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Plant and Harvest Your Wellness Budget Tree

… works diligently to ascertain wellness funds for our clients. Beyond improving employees’ health, putting these wellness dollars to work can drive down claim costs and generate savings for your health plan. This year, the EPIC New York financial team surveyed clients to develop a benchmark of their various wellness fund arrangements. We found that wellness funds are available to employers of any size, with every carrier, no matter if that employer is in a fully insured, minimum premium, or self-funded plan. However, the amount of those funds can vary greatly between carriers and depends heavily on the client’s …

https://www.epicbrokers.com/insights/plant-and-harvest-your-wellness-budget-tree/

Cost Modeling Projections

… claim with lifetime medical costs that can easily be in the millions of dollars. Typically, these patients, even when in an employer plan are Medicare-eligible. Employers should consider their obligations to establish a Workers Compensation Medicare Set-Aside Arrangement to indemnify Medicare for the medical costs they pay resulting from workplace diseases or accidents. Summary As of the date of this publication, our model calculates net decrease in healthcare spending of $135B in 2020 and an increase of $36B in 2021 as a result of all impacts of COVID-19. In this context payers include all private health …

https://www.epicbrokers.com/insights/cost-modeling-projections/

Why Now Is the Time to Address Your Employees’ Mental Health

… shortage of providers. Primary care doctors in fee-for-service arrangements are under-reimbursed for treating mental health and often prescribe medications without much follow-up care. Kaiser indicated that 50% of California mental health providers have moved to cash-only practices – so those seeking care in-network will have fewer resources to which they can turn. Kaiser Permanente’s response has been to increase access to providers and to integrate more expansive mental health treatment with primary care and other specialties. They have also increased telepsychiatry and embedded additional online resources and digital tools supported by live counselors …

https://www.epicbrokers.com/insights/now-is-the-time-to-address-your-employees-mental-health/

Survey Highlights Accounting Industry's Response to SBA Paycheck Protection Program

… the firms surveyed reported advising and assisting clients with gathering the documentation necessary to prepare the PPP loan application. Eighty-five (85%) reported assisting clients with the required average monthly payroll calculation required for the application. Less than half (46%) reported assisting clients with preparing the actual loan application. Fee arrangements for PPP-related services vary based on the specific advisory services provided. Time and materials arrangements were common to all firms surveyed. Only 25% of firms reported the use of fixed fee arrangements. Fifteen percent (15%) of the firms indicated that in certain instances, no fees were charged for …

https://www.epicbrokers.com/insights/survey-highlights-accounting-industrys-response-to-sba-paycheck-protection-program/

Lawyers' Professional Liability Report

… claim scenario. Clients create a team of lawyers from several outside law firms working with designated in-house lawyers and with other non-law firm service providers (sometimes including project managers, accountants, legal process outsourcers, legal staffing firms) to provide legal services for particular projects. Claims arising out of these arrangements lack centralized and documented supervision, management of deadlines and overall accountability, which results in the implication of most law firms involved. Claims seek to hold the law firms responsible for all key decisions impacting legal representation. Underwriters continue to attribute these “causes” to an erosion of disciplined execution of …

https://www.epicbrokers.com/insights/lawyers-professional-liability-report/

What Will COVID-19 Do to Healthcare as We Know It?

… very strict coverage rules. If the Republicans manage to hang on, healthcare responsibility is going to be pushed more to the individuals as signaled by the Individual Coverage Health Reimbursement Arrangement (ICHRA) regulations, which allow employers to shift healthcare to a defined-contribution benefit. No longer will employers be forced to absorb cost increases, which have become even less budget-able with this pandemic. These regulations are complex and force individuals onto the generally undesirable benefits available on individual exchanges, but for some employers and some segments of the population, this option will be appealing. Although our actuarial team …

https://www.epicbrokers.com/insights/what-will-covid-19-do-to-healthcare-as-we-know-it/

Claim Data and Trends

… not make it right or safe. Common sense is more important than a clever parsing of the tax code. Saying “no” to a client or perspective client is ok when you are presented with an “opportunity” in these situations. We have remained open for business since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States as we transitioned quickly to a 100% remote worker arrangement in early March. Please contact Jay Moroney and Owen Bailitz for assistance with risk management concerns or your account team with policy and coverage questions. [1] The sordid tale of Aequitas Management …

https://www.epicbrokers.com/insights/claim-data-and-trends/

SBA Payment Protection Program Considerations

… assurance is being provided, exercise appropriate professional skepticism when reviewing the information provided by the application as the risk of fraud is high with a government relief program like this. Here to Serve You During These Challenging Times We have remained open for business since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States as we transitioned quickly to a 100% remote worker arrangement in early March. Please contact Jay Moroney and Owen Bailitz for assistance with risk management concerns or your account team with policy and coverage questions. For more of EPIC’s coronavirus coverage, visit …

https://www.epicbrokers.com/insights/sba-payment-protection-program-considerations/