and online account to track progress.

Why the Jump Start? Because the savings are real: members who take our health assessment save an average of $54 on annual claims; those that complete the 10k Steps program save $280!

Weight Management – Proper weight management means healthier, happier and more productive employees. HealthPartners offers a variety of health improvement programs to help members achieve and maintain a healthy weight.

Online Tools for Members – At healthpartners.com, members have the tools and resources they need to make informed health care decisions. With HealthPartners, your clients and their employees have the power!

CareSpan – Through early identification of at-risk members and aggressive outreach, our CareSpan programs help prevent health problems from becoming chronic and costly. CareSpan’s ROI ranges from 1.1-1.5:1 (diabetes) to 3.0:1 (congestive heart failure).

Click here for a copy of Beyond Benefits.

It’s been only three months since HealthPartners started selling in Wisconsin and we’ve already signed up more than 4,000 new members!

Our latest big news is that the City of Superior has selected a self-insured medical plan – thanks to the support of Sherri Freeman at Holden Insurance Agency, that is.

“HealthPartners was the obvious choice for City of Superior,” Freeman said. “The price was right and we’re confident HealthPartners will provide the kind of service our client and its employees demand.”

We’ve also seen growth in Greater Minnesota adding nearly 15,000 brokered members in the last 12 months. With the continued expansion of our network in both Minnesota and Wisconsin, we’re even better positioned to serve your clients.

Thank you for supporting our growth in Greater Minnesota and Wisconsin!

The new 10-week FSA grace period can be a great advantage for your clients if they plan carefully and accordingly. The IRS has recently issued some options for employers who want to offer an HSA with a compatible FSA grace period — permitting employees to make HSA contributions right from the beginning of the year.

HSA law specifies that to be eligible to contribute to an HSA, a person cannot be enrolled in another health plan — including a general purpose FSA. Therefore, if enrolled in a general purpose FSA that has a grace period, no HSA contributions may be made until after the grace period. For example, on a calendar year FSA plan that allows a grace period through March 15, no HSA contribution can be made until April. This presents obvious concerns for employees moving to an HSA plan.

Here’s what your clients need to know to ensure a smooth implementation:

If your client has an HSA, or is thinking of purchasing one, they will need to amend their cafeteria plan document to automatically convert their general purpose FSA during the grace period into one of the following:

• A limited purpose FSA (for vision, dental and preventive care expenses only)
• A post-deductible FSA (for reimbursement/payment for high-deductible health plan out-of-pocket expenses after the annual deductible for the HDHP has been satisfied)
• A combined limited purpose and post-deductible FSA

A recent HealthPartners Research Foundation study found that inactive older adults who increased their physical activity to at least 90 minutes per week experienced an average of $2,000 less in medical expenses the following year.

To help our Medicare members get active in 2006, we offer the “Freedom Frequent Fitness” program, which has all the features of our traditional Frequent Fitness program – and more! Members simply need to work out eight times per month to receive FULL reimbursement on their portion of their membership dues at Northwest Athletic Club or Twin Cities YMCA.

Medicare members who have HealthPartners Freedom Plan II or Freedom III are eligible for this new fitness program although additional restrictions apply. If the Freedom Plan name isn’t ringing a bell, the name of HealthPartners 65+ products — including 65+ w/Rx, 65+ w/Open Access, and 65+ w/Rx Open Access — changed to “HealthPartners Freedom Plan” effective January 1, 2006. Most members on the 65+ products are on the Freedom Plans as of that date, but not all. Several groups will be staying on the 65+ products until their renewal dates.

To learn about this program’s rules and restrictions please review our Freedom Frequent Fitness FAQs or contact your HealthPartners Sales Executive.

Your clients probably wish their employees didn’t have to leave work for routine doctor visits. Now HealthPartners covers e-visits from select network providers for fully and self-insured commercial business as the second phase of an e-visit pilot program.

This new pilot will help us evaluate e-visit impact upon cost, quality, productivity and satisfaction. Initial pilots conducted at HealthPartners Clinics and other participating provider groups indicate the volume of e-visits is typically very small, with a handful of patients using the service. We also learned that e-visits did not represent duplication of service.

In phase two, we expect low volume with early adopters being consumers interested in greater convenience and enhanced provider communications. Regular office visit co-pays, deductibles or co-insurance apply to e-visits. As a part of the e-visit provider registration process, members will be alerted to any cost sharing requirements so that they have a full understanding prior to receiving their e-visit.

We’ll be reporting back on the findings from this pilot later in the year. For more information, including a list of participating providers, click here.

We’re ringing in the New Year with an orthodontic discount that‘s sure to make your clients smile! That’s if they have a HealthPartners Dental Plan, of course.

With the average orthodontic bill approaching $5,000, our new 20% discount provides a significant savings to your clients’ employees. This benefit is available on all HealthPartners dental products – even those without orthodontic coverage. This benefit alone is worth the cost of a dental plan!

Members can go to any of Orthodontic Care Specialists’ 19 metro locations to get started on a new smile. This discount applies to all care started after January 1, 2006.

Tell your clients about this new value-added benefit today. To learn more please contact your HealthPartners Sales Executive.

We’ve been providing dental coverage in Minnesota for more than 30 years. Now we’re offering that same high level of coverage and service to your Wisconsin-based clients.

Wisconsin Employer Sponsored Open Access Dental plan features:

• Eligibility – available for groups with 5 or more employees
• Participation – 50% of all eligible employees
• Choice – your clients’ employees have the freedom to see any dentist they choose
• Savings – deep discounts and no balance billing when members visit a dentist in our PPO network
• Convenience – automatic claim reimbursement when paired with our Empower^SM FSA
• Flexibility – various plan options to meet client requirements
• Affordable – offers the rate stability of a large claims pool
• Orthodontics – All-ages $1,200 orthodontic benefit automatically included

Click here for plan pricing.

For more information on these plans or our new Voluntary Plans contact your HealthPartners Sales Executive.

Do you know where your clients will be January 31? We do! They’ll be attending HealthPartners Medical and Dental Benefit Managers Orientation for December 1 effective and renewal dates. During the orientation, we will provide plan administration information, review key topics such as claims processing, membership tracking, pharmacy administration and customer service as well as highlight the many benefits and services HealthPartners provides.

Contact your HealthPartners Sales Executive for additional information.

A bigger network is better – more access for members, more satisfaction for employers and more sales for you. In the past year, we’ve added more than 500 clinics and 3,000 providers to our network. Our Open Access network now includes nearly 27,000 providers regionally, including 12,000 specialists. This means our Open Access network rivals Blue Cross’ Aware network, which claims to include 96% of health care providers in the state. Our recent additions include:

• Fergus Falls Medical Group, Fergus Falls
• Lake Region Hospital, Fergus Falls

• Superior Health Medical Group
• OakLeaf Medical Network

• Martha B. Baker, Edina
  

If you hold a Wisconsin Producer's License, please fax a copy of your renewed license to Arlene Webb at 952-883-5260 or Arlene.A.Webb@HealthPartners.com. Thank you!

Important Contacts
Our Group Medical Plans
Our Group Dental Plans
Our Achieve ^SM Health Improvement Programs
Our CareSpan ^SM Disease Management Programs
Direct Connect to Broker Portal
Network Updates