Mercer Offers Health Benefits Decision Support

Mercer Complete Care helps employees understand their health benefits and make optimal provider choices, among other things.

Mercer and Accolade, a health care concierge for employers, health plans and health systems, launched Mercer Complete Care.

According to the Accolade Consumer Healthcare Experience Index, 80% of consumers would value having a trusted person to support them through the health care system, yet only 56% of large employer programs include even a basic advocacy solution.

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Mercer Complete Care unifies the clinical resources and expertise of both organizations, bringing together Accolade’s technology platform, support infrastructure and Accolade Health Assistants with Mercer’s program design, implementation and clinical oversight. Consumers using Mercer Complete Care simply contact an Accolade Health Assistant via the phone, mobile application or online to address their questions and begin their relationship. The program is employer-sponsored, compatible with most insurance carriers and will contain performance guarantees related to return on investment.

Accolade Health Assistants will serve as a single point of contact to help Mercer Complete Care members navigate the complexities of the health care system and access the providers and services available to them through their benefits. The Health Assistants work closely with a team of nurses, doctors, pharmacists, social workers and behavioral and other specialists who support members as they receive their care from their own providers. Accolade’s open technology platform integrates with other technology and health care point solutions to drive utilization and engagement levels across the entire health care ecosystem.

By offering Mercer Complete Care, employers can help their workforce and dependents:

  • Manage their physical and mental health conditions no matter their level of health risk;
  • Understand their health benefits and make optimal provider choices;
  • Consider their benefits, medical and life factors when making decisions;
  • Navigate annual enrollment and new hire benefit selection;
  • Tackle billing and claims appeals; and
  • Improve utilization of employer-sponsored health programs and services.

“We are very excited to combine health care engagement and clinical management into one comprehensive solution,” says Jim McNary, North America Region business leader for Health & Benefits at Mercer. “We believe Mercer Complete Care is a truly unique advocacy and clinical management model for the complex and fast-moving health care environment that all of our clients, and their employees, find themselves in today.”

Additional information is online here.

Parents Put College Education Savings Over Retirement Savings

More parents said they had money saved for their children’s college education than for their retirement, according to a new analysis of T. Rowe Price Survey data.

T. Rowe Price’s 2016 Parents, Kids & Money Survey found that many children (62%) expect their parents to cover the cost of “whatever college I want to go to.”

While most parents are saving for their children’s college education, the survey found they may not be using the most appropriate type of account to save. Forty-two percent are using low-interest savings accounts, and 27% are using retirement accounts that penalize savers for withdrawing money before retirement. Only 37% of parents are using a tax-advantaged 529 plan to save for their children’s college education.

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More than two-thirds (67%) of parents surveyed said saving for their children’s college education is more important than saving for retirement

More than three-quarters (76%) of parents would be willing to delay their retirement and 68% would be willing to get a second or part-time job to pay for children’s college education. In addition, while 58% of parents said they had money saved for their children’s college education, fewer (54%) indicated they had money saved for their retirement.

The survey sampled 1,086 parents of eight- to 14-year-olds nationally. Additional research findings may be found here.

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