Break from the Grind November 30, 2017

A Little Friday File Fun

And now it's time for FRIDAY FILES!
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In Lake County, Florida, a man crashed his truck into an SUV in a busy intersection in his neighborhood—apparently on purpose. “People are always running the stop sign at this intersection and since you guys (law enforcement) don’t do anything about it, I did,” Homer told Lake County sheriff’s deputies after his Sunday smashup, according to Orlando station WFTV. No one was hurt in the accident. The man was charged with two counts of aggravated battery with a deadly weapon and one count of reckless driving.

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In California, a woman attending a performance of California’s North State Symphony orchestra dozed off during a performance of “The Firebird” by Igor Stravinsky. However, the crash of drum woke her up and she let out a loud scream. The Huffington Post reports that most of the audience laughed, and even the orchestra director smiled and snuck a quick look over his shoulder as he conducted the orchestra.

In Seattle, Washington, a family found a snake in their toilet. While this is not unheard of, the snake they found was not just any snake. KOMO-TV reports the family called police after a child found the 4-foot ball python in the toilet.

In Toronto, Canada, a woman has real issues with Santa Claus. The Huffington Post reports that a cell phone video posted online shows the woman yelling at a mall Santa. She asked, “Do you have a sleigh?” and also proceeded to say, “You’re not magic; you’re not even real! I heard about it when I was a young kid!” Santa avoided engaging with the woman. A mall spokeswoman confirmed to HuffPost that mall security guards spoke to the woman, who then left without incident.
In Sudbury, Massachusetts, police stopped a car with an enormous Christmas tree on the roof. Let’s just say, if the tree covers the whole car, it’s not safe to transport.

It’s not just cats that like riding on Roombas.

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If you have an Alexa or Google Home, be careful who, or what, is listening to your commands.

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There’s only one good girl in this house!

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Benefits November 30, 2017

Best Practices for Health Benefit Cost Savings

Among large employers, those Gallagher identifies as best-in-class use proactive planning to spend less, while best-in-class mid-size employers rein in costs without shifting the burden to employees.

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Findings from Gallagher’s two new Best-in-Class Benchmarking Analysis reports reveal strategies large and mid-size employers are using to balance health benefit costs with providing benefits that attract and retain top talent.

While large employers (1,000 or more full-time employees) spend more than mid-size employers on benefits, what Gallagher calls the best-in-class in the large group leverage their scale to keep a tighter lid on their financial outlay. Sixty-two percent of the best-in-class group spend less than $10,000 per eligible employee on benefits, compared to just 42% of large employers overall.

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Some per-employee savings are due to the best-in-class paying a smaller share of employee health and long-term disability premiums, but they also take a more strategic approach to benefits planning. Forty-six percent have a multi-year strategy versus just 27% of their peers. Advance planning enables these top employers to make more informed spending and health care decisions.

The best-in-class are also more likely to view total compensation as an investment in maximizing workforce performance to achieve business outcomes (38% vs. 25%) and prioritize objectives that support production and productivity, such as employee health and wellbeing.

What mid-size employers are doing

Compared to other mid-size employers, the best-in-class were less likely to increase employees’ contributions to health plan premiums (43% vs. 57%) and their cost share through plan design changes (41% vs. 55%), such as higher deductibles, copays or coinsurance.

Instead of passing along higher health insurance costs to employees, the best-in-class are experimenting with other ways to manage total health care spending, such as offering fewer plan options—often choosing to self-insure their medical plans and carving out pharmacy benefits.

Mid-size best-in-class employers also invest more in programs for employee wellness (63% vs. 54%) and disease management (45% vs. 31%). Measures of success include employee engagement and satisfaction as well as participation.

This year’s reports use selected data from 1,192 mid-size employers and 315 large employers that responded to Gallagher’s 2017 Benefits Strategy & Benchmarking Survey. View the reports here: http://www.ajg.com/bic2017.

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