Business Group in the News

Even the Insured Feel Strain of Health Costs
By REED ABELSON and MILT FREUDENHEIM
From The New York Times on Sunday, May 4, 2008
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The economic slowdown has swelled the ranks of people without health insurance. But now it is also threatening millions of people who have insurance but find that the coverage is too limited or that they cannot afford their own share of medical costs.

Companies and policy makers have yet to focus on what the faltering economy means for employees medical care, said Helen Darling, president of the National Business Group on Health, a Washington association of about 200 large employers.

Its a bad-news situation when an individual or household has to pay out-of-pocket three, four or five times as much for their health plan as they would have at the time of the last recession, she said. Americans have been giving their pay raise to the health care system.

A Mandate for Change
By Carolyn Hirschman
From Human Resource Executive on Friday, May 2, 2008
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Paying for medical care used to be like buying anything else. People paid doctors directly with cash, food or whatever else they had. Government-imposed price controls in the late 1940s froze wages, forcing employers to find other ways to compete for labor. Unionized companies, then others, turned to health benefits to boost compensation. The modern employment-based health insurance system was born.

Today this voluntary benefit has become de facto required. Employees and job candidates expect and value health plans -- a survey conducted last year by the National Business Group on Health found that 75 percent of the 1,619 workers surveyed value their employer's health plan as the most important benefit, while 83 percent of them said they would rather see their salary or retirement benefit reduced rather than their health benefit.

Most employees would prefer to keep the current system as well. About three out of four participants in the NBGH survey said they'd prefer to continue getting health benefits through their employer rather than getting additional salary to purchase benefits on their own.

"Mandating employers to offer coverage or requiring them to pay the government is very harmful . . . because it will only force employers to eliminate jobs, move more jobs offshore, stunt future job growth or raise consumer prices," said NBGH President Helen Darling, in announcing her group's opposition to employer mandates. The group and ERIC support an individual mandate that requires individuals to purchase at least basic health coverage.

Big business vows to leave sizable imprint on health
By Lydell C. Bridgeford
From Employee Benefit News on Thursday, May 1, 2008
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Employers' ideas of health care reform sometimes don't mesh with politicians' ideas, especially in the nation's capital.

At the 2008 Business Health Agenda, a three-day conference in March sponsored by the National Business Group on Health, benefit executives and leaders from major U.S. corporations articulated a lobbying agenda that preaches the value of health information technology and health care consumerism.

No matter what health insurance mandates Congress throws at the public, whether it's universal coverage or an individual-based market, "employers will always play a substantial role in encouraging workers and retirees to be more accountable for their health," said Donna Chiffriller, vice president of corporate benefits at Verizon Communications.

As a result, if reforms move forward, workers will be better off, regardless of new laws on health insurance, she added.

Power to the Patient
By Grae Yohe
From Human Resource Executive on Thursday, May 1, 2008
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Coaches can help employees become more accountable for maintaining and improving their own health.

"There are a handful of conditions where the patient is a key part of success with management and avoiding problems," says Helen Darling, president of the Washington-based National Business Group on Health. For this very reason, she says, more than one-third of NBGH's member companies now offer health coaches who -- via mentor-like ongoing relationships -- work with employees to uncover, discuss and alleviate their health risks, and keep them on track health-wise.

A recent NBGH/Watson Wyatt study revealed that 44 percent of large employers offered health coaching in 2007, with an additional 13 percent planning to offer it this year. Coaches work with employees (usually over the phone, but sometimes in person) to set goals for the treatment of their conditions and to keep them informed of potential risks.

"If the condition you're working with has very high costs, and what you're coaching on has a direct impact on those costs, [then coaching] can work," says Darling.

The challenge is that coaching can be a bit of a black box, which is one reason Darling includes that provisional "can." Privacy restrictions mean a company cannot know who's using the programs -- only that X number of employees are being coached for condition Y. Employers know what they spend on coaching, but can't correlate that with individual health improvements.

Report: 84 Percent of Companies Oppose Universal Health Care
From Occupational Health & Safety on Thursday, April 24, 2008
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Most U.S. companies do not support a single-payer health care system or state legislation mandating coverage, preferring instead to rely on private-sector solutions, according to research by consulting firm Watson Wyatt Worldwide and the National Business Group on Health. In fact, 84 percent of employers do not support a single-payer system such as universal health care coverage, the groups say in the 13th annual Watson Wyatt/National Business Group on Health report.

Employers Almost Universally Hate Universal Health Care
By Mark Bruno
From Workforce Management on Wednesday, April 23, 2008
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When it comes to the government getting involved in managing health care, most large companies are making it pretty clear where they stand: Thanks, but no thanks.

An overwhelming number of large corporations polled recently by Watson Wyatt and the National Business Group on Health said they have a strong preference for managing their own health care issues, as opposed to moving toward a "single-payer" solution, such as universal health care. Specifically, respondents at 380 of the 453 large employers - or 84 percent - said they don't support universal health care coverage.

Instead, they want to provide workers with their own health care programs.

Health Care Cost Hikes Are Significantly Lower for Companies With High Enrollment in Consumer-Directed Health Plans
By Bruce Goldfarb
From Inside Consumer-Directed Care on Tuesday, April 22, 2008
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A consumer orientation in health benefits appears to have a halo effect with advantages that go beyond those enrolled in consumer-directed health (CDH), according to a new study from Watson Wyatt and the National Business Group on Health (NBGH).

The survey - the 13th annual study conducted by NBGH and Watson Wyatt - included 453 large employers. Overall, 47% of respondents now offer a CDH plan, up from 38% in 2007 and 33% in 2006. The proportion is expected to rise to 54% by 2009, according to the report.

"The most unexpected finding is the trend rate for the best performers and the differential between the best and worst performers," says NBGH President Helen Darling. While the trends for top performers have been steadily improving for several years, "I did not expect to see a 1% trend," she says.

Nussbaum and Darling report a strong correlation between lower health care costs and the presence of CDH, even among employees not enrolled in a CDH plan.

Employers get serious about wellness
By Associated Press
From Post-Bulletin on Monday, April 21, 2008
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ST. PAUL -- Think your weight is nobody's business? Try telling that to employers.

Faced with ever-soaring health insurance costs, more employers are putting wellness programs into overdrive. They're no longer hinting that it might be time to think about getting healthier. They're making it part of the culture.

As we get fatter, diseases rooted in obesity are driving up health care costs. Obesity costs corporate America an estimated $13 billion a year in additional health insurance expenses, sick leave, life insurance and disability insurance, according to the National Business Group on Health. Alarmed employers are now focused on changing the demand for health care. For a growing number, that means using the workplace to preach the benefits of eating better, eating less and exercising more.

B of A leads the way on health-care shift
By Mark Bruno
From Financial Week on Monday, April 21, 2008
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Bank consolidates a dozen bennies vendors into one (Aetna), hoping to stabilize costs

"The more vendors you have, the more complicated things can get in managing your platform, and communicating with your employees," said Helen Darling, president of the National Business Group on Health, whose membership consists of Fortune 500 companies that provide health-care coverage to a total of more than 50 million people. "Companies have been consolidating vendors to some degree, but pulling almost everything together like this is highly unusual for a company of B of A's size."

For B of A, the real payoff from the benefits makeover could be several years in the future, experts concluded. But the company must be banking on some savings in the near term, given that it has committed to as much as $150 million of additional spending under the new benefits program. Beginning in 2008, B of A will set up health-care accounts for its 130,000 employees who earn less than $100,000 a year. This new feature will be provided in addition to B of A's existing health-care plans, and the bank will fund the accounts with $600 to $1,200 per year that the employees can use to help pay for out-of-pocket expenses, such as co-payments, not covered by the broader plans. Any money that an employee does not spend can be rolled over to the next year, all the way through to retirement.

Ms. Darling said such a benefit is also rare because it is funded entirely by B of A. "Whenever employers can find a way to save money, they typically find a way to keep it for themselves," she said. "It rarely goes right back to the employee."

Wellness program incentives must comply with federal rules
By Colleen McCarthy
From Business Insurance on Monday, April 21, 2008
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Companies that have been using financial incentives or other inducements as part of their wellness programs must reconsider those incentives in light of recent federal guidelines clarifying what constitutes health-related discrimination in employee benefit plans.

In an annual survey conducted by the Washington-based National Business Group on Health and Watson Wyatt Worldwide, a majority of participating companies now use incentives to motivate employees to take charge of their health, with more than half of employers tying incentives to health improvement activities while another 24% plan to do so in 2009.

Mixed response to FMLA proposal
By By Leah Carlson Shepherd
From Employee Benefit News on Tuesday, April 15, 2008
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in February, the Department of Labor published a proposal to update the Family and Medical Leave Act, clarifying the rights and responsibilities of employers and workers. It also would speed the implementation of a new law that expands FMLA coverage for military family members.

"These new rules help to make clear what employees need to do to take FMLA leave for their own serious illnesses," comments Helen Darling, president of the National Business Group on Health.

"The updated rules will also make it easier for HR professionals and employers to administer FMLA for serious medical illnesses."

Unclear and sometimes conflicting regulations and court decisions pertaining to FMLA leave continue to increase administrative costs for employers, cause workplace disruption for employees, lower productivity and invite litigation, Darling notes.

"Employers and employees alike have had difficulty interpreting the current FMLA regulations, triggering a great deal of litigation. The updated rules will help to make things clearer and reduce the number of court cases," says Steven Wojcik, vice president of public policy for the National Business Group on Health.

No Ifs, Ands or Butts: Smokers Need Not Apply
By Eileen P. Gunn
From The Wall Street Journal on Tuesday, April 15, 2008
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Originally published December 14, 2004.

The reason for such attention: health and workplace experts know more about smoking today. "There's so much evidence about the impact of smoking on health and productivity," says Helen Darling, president of the National Business Group on Health, in Washington, D.C. At the same time, "we also know more about how to help people quit than we did five years ago."

Wellness experts can draw a more direct line between smoking and health-and-productivity issues than they can with problems like obesity and stress. For example, both Ms. Darling and Ms. Zauha note that smokers succumb more often than nonsmokers to colds, flu and bronchitis. The American Lung Association reports that smokers suffer on-the-job injuries at twice the rate of nonsmokers. And, when smokers fall sick, are injured or have surgery they take longer to heal, creating more absenteeism and a higher health-care tab for employers.

The Department of Health and Human Services reports that smokers account for 8% of U.S. health-care expenditures, or $75 billion, followed by another $80 billion in lost productivity, according to the Center for Disease Control.

Help for people who want to quit also is improving. "We know that a combination of medication and counseling helps more than the medication alone," Ms. Darling reports. Smoking-cessation programs often don't cost companies much, which means they can take a carrot-and-stick approach -- barring workplace smoking while lending support and even financial incentives like a discount on insurance to those who want to quit.

How the Biggest Loser Can Make You Money
By Lyneka Little
From TheStreet.com on Tuesday, April 15, 2008
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"When you can help people feel better about themselves, and their lives, and their health, then over time you will see the difference because people do have few sick days and less absenteeism and less disability," says Luann Heinen, Vice President at the National Business Group on Health.

About 370 companies use the NBGH to provide health solution suggestions, such as opening company stairwells to promote walking, or by removing the Krispy Kreme (KKD - Cramer's Take - Stockpickr) donuts from conference rooms. According to Wyatt, 46% of employers offer or plan to offer financial incentives to promote health. Unsure if yours does? Ask the human resources department.

Technology can help, too. Healthy Dining Finder is one of the food source Web sites utilized by NBGH for its network to find the restaurants in a given area that add nutritious food to the menu.

Express Scripts Studies How to Sway Customers
By Shirley S. Wang
From The Wall Street Journal on Tuesday, April 15, 2008
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When money failed to motivate Express Scripts Inc. customers to switch to cheap generic cholesterol drugs, the pharmacy-benefits manager turned to psychological tactics. The company was so pleased by the result -- a six-fold increase in converts -- that on Tuesday it plans to announce the opening of a research center to learn more about what motivates customers' health-care decisions.

Changing consumers' health-care behavior traditionally has been difficult, though. Human-resources departments have found that a health-care benefit that "on the surface should be very beneficial to employees just falls flat," says Helen Darling, president of the National Business Group on Health and an Express Scripts advisory board member.

Drop That Weight or You're Fired!
By Jennifer Barrett
From Newsweek on Monday, April 14, 2008

Can your boss put you on a diet? No, but she can make it worth your while to lose pounds. A number of companies--half of the 463 surveyed in a new report by the National Business Group on Health--are using financial rewards to persuade employees to join programs to improve their health.

More Employers Offering Only Consumer-Driven Health Plans
By Rupal Parekh
From Workforce Management on Sunday, April 13, 2008
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Plagued by high health care costs, more employers are embracing the concept of replacing all existing medical insurance plans and implementing a full-replacement consumer-driven health care program. But, they are proceeding with caution.

Overall, though, the number of companies taking the plunge remains small; about 10 percent of companies now offer CDHPs as the sole coverage option, says Helen Darling, president of the Washington-based National Business Group on Health.

"Relatively few employers are offering consumer-directed health plans only," Darling says. "But the ones who do full replacement are the ones who get significant savings."

When imposing a high-deductible health plan, both the employer and the employee tend to save money since utilization of health care goes down in frequency, Darling says.

"If all employees are in [a CDHP] plan, the savings would be higher than if only 10 percent to 20 percent of employees were in the less costly plan," she says.

In order to provide ample warning and support to employees as they make the transition, companies should ideally have a full year, Darling says.

"If you were planning to do it in January 2008, it's probably too late," Darling says. "But if you want to make that change for 2009," it can be done.

"Bill of Health"-Healthcare Comes To The Workplace
By PBS
From Transcript from Nightly Business Report on Thursday, April 10, 2008
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HELEN DARLING, PRES., NATIONAL BUSINESS GROUP ON HEALTH: From the point of view of productivity and investment in employees and lower turnover, then it's really advantageous. As employers see that, as companies see that, they're much more likely to put it in.

Firms' Health Clinics Cut Costs
By Victoria E. Knight
From The Wall Street Journal on Wednesday, April 9, 2008
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In the latest attempt to motivate workers to adopt more-healthful lifestyles, American employers are offering wellness coaching to employees at on-site clinics.

While American employers may like the idea of getting out of the business of providing health care, a growing number of corporations are discovering they can save money and boost employee productivity by getting more closely involved at an earlier stage.

Preventive services, such as health screenings and immunizations, are the most common type at the latest wave of clinics, according to a recent survey by Watson Wyatt and the National Business Group on Health. Four in 10 clinics offer pharmacy services, making it easier for those taking medications to fill their prescriptions.

Study finds CDHPs offer only modest reductions
By Joanne Wojcik
From Business Insurance on Monday, April 7, 2008
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Healthier members, cost-shifting drive savings

The Milliman "Consumer-Driven Impact Study" analysed the performance of CDHPs offered by six employer members of the Washington-based National Business Group on Health covering collectively about 225,000 members, 30,000 of which were enrolled in CDHPs. The methodology adjusted actual experience for: benefit design, including the impact of benefits on utilization; age; gender; risk score, based on conditions; and geographic area.

Despite the findings that CDHP savings are more modest than the plans' predicted, Helen Darling, president of the NBGH, was not discouraged.

"Some of our employers did not move to CDHPs primarily to save money in the immediate term," she said in a statement. "Rather, they offered CDHPs to change how employees thought about their health care and how they would behave when their money was at stake. This is a strategy, not a tactic."

Employer mandates hit legal snag, states continue to search for options
By Amy Lynn Sorrel
From American Medical News on Monday, April 7, 2008
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Businesses argue that a federal act overrides state and local employer responsibility laws. Court rulings so far run three to one against this type of health system reform.

Employers say it is and that ERISA gives them the protection and incentive they need to be able to offer health coverage.

"ERISA allows employers to provide the same benefits to employees [everywhere] and have only one set of costs," said Helen Darling, president of the National Business Group on Health, an organization of large employers that studies health care issues. The group supports expanded access, but contends mandating coverage through various state and local rules would increase expenses without adding value.

Echoing concerns from the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, Darling said allowing such laws to stand would set a dangerous precedent that could disrupt existing benefit plans.

Study finds modest savings from CDHP
By Joanne Wojcik
From Business Insurance on Tuesday, April 1, 2008
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The Milliman Consumer-driven Impact Study provided a quantitative analysis of the performance of CDHPs offered by six employer members of the Washington-based National Business Group on Health. These programs collectively covered approximately 225,000 members, 30,000 of which were enrolled in CDHPs. The CDHP penetration rate of the participating employers ranged from 4.4% to 76%. For purposes of the study, a CDHP was defined as a high-deductible plan with access to either a health reimbursement arrangement or a health savings account. The methodology adjusted actual experience for the following factors: benefit design, including the impact of benefits on utilization; age; gender; risk score, based on conditions; and geographic area.

Despite the findings that CDHP savings are more modest than the plans predicted, Helen Darling, president of the NBGH, was not discouraged.

"Some of our employers did not move to CDHPs primarily to save money in the immediate term, either for themselves or their employees," she said in a statement. "Rather, they offered CDHPs to change how employees thought about their health care and how they would behave when their money was at stake. This is a strategy, not a tactic."

The complete Milliman Consumer-driven Impact Study is available for download at www.milliman.com by searching for "consumer-driven impact."

House measure seeks benefits parity for prosthetic care
By Colleen McCarthy
From Business Insurance on Monday, March 31, 2008
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Legislation that would require group health plans to cover prosthetic care at the same level as other medical and surgical care has been introduced in Congress, but its prospect of passage is unclear, experts say.

...While the legislation says health insurers have started limiting prosthetic costs that they will cover at "unrealistic levels," health insurers and employers say the extra costs of a prosthetic coverage mandate likely would be passed down to employers in higher premiums.

"It's worrisome because the employer loses control over what they are paying for," said Steve Wojcik, vp of public policy at the Washington-based National Business Group on Health.

...While proponents say providing parity of prosthetic coverage would boost health insurance premiums by less than $1 per month, employer groups warn that any benefit mandate impacts health insurance affordability and puts additional financial pressure on employers.

"Companies will lose the ability to cover what their resources will allow," Mr. Wojcik said.

Newton firm to help obese children and their families
By Jeffrey Krasner
From The Boston Globe on Wednesday, March 26, 2008
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Great Moves says it is the first local business to address the explosion in childhood obesity in a comprehensive, holistic fashion. Stanley M. Goldstein, the company's president and cofounder, said it is a response to what has been labeled a nationwide childhood obesity epidemic.

"This is a new problem and a new marketplace," said Goldstein.

He cites statistics showing that 16 percent of children ages 16 to 19 in the United States are considered obese, compared to 11 percent in a study from the early 1990s, according to the National Business Group on Health, a Washington, D.C., nonprofit that represents large businesses on health policy issues. Obesity associated hospital costs for children tripled in the 20 years ending 1999, the group said.

Mental health care coverage may get boost
By RYN GARGULINSKI
From Tucson Citizen on Tuesday, March 25, 2008
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The National Business Group on Health found treatment for mental illness and substance abuse in 2001 totaled $104 billion, which is less than 8 percent of the $1.4 trillion spent on overall health care across the nation.

Vendors held to account
By Gloria Gonzalez
From Business Insurance on Monday, March 24, 2008

Benefit managers have spent a great deal of time and effort in recent years restructuring benefits programs to focus on increased employee cost-sharing and audits of health care plan eligibility, but essentially have achieved all the savings they can through such methods, said Helen Darling, president of the National Business Group on Health in Washington.

Because employers are spending a sizeable portion of their benefit dollars on health improvement initiatives, such as wellness or disease management programs and tools designed to engage their employees in health care decisions, they are saying that "now is a reasonable time" to seek evidence of the return on investment, she said.

Benefit managers crunch numbers
By Joanne Wojcik
From Business Insurance on Monday, March 24, 2008
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Access to new, better data and technology enhances program analysis.

Now that detailed health care plan data is becoming more readily available to employers as well as the technology to interpret it, benefit managers are putting the information to use.

In fact, more than one-third of the sessions at the National Business Group on Health's Business Health Agenda 2008 focused on employer use of data and technology, ranging from making benefit design decisions, to measuring the return on investment of wellness and disease management programs, to managing their provider contracts more effectively.

Paging Doctor Walgreen
By Mark Bruno
From Financial Week on Monday, March 24, 2008
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Drugstore chain charges into the on-site corporate health-care market, citing expense management and worker productivity as benefits of its offerings. Now say 'ahh'

For Walgreen, it's a significant commitment to a concept that has been around for more than 25 years, noted Marne Bell, senior health-care consultant at Watson Wyatt. But she said corporate health centers are now starting to see a resurgence, as companies have become more focused on finding ways to control their health-care costs--expenses that have increased for most companies by at least 6% every year for roughly the last decade, according to a new report from Watson Wyatt and the National Business Group on Health.

Behavior changes tied to lower costs
By Gary Gosslein
From Ann Arbor Business Review on Thursday, March 20, 2008
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University of Michigan has partnered with the 300-member National Business Group on Health to work on warehousing and analysis on data the group's companies feed into the Employers Measure of Productivity, Absence and Quality database.

U-M and the EMPAQ will release this year's summary research report at the end of March that will allow employers to compare specific program costs, lost time and productivity with their peers, said Amanda Cyr, HMRC project manager.

Healthcare Reform: What Hospitals Can Expect After the Election
By Lola Butcher
From HFMA Special Report - Leadership on Wednesday, March 19, 2008
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The problems that every hospital executive has been worrying about for years--healthcare costs, insurance, access, quality of care, and patient safety--have gone mainstream. The American people--that is to say, hospital customers--have become scared and seek solutions, forcing U.S. presidential candidates to put healthcare reform proposals near the top of their campaign platforms.

Some of health care's most influential thinkers share their perspectives on the policy changes most likely to occur in the foreseeable future.

Roundtable Participants:

Helen Darling, president, National Business Group on Health, which represents employers' perspectives on national health policy issues. She serves on the Committee on Performance Measurement of the National Committee for Quality Assurance, the Institute of Medicine's Roundtable on Evidence-Based Medicine, the National Quality Forum board, and the Medicare Coverage Advisory Committee.

Karen Davis, president of The Commonwealth Fund, a national philanthropy that researches health and social policy issues. Current appointments include the Geisinger Health System board of directors, the Kaiser Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured, and the Panel of Health Advisors for the Congressional Budget Office.

Lloyd H. Dean, president and CEO, Catholic Healthcare West, the eighth largest hospital system in the nation with 42 hospitals and medical centers in California, Arizona, and Nevada. He cochairs Healthy San Francisco, a program designed to make health care accessible and affordable to uninsured residents, and serves on the board of the Catholic Health Association of the USA and Governor Schwarzeneggers California Commission for Jobs and Economic Growth.

David B. Nash, the Dr. Raymond C. and Doris N. Grandon Professor and Chairman of the Department of Health Policy at Jefferson Medical College, part of Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia. He serves on board of trustees of Catholic Healthcare Partners, a 29-hospital system; the Joint Commission's Advisory Committee on Performance Measurement; the Disease Management Association of America board; and the Technical Advisory Group of the Pennsylvania Health Care Cost Containment Council.

Gail Wilensky, senior fellow at Project HOPE, an organization that works to make health care available around the world. The former top administrator of the Health Care Financing Administration, she serves on the World Health Organization's Commission on the Social Determinants of Health as well as the Maryland Health Care Commission.

Click on the link above to read the roundtable discussion.

Health Reform, Democratic-style
By Dallas Salisbury
From Human Resources Executive on Monday, March 17, 2008
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Healthcare proposals by Democratic presidential candidates Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama are almost clones of each other. And both would require employers to provide coverage for workers -- or to contribute to the cost of coverage.

For all of the intensity of coverage, discussion and public reaction, a close look at the health plans proposed by the Democratic presidential candidates finds only minor differences. But both would mean change for employers.

The proposals of Sens. Barack Obama , D-Ill., and Hillary Clinton , D-NY, reflect their commitment to achieving universal healthcare protection.

Words differ, but the concepts could have been pulled right out of reports by the National Business Group on Health, the ERISA Industry Committee, Bridges to Excellence, the Business Roundtable, Leapfrog, the National Committee for Quality Assurance and other groups supported by business.

Consumer-Directed Health Plans Gain Traction Among Employers
By Victoria E. Knight
From CNNMoney on Thursday, March 13, 2008
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NEW YORK -(Dow Jones)- Consumer-directed health plans are gaining traction among America's largest employers - and their workers - as evidence emerges about the potential costs savings, according to a survey released Thursday.

Around half of large U.S. employers - 47% - now offer a CDHP, up from 39% last year. By 2009, 54% of companies plan to offer a CDHP, according to study by consulting firm Watson Wyatt and the National Business Group on Health, or NBGH, a nonprofit association of nearly 300 large employers, including General Motors Corp. (GM) and Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (WMT).

CDHPs are aimed at lowering insurance premiums for individuals and employers by giving consumers more control over - and a bigger stake in - health spending. CDHPs pair a high-deductible health plan with personal health savings accounts - typically a health savings account, or HSA - that can be used to fund medical expenses not covered under the plan on a tax-free basis. The Bush administration says such arrangements can make health care more affordable for American families.

Enrollment in CDHPs is increasing as a larger number of employers offer these types of plans and employees becomes more comfortable with these relatively new products. Around 15% of workers at employers that offer CDHPs are currently enrolled in such plans, up from 10% in 2007, according to the WW/NBGH survey. The survey involved 435 companies employing about 8.4 million workers in the U.S.

"Actively involving more workers in their health care and giving them the resources to make educated decisions can be a challenge, but it should be embraced. The end result can be a mutually beneficial system for both companies and their workers," says NBGH President Helen Darling.

Study finds widening gap in health cost hikes
By Joanne Wojcik
From Business Insurance on Thursday, March 13, 2008
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When it comes to health care cost increases, the gap between the best-performing employers and the poor performers is growing, a study shows.

The median two-year health care cost increase among the best-performing employers was 1.0%, while the poor-performing companies saw their health care costs grow by 10.0% for the same period, a survey has found. The median increase for all surveyed employers was 6.2%.

By comparison, the median two-year trend for the best performers in last year's survey was 2.5%, compared with 11.0% for poor performers, according to the "13th Annual National Business Group on Health/Watson Wyatt Employer Survey on Purchasing Value in Health Care."

The differential between the best performers and their poor-performing counterparts also has grown considerably in recent years, according to Ted Nussbaum, director of group and health care consulting North America at Watson Wyatt Worldwide in Stamford, Conn., who presented the survey results Thursday at the National Business Group on Health's 2008 Business Health Agenda in Washington.

New effort enlists businesses to correct health care disparities
By Susan J. Landers
From American Medical News on Monday, March 10, 2008
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Racial inequities are costly to individuals and to the companies that employ them, say members of a new public-private partnership.

This two-year drive to improve the quality of health care for minority populations was announced Feb. 11 by the National Business Group on Health, a nonprofit organization of large employers, and by the Dept. of Health and Human Services' Office of Minority Health.

Disparities in care are costly, said Helen Darling, president of the National Business Group on Health, and can lead to increased disability among employees and productivity loss for employers.

LETTER: Healthcare portability can be a win-win for everyone
By Hank Kearney
From Business Insurance on Monday, March 3, 2008
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TO THE EDITOR: It was interesting to read the strategic implications for employer benefit plans in two stories that ran in the Feb. 4 Business Insurance issue: the article "Big Employers Retool Retiree Medical" and the sidebar "NBGH Supports Mandate for Individuals."

The obvious reason for support of individual insurance mandates by the NBGH is evident in the first story: the limitations and eventual elimination of health coverage by employers.

One does question the reliance on employers as the source of health care coverage. Trends indicate employers themselves question this tradition, and increasing numbers of them are eliminating the benefit altogether.

Back in 1985, as a benefit administrator, we raised the question of company-paid retiree benefits in light of Medicare. Today the move is to cap or eliminate this benefit altogether.

With the NBGH's efforts to create a mandated individual market, thereby reducing employer benefit costs, we can now see the advantages predicted for some time:

1. Employers will stabilize their costs by providing supplemental, nonrisk bearing benefits and,

2. True insurance portability will allow employees greater freedom of employment.

Hank Kearney

PHM International

Union Pacific Seeks to Improve Employee Health as well as Workplace Safety
From Managed Care Outlook on Saturday, March 1, 2008

Last year marked the third consecutive year that the National Business Group on Health--a national non-profit organization of 266 large employers--honored Union Pacific for its commitment and dedication to combating obesity and promoting a healthy lifestyle for its employees.

Businesses split over insurance mandate
By Kent Hoover
From Washington Business Journal on Friday, February 29, 2008
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A growing number of business groups have embraced the idea of requiring individuals to purchase health insurance.

Supporters of an individual mandate, including Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, contend it is necessary to achieve universal health care and spread the burden of health care costs more fairly. Clinton's Democratic rival, Barack Obama, contends it is unfair to force people to buy insurance they can't afford and argues that most people would buy insurance if the cost is reduced.

In recent weeks, the National Small Business Association, the National Business Group on Health - which represents large employers - and the National Retail Federation have endorsed an individual mandate.

The National Federation of Independent Business hasn't taken a position on an individual mandate. NFIB helped kill Clinton's 1993 health care reform plan because it required all employers to provide insurance.

Should We Push Everyone Into The Health-insurance Pool?
By Kristen Gerencher
From MarketWatch on Wednesday, February 27, 2008
(View Website)

The National Business Group on Health, a trade group representing 288 large employers that provide health insurance to 6 million people, last month endorsed the individual mandate as an effective means of expanding coverage. It also rejected a mandate for employers.

Nurses Can Help Care for Workers' Mental-Health Needs
By VICTORIA E. KNIGHT
From Wall Street Journal on Tuesday, February 26, 2008

Employers are turning to nurses to triage workers' medical needs and improve their mental health, in an effort to combat the fastest-growing source of workplace disability: depression.

"Helping employees cope with stress and depression is becoming a major theme for employers," says Helen Darling, president of the National Business Group on Health, a nonprofit association of nearly 300 large employers.

Mental health bill faces hurdle
By Kathleen Masterson
From The Capital Times on Saturday, February 23, 2008
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Though mental illness and substance abuse disorders are both common and expensive, the indirect costs associated with these illnesses commonly match or exceed the direct treatment costs, according to recent study by the National Business Group on Health, a nonprofit group devoted to representing large employers' perspective on national health policy.

The same study found that depression and other mental illness and substance abuse disorders are a major case of lost productivity and absenteeism.

With more than 70 percent of individuals with mental illness or substance use disorders working, growing evidence indicates that limiting mental health and substance disorders benefits actually increases the overall cost of health care, according to the National Business Group on Health.

Payment rate probe raises concerns about health care cost hikes
By Joanne Wojcik
From Business Insurance on Monday, February 18, 2008
(View Website)

N.Y. official faults out-of-network data used by many insurers

The New York attorney general's attack on UCRs "defies everything that we've been doing in health care cost management for years," said Helen Darling, president of the Washington-based National Business Group on Health, a consortium of the nation's largest employers, all of which self-insure their health care plans.

UCRs were created to slow down the rate of increase in doctor fees and to curb billing abuses by physicians, Ms. Darling said. While employers could control their in-network expenses through their preferred provider contracts, there were no such cost controls on out-of-network provider billing, she noted.

"Physicians were constantly increasing fees," she said. "The doctors want costs to climb faster, while employers want to slow down the rate of increase."

Ms. Darling also asserted that despite the NYAG's allegations that UCRs are too low, "doctors are still getting good, reasonable fees from the commercial payers." The UCR rates are considerably higher than the compensation providers get under Medicare and Medicaid, she said.

Hospitals may join effort
By Jessica Zigmond
From Modern Healthcare on Monday, February 18, 2008
(View Website)

Last week , HHS' Office of Minority Health and the National Business Group on Health said they would jointly invest $300,000 for a two-year collaborative effort to reduce racial and ethnic inequalities in healthcare. Part of the National Partnership for Action to End Health Disparities-a broader effort by HHS and the Office of Minority Health to spotlight the problem-the new collaboration could benefit from hospital participation, according to Helen Darling, president of the National Business Group on Health.

"The work is hard, and, for a lot of people, the pay is low," Darling said of the working environment in U.S. hospitals. "We also know there are a lot of minorities and a lot of immigrants working in hospitals. ... Figuring out how to provide services and programs is really complicated."

Darling emphasized the need for hospitals to become involved. "They probably have the most diverse workforces in the country," Darling said. "What we'd like to do is work together as quickly as possible and share the results together."

HHS, Employer Group Announce Plan To Reduce Racial, Ethnic Health Disparities
By Sarah Barr
From BNA's Health Care Daily Report on Monday, February 18, 2008
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The National Business Group on Health and HHS's Office of Minority Health will focus on the role employers can play in closing the health care gap, representatives of both organizations announced at a press conference.

NBGH President Helen Darling said that employers often think that if they provide equal opportunities to enroll in health insurance coverage that they are also making an equal investment. However, ethnic and racial disparities persist in terms of who enrolls and the care they receive, which has an impact on employers' bottom lines.

"Even if it weren't a human issue, we're not getting our money's worth in the health system for anybody, but especially for racial and ethnic minorities," Darling said.

Obese workers cost employers
By Jennifer Harper
From The Washington Times on Friday, February 15, 2008
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Obesity exacts a sizable toll on the workplace: Overweight workers are slower and less efficient than their slimmer counterparts - costing their employers an average of $1,800 a year in lost productivity, according to research from the University of Cincinnati.

...The District-based National Business Group on Health, meanwhile, estimates that obesity costs the nation's employers $13 billion a year.

Partnership Will Attack 'Disease of Social Injustice'
By Kathy Gurchiek
From HR News on Wednesday, February 13, 2008

Helping large employers address inequities in health care available to racial and ethnic minorities is the focus of a collaboration between the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' Office of Minority Health (OMH) and the National Business Group on Health (NBGH).

Tackling disparity not only is the right thing to do, said Helen Darling, NBGH president, but it also makes good business sense.

Disparities in care have health consequences such as misdiagnoses and less likelihood of receiving preventive services. These disparities also increase health care costs and contribute to absenteeism, disability and productivity loss, she noted.

Removing disparity entails meeting the needs of a culturally diverse workforce and contributing actively "to reducing unintended but nonetheless very harmful disparities," she said.

"It's no longer enough to provide the same benefits and hope everything works out," Darling said.

Business group wants to reduce health disparities among minorities
By Lydell C. Bridgeford
From Employee Benefit News on Tuesday, February 12, 2008
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The National Business Group on Health and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services are teaming up to help employers become aware of racial and ethnic inequities in health care delivery.

Health disparities are defined as persistent gaps between the health status of minorities and non-minorities in the United States.

Medical research shows some racial and ethnic minority patients are less likely to receive preventive services, diagnoses and treatment for certain chronic conditions, compared to their white counterparts.

Given that large employers provide health benefits for most Americans, NBGH believes employers are well poised to leverage their collective resources to bring positive changes.

Most employers would be very dismayed to know their investment in health care, which is otherwise equal in cash, does not always benefit all of their employees and their dependents, says Helen Darling, president of NBGH.

"While the health care system is otherwise well-meaning, it unfortunately has a lot of problems," she says.

"We are now just learning how important personalized medicine is and how culturally competent health care ensures the best health outcomes. This partnership allows us to work with employers to make sure their health care benefits and their health improvement programs meet the needs of a culturally diverse workforce."

Initiative aims to improve healthcare for minorities
From Modern Healthcare on Monday, February 11, 2008
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A partnership between the National Business Group on Health and HHS' Office of Minority Health will invest $900,000 over the next two years to reduce racial and ethnic disparities in healthcare.

"The average employer doesn't understand that this is a serious problem," said Helen Darling, president of the National Business Group on Health, at a news briefing. As part of the new agreement, a disparities advisory board has been created to identify best practices for addressing racial and ethnic disparities in the workforce, and to develop a tool kit to assist employers in implementing these practices.

Funding will be provided by the Office of Minority Health, although private sponsors may offer contributions in the future to help expand the partnership, said Ron Finch, vice president of the National Business Group on Health's Center on Prevention and Health Services.

HEALTH CARE DISPARITIES: New Project to Address Issues
By Emily P. Walker
From CQ HealthBeat on Monday, February 11, 2008

The Office of Minority Health at HHS and the National Business Group on Health on Monday announced a two-year, $300,000 project that seeks to reduce racial and ethnic disparities in health care for minorities enrolled in employer-sponsored health plans. The project, an extension of the National Partnership for Action launched by OMH and HHS, will educate employers about disparities in health care for minorities and will recommend steps to address the issue. Such steps include the use of health plans that have networks of ethnically representative providers and the establishment of onsite health clinics for minorities, many of whom are unlikely to visit physicians. NBGH President Helen Darling said, "Most employers would be dismayed to learn that while their contribution is equal, the care is not." In addition, she said, "Having coverage doesn't solve the problem" of disparities in health care, adding, "It's no longer enough to provide the same benefits and hope everything works out."

The National Business Group on Health (NBGH) said it supports legislation to make individuals purchase health insurance coverage for themselves and th
From Health Plan Week on Monday, February 4, 2008

But the business coalition, whose employer members cover roughly 55 million Americans, stipulated that it agrees with such provisions only when they offer those persons the same tax advantages afforded to businesses that offer health coverage. The group added that it opposes mandates that would force employers to offer health coverage. NBGH President Helen Darling said "we believe that states and the federal government should work together with health plans, employers and other stakeholders to develop low cost, voluntary programs that would cover working families with low or moderate incomes, and programs that would help small employers offer health coverage to their employees."

Large Business Association Releases Plan To Overhaul U.S. Health Care System
From Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report on Thursday, January 31, 2008
(View Website)

The National Business Group on Health, a not-for-profit association of nearly 300 large employers, on Wednesday released a set of 20 conditions that would need to be met to establish a universal health coverage system in the U.S., Dow Jones reports. According to NBGH, all U.S. residents should be required to purchase insurance for themselves and their children on a tax-advantaged basis. Under the plan, individuals who purchase insurance from the market would receive the same tax advantage as employees who purchase insurance through their employer, allowing individuals to write off their insurance benefits for tax purposes and the money spent not counting as taxable income.

However, businesses should not be required to offer health coverage to workers or to help workers pay for coverage, according to NBGH. Employer mandates are "very harmful to working families and our economy because it will only force employers to eliminate jobs, move more jobs offshore, stunt future job growth or raise consumer prices," NBGH President Helen Darling said.

In addition, NBGH said that state and federal governments should work with insurers and employers to develop health plans that are affordable and that meet the medical needs of families. Darling said, "Achieving successful health reform ... is a tremendous challenge that will require individuals, health care providers, insurers, employers and governments at all levels to take on shared responsibility. No one group can or should bear full responsibility" (Knight, Dow Jones, 1/30).

Penalties for Uninsured Backed by Clinton, Not Obama
By Aliza Marcus and Avram Goldstein
From Bloomberg News on Thursday, January 31, 2008

An association representing almost 300 large employers, including General Motors Corp. and Microsoft Corp., today backed mandates for individuals as part of a U.S. health-care overhaul. Businesses shouldn't be required to cover all of their employees, and the longtime tax break for health benefits that workers receive from employers should be maintained, the National Business Group on Health also said in a statement.

NBGH supports individual health insurance mandate
By Joanne Wojcik
From Business Insurance on Wednesday, January 30, 2008

WASHINGTON-The National Business Group on Health, a consortium of around 300 of the nation's largest employers, has come out in support of legislation that would require individuals to buy health insurance coverage for themselves and their dependent children.

The Washington-based organization, which typically does not take positions on such issues, said the reason it is coming out in favor of an individual mandate is because its members believe it is a vital element to reforming the nation's health care system.

"I think we are on the cusp of big change in the U.S. on health care. We also have a significant number of people who will be elected or re-elected" who are ready to enact reforms, said NBGH President Helen Darling. "Things are coming together."

"To require everyone in the U.S. to have coverage and give them access to affordable packages, then we'll change the market and people will be able to afford it whether employees buy it themselves or employers" provide it for them, she said.

While the NBGH supports an individual mandate, it continues to oppose any requirement that employers provide coverage.

"We believe that a mandate can backfire and will drive some companies out of business," Ms. Darling said. Moreover, "once the state legislatures get their hands on it, all of the mischief that goes on with coverage mandates" that expand the scope of employer-provided coverage, could occur. "So it would be impossible to curb increases in health care costs."

Instead, the NBGH believes that states and the federal government should work together with the health plans, employers and other stakeholders to develop low-cost, voluntary programs that would cover working families with low or moderate incomes, as well as programs that would help small employers offer health coverage to their employees, Ms. Darling said.

NBGH members also support retaining the current favorable tax treatment of employer-sponsored health care coverage and would like individuals who purchase health insurance on their own to receive the same tax breaks.

A toolkit approved by the NBGH board of directors contains more than 20 essential principles that its members believe are necessary to improve health care affordability, quality and safety, reduce health care costs and expand access to health care services.

A copy of the NBGH's position on health reform can be found at www.businessgrouphealth.org

Big Business Backs Individual Health Insurance Mandate
By Victoria E. Knight
From DOW JONES NEWSWIRES on Wednesday, January 30, 2008

NEW YORK (Dow Jones)--As presidential candidates push their plans to makeover the nation's health-care system, some of America's largest employers Wednesday presented their own suggested fix.

Every adult American should be required to purchase health insurance coverage for themselves and their children on a tax-advantaged basis, but it shouldn't be incumbent on business owners to offer or pay for it, according to the National Business Group on Health, or NBGH, a non-profit association of nearly 300 large employers, including General Motors (GM) and Wal-Mart Stores Inc (WMT).

Instead, the NBGH is advocating that individuals who purchase their own policies should be given the same tax advantages as workers under employer-sponsored group health plans, which the NBGH says is the main reason why many American families covered by these plans have access to affordable coverage. Employers who offer group health insurance can write off these benefits for tax purposes, and the money doesn't count as taxable income for the employees.

By contrast, an employee who purchases their own coverage - because their employer doesn't offer health benefits - must pay income taxes on it. Since 2003, the self-employed can take a tax deduction when they take out their own coverage.

But to achieve universal coverage, states and federal governments need to work together with insurers and employers to develop insurance options that meet the medical needs and budgets of American families, according to the NBGH which sets out 20 conditions that would need to be met to meet such a goal.

"With health costs continuing to rise, a weak economy and the number of uninsured Americans growing at an alarming pace, the need to reform our health care system is at an all-time high," said NBGH President Helen Darling.

"Achieving successful health reform, however, is a tremendous challenge that will require individuals, health care providers, insurers, employers and governments at all levels to take on shared responsibility. No one group can or should bear full responsibility," she says.

Proponents of individual mandates say they respond to concerns about uninsured people who receive treatment when they're sick but pass on its cost to taxpayers or individuals with insurance. Requiring everyone to have coverage will strengthen and stabilize insurance risk pools by including more healthy people - who are the most likely to risk going without insurance - eventually driving down the costs for all, they say. However, critics say implementing an individual mandate could be costly and impractical as it would require new layers of bureaucracy to enforce.

Some 177 million Americans get their health insurance through their employers, making job-based coverage the most common source of coverage. Large companies continue to view health benefits as a key tool for recruitment and retention and 98% of firms with over 200 workers offer health coverage to employees, according to PricewaterhouseCoopers' Health Research Institute. However, the cost of annual premiums has almost doubled since 2000 to $12,106 for family coverage and $4,479 for an individual, damaging corporate competitiveness in the global economy.

NBGH said its members want to maintain their voluntary role in providing health insurance, but are opposed to any mandates that would require them to provide it or else contribute to the cost of it, an option known as "pay or play."

"Mandating employers to offer coverage or requiring them to pay the government is very harmful to working families and our economy because it will only force employers to eliminate jobs, move more jobs offshore, stunt future job growth, or raise consumer prices," says Darling.

Diabetes costs nation more than wars, disasters, study says
By Liz Szabo
From USA TODAY on Thursday, January 24, 2008

Uncontrolled diabetes wreaks havoc on the body, often leading to kidney failure, blindness and death. A new study shows that the nation's unchecked diabetes epidemic exacts a heavy financial toll as well: $174 billion a year.

Diabetes "will ruin a generation of Americans," says Helen Darling, president of the National Business Group on Health, a non-profit that represents large employers. Over the next few decades, she says, diabetes will handicap both state and local economies, as communities divert money from education and other important areas to care for patients.

Vendor summits put providers on 'same page'
By Kristin Gunderson Hunt
From Business Insurance on Monday, January 21, 2008

Helen Darling, president of the National Business Group on Health in Washington, said vendor summits are a best business practice. She said exchanging data, brainstorming and collaborating at these meetings often result in more effective, efficient delivery of health benefits.

Politics, Recession Fears Will Affect CDH Growth in 2008, Industry Observers Predict
From Inside Consumer-Directed Care on Friday, January 11, 2008

"Health reform will be talked about constantly, but [the discussion], unfortunately, will be mostly about coverage and the uninsured, not about controlling costs and getting people engaged in their own health," says Helen Darling, president of the National Business Group on Health. "The challenge will be to help people understand that consumer-directed health care is not about just one model, which many Democrats dislike, but about many models with various financial tradeoffs that should be the consumer's choice."

Workers Want More Health Care Control
By Kathy Gurchiek
From HR Magazine on Tuesday, January 1, 2008

More than 70 percent of 1,558 workers insured through an employer- or union-sponsored health plan think patients have a responsibility to learn about the costs for treatment options and make an effort to verify that a recommended treatment in necessary. Even more think their employers should be more involved in providing them with health information.

Faced with making a decision about treatment, 90 percent of those surveyed prefer to consult sources beyond their doctors, the National Business Group on Health survey found.

Employers also step in by providing tip sheets, question lists, coaching and other programs, such as rewarding healthy lifestyles with discounts on insurance premiums, said Helen Darling, NBGH president.

"If we can get people to stop making themselves sick" because of poor lifestyle habits, Darling said, 'they won't need to go to the doctor but once a year."

No Turning Back
By Terence F. Shea
From HR Magazine on Tuesday, January 1, 2008

Helen Darling, president of the Washington, D.C.-based National Business Group on Health, representing major employers' perspectives on health policy issues, says that even if the early stages of such major health reform were to get under way after an administration change following the presidential election, it would be at lease 2012 before the course of employer-sponsored health coverage could begin to be altered. It would be an enormous political, budgetary and economic undertaking, she says. "I don't think it's going to happen."

Prescription for Survival: How to Control Healthcare Costs
By Adrienne Selko
From Industry Week on Tuesday, January 1, 2008

Another new program adopted by Dow addresses the prevailing issue of obesity. The LightenUp program is the result of a four-year health study, funded by the U.S. National Institutes of Health, to evaluate and promote weight management and physical activity at the worksite. Twelve U.S. Dow sites were selected to participate: three control sites, four moderate and five intense intervention sites. Cornell University, the University of Georgia and the National Business Group on Health are all partners in this program. To date over 3,000 employees are participating in the program, which offers healthy food alternatives, access to physical activities as well as employee recognition programs.

National Business Group on Health Honors Best Employers for Healthy Lifestyles
By Adrienne Selko
From Industry Week on Tuesday, January 1, 2008

The National Business Group on Health, a national non-profit organization recognized on May 9 more than three dozen U.S. employers for their continuing efforts to promote healthy work environments and encourage workers to live healthier lifestyles.

"Wellness and lifestyle improvement programs are rapidly becoming a top priority at many large employers, and with good reason," said Helen Darling, President of the Business Group.

Employers Offering Financial Rewards for Healthy Behavior
By Adrienne Selko
From Industry Week on Tuesday, January 1, 2008

A study conducted in November of 2007 by the National Business Group on Health and Watson Wyatt, revealed that almost half (46%) of the 355 large employers interviewed said they currently offer financial incentives to their workforces to encourage healthy behaviors.

Looking toward 2008, LuAnn Heinen, director of the Institute on the Costs and Health Effects of Obesity for the National Business Group on Health says that employers are especially focused on consumer engagement. "We will see expanded use of incentives to spur not just participation but continued involvement in health improvement initiatives. Incentives are designed to overcome the tendency we all share to favor pleasure today over good health tomorrow. In addition, companies continue to work on building their own "culture of health" and changing the environment at work to make healthy choices a "downhill slide."

She points out that the new choices will include healthier food in company cafeterias, at meetings and catered events, and in vending machines as well as more opportunities than ever for walking programs, fitness offerings and weight loss initiatives (including individual support and coaching as well as group campaigns and team competitions) at work.