You probably can’t help but notice lately all the reports about the Supreme Court hearings on the Affordable Care Act (healthcare reform). This is a heated topic in the U.S. because the American health care system is almost unique in the extent to which it funnels health spending through employers. While most of the big developed nations use some type of universal single-payer system that socializes health costs across the entire economy, about 60% of U.S. health care spending goes through employers via employer-sponsored medical insurance. So while U.S. employers are heavily impacted by health care expenses, many of those companies’ competitors in the global economy don’t bear those costs.

While I am not commenting either for or against the Affordable Care Act, I wanted to share with you an interesting report about how employers out there feel about it.

The survey, from GfK Custom Research of North America, found that 56% of the 502 privately held companies questioned said they were likely to continue offering their employees health insurance even if the insurance mandate portion of healthcare reform is enacted as planned in 2014. Just 12% said they would be “very” or “somewhat likely” to drop coverage, while about a third said they didn’t know what they’d do.

This is important, because by providing your employees with health insurance, you are privy to much more data about their health (on a macro level, of course, not on an individual level). This provides important information that can guide your investment in employee wellness. After all, if 35% of your employees have diabetes and/or are overweight, you know where you’re going to focus your spending, right?

Also, when you provide the insurance, you also have more control over the quality of that insurance and the care provided. That’s because you can require that health plans and their providers meet certain evidence-based parameters shown to improve health-related outcomes. This, in turn, could keep your costs down by preventing acute exacerbations of chronic conditions like diabetes, asthma, and heart disease that could otherwise be managed.

All is not completely rosy with the employer/healthcare reform dynamic, however. The GfK survey also found that many employers fear that the new law won’t slow cost increases, or might make costs worse. How it will impact U.S. employers will depend partly on the Supreme Court’s Obamacare decision in June. I believe the results could be dramatic for America’s health care system.

Employers’ ability to control costs will depend on two giant decisions. First is the Supreme Court’s ruling on the constitutionality of the individual mandate. If the justices give it a thumbs-down, employers are in a quandary. They like a mandate because it could lower their insurance costs by forcing more people into the risk pool. And in a world where everyone is legally required to maintain insurance, employers may feel less pressure to offer it, and their costs would likely decrease as they encourage more individuals to purchase their own health insurance through the new insurance exchanges. If the mandate is voted down, employers may choose to continue doing what they’ve already been doing—increasing copayments, deductibles, and premiums.

If the mandate is upheld, then everything depends on the second big decision: the voters’ choice in November. A Republican sweep would probably mean Obamacare’s repeal, while a more muddled election result probably wouldn’t.

One part of the law that can help large employers is the medical loss ratio component. This part of the law, which just went into effect, requires that at least 85% of every premium dollar be spent on actual medical or preventive costs, not marketing or administrative costs. Hopefully that will provide some savings. The good news is that if health plans don’t meet the ratios, they are supposed to refund some of the overrun to you, the customer.

So have you figured out your position on healthcare reform yet? Assuming the full force of the Affordable Care Act is implemented, how do you see it affecting your business?

Bob Fabbio
President & CEO
WhiteGlove Health, Inc.

A recent article on WebMD (October 17, 2011), Study: E. coli Found on Cell Phones the Result of Poor Hand Washing, found that 92% of the cell phones tested for the study had bacteria on them, and that 16% of those phones had e. coli bacteria. The studied highlighted that 95% of people say they wash their hands with soap where possible, but the findings suggest otherwise. Another study found that while 95% of people say they wash their hands after using a public toilet, in fact that number is more like 67%

Why do people not wash their hands as often as they should? And conversely, why should they wash their hands more often?

Why Don’t People Wash?
A study reported on in 2007 cited three main reasons that people do not wash their hands: laziness, fear of contamination, and lack of necessity. Many people do not wash their hands in public restrooms because they fear the germs left behind by others more than their own. In the same vein, many say they don’t see the necessity of washing because “germs are germs” and everyone has them.

Why You Should Wash
Frequent hand washing has the potential to save more lives than any single vaccine or medical intervention. It is one of the most effective and inexpensive ways to prevent diarrheal diseases and pneumonia, which cause more than 3.5 million deaths worldwide in children under the age of 5 every year. Good hand washing protects against the spread of many other illnesses, from the common cold, to more serious illnesses like meningitis, flu, and hepatitis A. In fact, one of the most common ways people catch colds is by rubbing their nose or their eyes after the cold virus has gotten on their hands. It is estimated that 80% of all infectious diseases are transmitted by touch.

When should you wash your hands? From the CDC:
• Before, during, and after preparing food
• Before eating food
• Before and after caring for someone who is sick
• Before and after treating a cut or wound
• After using the toilet
• After changing diapers or cleaning up a child who has used the toilet
• After blowing your nose, coughing, or sneezing
• After touching an animal, animal feed, or animal waste
• After touching garbage

What is the right way to wash your hands?
• Wet your hands with clean running water (warm or cold) and apply soap.
• Rub your hands together to make lather and scrub them well; be sure to scrub the backs of your hands, between your fingers, and under your nails.
• Continue rubbing your hands for at least 20 seconds. Need a timer? Hum the “Happy Birthday” song from beginning to end twice.
• Rinse your hands well under running water.
• Dry your hands using a clean towel or air dry.
• Turn off taps with towel.

Washing hands with soap and water is the best way to reduce the number of germs on them. While soap may not kill all viruses, thorough hand washing will decrease the viral counts a point below the infectious threshold.

If soap and water are not available, use an alcohol-based hand sanitizer that contains at least 60% alcohol. Alcohol-based hand sanitizers can quickly reduce the number of germs on hands in some situations, but sanitizers do not eliminate all types of germs.

Hand sanitizers are not effective when hands are visibly dirty.

How should you use hand sanitizer?
•Apply the product to the palm of one hand.
•Rub your hands together.
•Rub the product over all surfaces of your hands and fingers until your hands are dry.

Parents: be sure to keep sanitizers away from young children. It is more than 60% alcohol and can make a young child very ill if ingested.

There is no known cure for the flu, so prevention is your number one defense. Flu viruses are passed along from person to person and surface to surface in the workplace, at home and at school. According to the CDC, people are most contagious almost immediately and for about five days after contracting the flu, meaning that someone around you may spread the flu virus without having any obvious symptoms yet.

A proactive approach to warding off the flu can make your whole life healthier. You can’t cure it, but it is not inevitable.

The best way to avoid flu? A seasonal flu shot or FluMist.
WhiteGlove Health is now offering the 2011-2012 seasonal flu vaccine. Members can either receive a Fluvirin flu shot or intranasal FluMist. Both vaccines are preservative free and cover three seasonal flu strands including the H1N1 virus.

To schedule your flu shot, simply contact WhiteGlove Health in your preferred fashion—online or over the phone, toll free at 1-877-329-8081.

To read about other steps you can take to prevent flu, read our blog article entitled 20 Tips to Prevent Cold and Flu.

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FluMist and Flu Shots are not For Everyone

WhiteGlove Health can schedule flu vaccine visits for members who do not fall into any of the categories listed below.

Flu vaccine (in either form—shot or mist) cannot be administered to the following groups: