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.

WhiteGlove is breaking the healthcare cost trend for our member companies.

Here’s how we do it:

• Cap medical services and prescription medication costs that are within the scope of our services;
• Do not file insurance claims for any of our visits or the generic prescription medications that we prescribe;
• Eliminate between 68% to 75% of the expensive urgent care and emergency room use for primary care by their employees;
• Reduce the number of times employees are absent from work for medical matters (for themselves or family members);
• Lower the likelihood of large surprise claims hitting the employer’s health insurance plan.

For self-insured organizations, this translates into significant savings for both the employers and their employees and dependents and increased employee productivity.

We turn the unpredictable and variable expense for employers and employees/dependents into predictable, fixed expense.

And it comes with a huge bonus: since WhiteGlove will save your employees time and money they will love the benefit! Our current members rave about the service they receive from WhiteGlove. (Check out or Member’s Reviews page on our blog.)

With more than 600,000 members from over 400 employers, see how WhiteGlove is breaking the healthcare cost trend.

Email me directly and I will set you up with with one of our business managers in your area so you can learn how to break your cost trend and give your employees a benefit they will love. No sales person will call. (grin)

Let us help you break the rising healthcare cost trend for your business.

John McElhenney
Director of Social Marketing – WhiteGlove

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Recent studies have indicated that the two most common strategies that employers use (with input from their brokers or benefit consultants) to try to lower their healthcare costs are:

1. Plan redesign to shift more of the cost to the employees;
2. Wellness/preventative programs to try to lower the utilization;

When you boil it down, basically employers are hoping that their employees and dependents seek medical care less and when they do, they have pushed more of the cost onto them.   In spite of all the time and effort that employers spend on an annual basis with their brokers or benefit consultants to deploy these two strategies, most employers healthcare cost trend continues to increase.  In fact, history has shown that their cost trend has continued to rise by double-digit growth over the last five years with no end in sight.

With the healthcare cost trend estimated to increase by 9% this year, not including the additional cost associated with healthcare reform, simply redesigning your health plan to minimize utilization or shift more cost to your employees will not work.   The reason for this is simple. Our healthcare delivery system that you access to through your insurance network in America is too inefficient and costly.  And that is what needs to be fixed!

WhiteGlove is a new, innovation healthcare delivery system that is able to provide the same medical services and Rx medications for Primary and Chronic Care in a much more cost effective and efficient manner and thus pass the savings onto you — to break your cost trend and improve your employees productivity!   All the while, your employees and dependents enjoy a much higher quality healthcare experience!    Check out Member’s Review page and see what people are saying.

With WhiteGlove’s innovative business model and it’s significant reliance on advanced technology, we are able to provide medical care and Rx meds to your employees and dependents, at a fraction of the cost of the current healthcare delivery system available to you through your insurance network.   And we can prove it.

Give us a call to learn more as to how you can finally take control of your healthcare spend. [corporate contact form]

Bob Fabbio
CEO - WhiteGlove House Call Health

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