Work Life Balance Opinion: The "Sandwich" Generation

The holiday season is upon us and as we reflect on this past 12 months, I find myself being truly grateful of life events that create memories and stories to tell for years to come.   I remember when I was my son's age (12 years old) and watching my parents take care of my grandparents.  This "sandwich" generation is now where I am today.  I have a son that has entered middle school with all its challenges in addition to making sure my father is maintaining his health and independence.  The difference from when I was growing up is the technology of keeping in touch with family.  I wouldn't say it is much easier to be in the "sandwich" generation but with the smartphones and other means to communicate with family, the daily texts and calls feel like we are living in the same place.  Telecommuting has been around for years and with integrating online cloud storage systems and virtual office platforms, the business needs and family needs can be manageable.   I have always believed in a work/life balance and in our business world today, we can have both.

I recently came upon this article about telecommuting.  The trends appear to show that telecommuting is increasing its ground with businesses.  I am curious to see where the trend will be over the next five years:

https://blog.ifebp.org/index.php/telecommuting-who-offers-what-why

Leave your comments below on your thoughts about telecommuting.

Laudra's Lessons - "AMERICA'S BITTER PILL" ANALYSIS PART 2

This article is a continuation. Click HERE to read part 1

…… What happened to the Affordable Care Act that made it so un-affordable for so many?  What stood in the way?

First, Ted Kennedy became very ill with a brain tumor and subsequently died.  Healthcare’s hardest worker, most effective and ardent supporter was not there to champion the changes that needed to be made.

COSTS and POLITICS: Doctors conflicts of interest: 94% of all physicians accept consulting fees and free samples and that amounts to 7 billion for pharmaceutical reps and 18 billion in the form of free samples to doctors.  Hospitals and insurance companies provide enormous salaries to their top executives which are not often publicized. However, because of a SEC lawsuit, it was publicly released that United Healthcare paid their departing CEO over a Billion (no that is not a typo dollars in his severance package.

Sixty votes were needed in the Senate to pass the bill establishing ACA and that left those designing the plan open to blackmail from Senators that wanted something special in the bill for their state.  As an example, the Indiana Senator wanted the medical device tax lowered as there were device makers in Indiana. Drug companies, the medical device industry, and the “non-profit” hospitals leaned on the Senators in their states to exempt them from cost cutting that was needed to make the plan affordable.  It needs to be said, “non-profit” hospitals are anything but; they are big businesses and in some states the biggest with huge profits. Steven Brill gives one example: University of Pennsylvania Medical Center in 2009 had an operating profit in excess of 580 million and the chief executive officer took home four million in compensation.  Every Democratic vote was needed to pass the bill, so no Senator’s demand could be ignored.

The lobbyists really went to work, one example AMGEN, the drug company that wanted protection for their name brand drugs, delayed acceptance of generics and protection for their super expensive biologics spent more than 38 million on lobbying in the three years leading up to the start of the ACA. This at the same time that the company was being investigated in fifteen states for questionable sales and marketing.

In addition, the Republicans were determined to stop anything the new president submitted and they are traditionally opposed to big government programs. It should be noted that the ACA was modeled after plans that were proposed by Nixon and Johnson and passed by Romney.

RESULT: Americans cannot import their drugs from other countries, Medicare could not negotiate drug prices, no cuts in Medicaid payments, biologics are protected for twelve years; and thanks to the Supreme Court, namely John Roberts, there is no individual mandate.  The whole idea of insurance is sharing the risk. We all pay into the pot and when one of us gets sick the insurance pays for our treatment. Those young people who don’t want the insurance do have accidents and someday they will be old and the next generation will subsidize their insurance premiums.

To be continued…

Work Life Balance Opinion: Parental Flexibility

In recent news, Starbucks has announced that they will start to provide subsidized child and adult day care via Care.com for emergency situations for their employees.  This small, simple benefit can end up yielding huge financial and cultural benefits since 70% of workers have said they’ve had to take time off from work "or make other work adjustments because of caregiving."*

Here at EBC this got us thinking about Parental Flexibility, especially for Lachelle with her 18 month old daughter and Jessica, EBC’s Digital Marketing and Client Services Manager with her 10 month old son.  

Starting a family while also working on a career began with the best intentions. Then baby was born and all my plans were thrown out the window.  Going back to work full time was more physically and mentally painful than expected. On top of that, our new little one with his new immune system got sick about every other week and daycare do not allow sick babies.  But myself and my husband had zero sick or vacation days since they were all used during maternity leave. I suddenly understood the stresses of working full time and being a parent.  

I immediately start talking to other mothers at my job to see how they cope with this lifestyle, but they all had their own complaints that were similar to my own.  It all begins with this feeling that we didn’t have enough time with our newborns before we even had to return to work. The time off wasn’t just for the sake of our newborns but also for our own health.  Recovering from birth takes time especially if surgery is involved.

Through all this, I ended up needing and wanting to quit my job so that I could have the flexibility to take care of my family when they got sick and take care of myself both physically and mentally.  My husband also became stressed with the amount of time that his job was pulling him away from our new family. The whole situation became strained which is not how we intended to start a family.

Luckily for us, my husband was offered a job in an industry he always wanted to be in and I was fortunate enough to begin to work at EBC from anywhere I needed to be during hours that worked for my schedule.  We packed up our family and moved to a small town so that we could have the life we always imagined we could. I am so grateful for the opportunities we were given and the life we now have. But it pains me to still see so many women struggle with the same issues I did.  

It is a horrible thing to be stuck between your family life and career ambitions.  It is even worse when a company does not have policies that offers flexibility. While there are no federal laws that require companies to have parental leave or flexible hours, these benefits are becoming increasingly asked for by employees.  Especially in the age of globalism, people are realizing what other countries are offering their citizens and wondering why those benefits can’t be offered here. Low unemployment rates also means that companies are competing for employees rather than the other way around and therefore, benefits are becoming a top reason to apply for a job or choose one job over the other.  Companies no longer have the upper hand when recruiting the right employee and will need to start listening to the outcries for better parental and family-centric benefits.

The information below is provided by Lachelle:

Family Benefits

There is a law currently in place to provide job-protection for eligible employees who take time off work for certain family and medical reasons. This is the Family Medical Leave Act.  The DOL’s website description says “ The FMLA entitles eligible employees of covered employers to take unpaid, job-protected leave for specified family and medical reasons with continuation of group health insurance coverage under the same terms and conditions as if the employee had not taken leave.”

While this does offer job protection this only covers unpaid leave, therefore it would not be seen as a “fringe benefit”.  Also, only Employers with over 50 employees have to comply with this law so smaller employer groups are not required to provide any sort of family leave.  Lastly, this law has specific outlines for what type of leave is covered. The time off of work for a mother taking care of her child with chickenpox would qualify her under FMLA.  The time off for a mother who needs to take her child to the dentist would not.

In the interest of this article, what kinds of non-traditional employee benefits or “perks” can we think of that can be beneficial for new mothers, parents and families and are outside of the traditional benefit box?

• Flexible time off which can be used interchangeably for illness, vacation or whatever the person needs time off for (parent teacher conference, doctor’s appointments etc)

• Voluntary benefits – many voluntary benefits such as Accident products can cover spouses and children. This is especially useful for children who are active in sports and recreation.

• Option to work at home – even if it is just for one day a week or several hours a month, having the option to work from home for a new mother or father can be huge. It can relieve the stress of leaving their family or finding a sitter.  Thanks to the technology of this generation, many tasks can be done at home via phone, email, skype and the like.

These offerings can be provided by any sized Employer, in any industry, in any state and could potentially be that one differentiating benefit that draws and retains the employee talent you seek.

For more information on the Family Medical Leave Act, please go to the Department of Labor’s Website.

If you’d like to brainstorm on new employee benefits for your group such as the ones mentioned in this article, please reach out to us at Joni or Lachelle.

CNN Article Regarding new care benefits: https://www.cnn.com/2018/10/09/business/starbucks-care-benefits/index.html

*2016 study by the National Survey of Children's Health

Laudra's Lessons - "America's Bitter Pill" Analysis Part 1

A few years ago I read a wonderful article on the healthcare crisis in Time Magazine.  I wasn’t the only one who thought it was educational and insightful as the article won the National Magazine Award for Public Interest.  So when Steven Brill expanded his narrative to include the antics leading up to the Patient Protection Act aka Affordable Care Act aka Obamacare, I had to buy “America’s Bitter Pill,” money, politics, backroom deals, and the fight to fix our broken healthcare system.

I haven’t finished it yet so am some distance from his solution but am well into the problems that the states, the hospitals, the insurance companies, the drug companies and the lobbyists caused to keep the ACA from becoming what it could have been had everyone had the same goal – a better, less expensive health plan for the American people.

 Brill talked to all of the mentioned group. The President of the United States answered written questions submitted to him about the high cost of treatment and the abuses in our system. In 2014 we spent three TRILLION dollars on healthcare, “that’s more than the next ten biggest spenders combined: Japan, Germany, France, China, the United Kingdom, Italy, Canada, Brazil, Spain, and Australia.”  And in many cases, particularly infant mortality, our outcomes are far worse.

Healthcare has turned out to be a windfall for hospital administrators (who earn way more than doctors), drug company executives, and salespeople of medical equipment.  Apple is considered a premier American company but Medtronic, maker of all sorts of medical devices has nearly double the gross profit.   Healthcare is the only industry where technical advancement has increased costs. 

Healthcare is America’s largest industry and it is profit dominated. If the cost of healthcare is cut, incomes have to be cut as well.  Right now healthcare executives are getting wealthier and care users/patients are getting poorer.  Sixty percent of the 1,000.000 bankruptcies in the US were the outcome of high medical bills.

Stay tuned for more information as this will be my topic for the next few newsletters, or you can buy the book by clicking HERE.

Combat Diabetes at Work; Save Employees & Health Costs

In Hawaii, the percentage of the population that is diagnosed with diabetes is 13%.  A somewhat manageable sounding number, no? Well, there is another 41% that are categorized as pre-diabetic.  Meaning, if these people do not take steps toward managing and controlling this disease, it will turn in to a more serious Type 2. That means an astonishing 50% of our local population is diabetic or pre-diabetic!  Chances are, one of these two people are working for you.

As an Employer, what does this have to do with me?

For starters, diabetes is the second highest cost driver of medical and insurance costs only preceding cancer.  Studies have determined that for someone with managed, controlled diabetes the yearly cost for care is $45,000. As such an employee’s health plan sponsor, this directly impacts your group plan.  This number also does not account for the indirect costs associated with time off, absenteeism, TDI, FMLA and other aspects of chronic conditions that may affect your employee and their productivity.

As an Employer, how can I help my employees manage this condition?

There are many different risk factors that can be associated with developing diabetes.  Some may be genetics (highly prone to Asians, Pacific Islanders, men) however many of the risk factors fall into the  lifestyle category such as nutrition, weight management, physical activity, and compliance for pre-diabetics and diabetics to make subtle changes in their behaviors and prescribed plan of treatment.  Aside from the patient taking the initiative to want to change their risky behaviors and manage their diabetes, employers can be an environmental influence to help lead the patient down the path of behavior change. Swap out the soda machine for a filtered water dispenser, provide fruit and wraps at your next lunch meeting instead of bentos and chips.  Yes, employees may gripe at these unfamiliar changes at first, but if you make your intention clear that you care about them and they are an important aspect to your company, they will come around. Provide opportunities to be active. When appropriate, a standing or walking meeting not only gets you out of the office but it gets the blood flowing. Prop open that dingy stairwell door to encourage employees to take the stairs. There are even exercises that employees can do at their desk.  Any small change is a change in the right direction.

1/3 of adults lack the sufficient health literacy to effectively manage their diabetes.  While not an employers responsibility, here in Hawaii we do imbody a “work ohana” type atmosphere.  By providing a nurturing environment that fosters awareness and education with resources for your employees, it shows them how much you care.  You do not need to re-invent the wheel. There are many resources that are available to employers for your use and distribution. Click on the links below for specific programs and collateral:

National Diabetes Prevention Program

American Diabetes Association    

Department of Health    

HMSA Diabetes 101 Workshop

HMAA Gestational Diabetes Management Program  

UHA Diabetes Management Program  

Kaiser Stop Diabetes Class Schedule

HDS Diabetes and Gum Disease Connection

20 Exercises to Do at Your Desk

Laudra's Corner

I was scheduled to attend two seminars this past month which were to bring me up to date on what is happening in the health insurance world and other current events.  Unfortunately, I missed both of them. Quickly, I will tell you that nationally the Patient Protection Act (Obamacare) is in a world of hurt.

Without the individual mandate, premiums will go up.  In Hawaii we have the protection of the Hawaii Pre-Paid Health Care Act of 1974.  Where the federal law mandates coverage that Hawaii does not, we follow the federal law.  Where the Hawaii law mandates additional coverage, we follow Hawaii Law.  Employers do not have to worry about this.  HMSA, Kaiser, UHA, HMAA are taking care of this for you.

Thinking about why I had to miss two seminars, I am reminded about my frequent messages to you.  It is important to think about and buy your health/disability insurance in this order.  

1. Medical; medical expenses are the number one cause of bankruptcy

2. Disability Insurance

3. Life Insurance; but only if you have heirs that are counting on you to provide housing, education, and sustenance

4. Long Term Care Insurance; this coverage has gotten very expensive as this has not been a profit center for the insurance companies.  The younger you are when you buy it, the less expensive it is

Please contact us if you are interested in reviewing your options for Group Medical, Disability, Life, Long Term Care and More...