‘Everything you ever wanted to know about private exchanges’—One of 3 things you need to know this week in employee benefits

HRE offers exhaustive list of considerations and questions for employers regarding private exchanges

If you’re thinking about moving toward a private exchange model for health benefits, a recent column on HRE Online offers a comprehensive list of what you need to consider. Written by our good friend and trusted partner Carol Harnett, the column recounts highlights from a panel discussion she led this spring at the Health & Benefits Leadership Conference.

• What three questions should employers ask before making a shift to a private exchange?
• What are the pros and cons?
• How can employers communicate a private exchange to best assist employees with the transition and understand their options?

HSA holders more engaged in wellness and cost containment

New data from the Employee Benefit Research Institute affirm what many industry professionals already believe: Employees enrolled in health savings accounts are more likely to engage in cost-saving health behaviors and participate in wellness programs.

In its annual Consumer Engagement in Health Care Survey (CEHCS), EBRI finds that individuals with HSAs are more likely to:

• Ask for a generic medication instead of a brand-name.
• Check the price of a service before getting care.
• Ask a doctor to recommend less-costly prescriptions.
• Developed a health care budget.
• Use health cost-tracking tool.
• Participate in a health-risk assessment, health-promotion program or biometric screening.

The survey results also sketch out an interesting demographic profile for the typical HSA holder. According to CEHCS findings, an employee with an HSA is most likely an Asian or Hispanic male age 21–34. He’s highly educated (with a graduate degree), highly paid (an annual household income of $150,000+) and a non-obese smoker.

This week’s hidden gem: World Cup fever needn’t be a productivity drain

World Cup fever is in full swing—and while the games have been known to capture our attention during the work day, American enthusiasm is tame compared with the futbol fanaticism among the workforce in these countries:

• In Brazil, the entire country’s quitting time has been moved to 1 p.m. to allow employees to watch World Cup action.
• Italian autoworkers went on strike when told they wouldn’t be allowed to watch the tournament at work.
• In Chile, 13% of employers allow employees to work from home on game days.

We Americans aren’t that serious about soccer, but after Team USA’s thrilling World Cup win against Ghana, it’s hard not to get swept up in the excitement of the tournament. Although employers might fear that embracing the event in the workplace through bracket pools will cause productivity to plummet, there are stats to suggest that might not be the case.

FastCompany.com cites a study by the Society for Human Resources Management that shows about 70% of HR professionals say that office pools are a positive relationship-building tool, 64% say it’s a good team building activity, and 54% suggest pools might even increase productivity in the workplace.