We made a call for article submissions—and you delivered!
I encourage you to read through our collection of blogs written by some of the brightest and best in our industry. You’ll get expert insight and analysis on everything from healthcare reform to wellness.
We want to thank everyone who submitted and encourage you to contact See First blog if you’d like to host the next edition of Benefits Package.
- There are plenty of reasons why you should be promoting your wellness program to the world. Bob Merberg, on his blog In tEWN, gives you six and then provides some communication tips on how to get the word out.
- Take a look at the challenges to the individual mandate under the Massachusetts universal health care law and to the state law in general. Turns out opponents are making contradictory arguments. David Harlow explains this conflict—which could be a precursor to the national debate—on his HealthBlawg.
- The Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act, signed into law in 2008, went into effect for many plans on Jan. 1, 2011. Carol Harnett, in a blog for HR Executive, reacts to the news that the Screen Actors Guild is dropping its mental-health coverage for its members to avoid the requirements of the new law. She writes why this is a bad idea.
- How do you set apart a good online wellness provider from a great one? You start by asking the right questions. Fran Melmed, on the free-range communication blog, provides this checklist of questions you’ll want to use the next time you’re looking for an online wellness partner.
- Healthcare costs are going up. That’s no secret. But you may not know about the big tax hikes built into the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, writes Hank Stern on the Insureblog in his latest article.
- An Accountable Care Organization and an Alternative Quality Contract are creative ways for providers to align quality and payment, focus on the patient, and move away from the fee-for-service arrangement, writes David Kerrigan in his blog, A Musing Healthcare. But there may be some fallout to these.
- There are a lot of facts and figures floating around on the web—and it’s easy to fall for some of them. David Ballard on the Psychologically Health WorkPlace Program’s blog advises to be skeptical of statistics and claims, which are sometimes deliberately misleading.
- We sure like to complain a lot about our healthcare system. But is it the worst in the world? Evan Falchuk answers this question on his See First blog.
- Accountable Care Organizations are the latest rage in health policy circles, writes Jason Shafrin, on his blog Healthcare Economist. But federal health agencies will need to create waiver programs to address the legal barriers.
- Here’s a startling figure: Despite spending more on employee wellness programs in 2010, only 37 percent of U.S. employers actually bother to measure their program’s effectiveness. John Hollon writes about this and the different perspective global employers have on wellness on TLNT.
- A lot of what healthcare reform proponents call “consumer protections” are actually doing more harm than good, writes Michael Cannon, Director of Health Policy Studies at the Cato Institute, on the Kaiser Health News blog.
