Washington Business Journal:

http://www.yijianjianli.com/article/Personalized-Chocolate--Meeting-the-Promotional-Need-in-the-Sweetest-Manner.html
A survey by America's Health Insurance Plans, an industry trade group in D.C., found small-group coverage in 2006 averagex $312 per month for single coverageand $814 per montbh for family coverage. Helen Darling, president of the National Business Groupp on Healthin Washington, D.C., said that when evaluating plan employers should consider the quality of care providec to its members and not just the premiumm prices. First on her list is checking to make sure the insuredr is accredited by the National Committee forQualityg Assurance.
Next would be reading through the plans' HEDIS (Healt h Plan Employer Data andInformation Set) scores, whichj the NCQA accumulates to track plans on variousx performance measures. "You can find out thingxs like what percentage of theird members receivea beta-blocker after suffering a heartf attack," Darling said. "I'd also make sure the physicianse in theplan are, with very few board certified. And I'd want to see that the plan hasa 'centerds of excellence' program for certainh procedures such as organ transplante and cardiovascular care.
" When evaluating Darling suggested businesses ask for a breakdown of all pricesa to determine whether it might be cheaper to outsourcw certain part of the plan, such as prescriptiobn pharmacy benefits. Among the variousx types of employer-sponsored healthy insurance plans, managed-care options dominate the In its national surveyof employee-sponsoredd health plans, the consulting firm Mercer Humanh Resource Consulting found that preferre provider organizations (PPOs) were the most popular option in 2006, at 61 followed by health maintenance organizations (HMOs) at 24 Both HMOs and PPOs have contracts with networkes of physicians, hospitals and other health-care networks.
Members pay less for servicew provided "in-network," but typicallg have the options of payinghigher "out-of-network" fees to goiny to providers not in the network. HMOs are more restrictiver by having members selecta primary-care physician who must approved visits to specialists. PPOs typically carry slightly highe deductiblesand co-payments, but no restrictionds on visits to specialists - making the option generally more favorabls to members. In order to hold down premiums, managedc care plans are increasingly offeringy customers a tie red pricing planfor pharmaceuticals.
Members pay the leastt for generic drugs, slightly more for brand-name productsd in the plan's formulary of approved drugs, and the most for brandf names drug not on theformulary list. Traditional indemnity coverage, whicj accounted for about 50 percenytof employer-sponsored plans in the earlyt 1990s, has steadily plunged during the past decade and hit just 3 percent last year accordinh to the Mercer survey. The newest option is consumer-directeds or consumer-driven health plans, abbreviated as which feature high deductibles along with health savings accountsz or healthreimbursement accounts.
With such employees and employers can makea pre-tax contribution to a healthb savings account, which is used to pay for routinre medical care. Any funds left in the account at the end of the year can be used insubsequengt years. If the fund is the employee's coverage converts to a high-deductible managed-care plan. Proponents of Chaps say they help people becombetter health-care consumers because their own monety is involved.
Critics fear people will put off necessarhy treatment to avoid emptyingtheir "They are not the righy choice for every employer or every employee, but they can help both employersw and employees save money," said Jessica Waltman, vice presideny of policy and state affairs for the Nationakl Association of Health Underwriters in Arlington, Va. Waltmabn said some younger, childlesws employees decide to opt out ofan employer'sa plan because they typically don't get sick or even go to a doctor'zs office.
"A consumer-directed plan is a way to enticr younger workers to go into the company healthinsurancre plan," she said, noting the features that allows people to rollover unused funds for futurse health-care services. "There really are a wide array of health plansout there, but most peopl e (in employer-sponsored plans) end up with a PPO producyt because of pricing," Waltman said. Waltman also said employeesx are attracted to PPOs because they allow memberas the ability to go to any doctor inthe plan'a network without a referral.
"Employers will gravitatre to whatemployees like," she