Benefit Breakdown Newsletter

Benefit Breakdown Newsletter – October 2022

Trending employee benefits that strengthen attraction and retention efforts

Attraction and retention are top of mind for employers in the wake of "The Great Reshuffle” — the mass movement of workers to jobs that prioritize their needs — and macro trends like the tight labor market. According to Zywave’s 2022 Attraction and Retention Benchmarking Overview, more than 75% of employers consider attraction and retention among the top five business challenges for their organizations. As a result, many employers are expanding and enhancing their benefits offerings to remain or become more desirable to employees.

The benefits that may be helpful to employers’ attraction and retention efforts include:

the availability of telemedicine;
flexible work arrangements;
competitive compensation;
career development opportunities; and
student loan assistance.

Various labor market trends are driving employees to demand better benefits packages. There are many benefits employers can offer to attract and retain workers. Some perks, like ones that help lessen the effects of inflation through competitive compensation and student loan assistance, became popular during the pandemic. Employers should consider expanding benefits offerings such as these to improve their overall attraction and retention efforts.

What employers should know about prior authorization

Prior authorization — also referred to as preauthorization, preapproval or precertification — is the process by which medical providers obtain approval from a patient’s health plan or insurance before administering specific medications, treatments or procedures. This process aims to protect patient health and improve affordability by reducing unnecessary medical expenses. Both medical and prescription drug plans use prior authorizations.

Understanding prior authorization can enable employers to assist their employees in receiving adequate care and preventing the misuse of prescription drugs. It can aid organizations in reducing their overall medical expenses by helping employees avoid unnecessary or delayed treatment and denied claims. To do this, health plans partner with medical professionals to identify efficient and effective treatments, improve patient outcomes and reduce medical expenses for the health care system. Despite the benefits prior authorization can provide, the process’s requirements are controversial because they can often lead to delayed treatment and negative patient outcomes, hinder patient progress or burden physicians and their staff.

Prior authorization acts as a safeguard to keep individuals healthy by ensuring appropriate and effective medications are prescribed. It can also help make healthcare more affordable by providing patients and providers with coverage information and lower-cost alternatives.

For more information about employee benefits, our services and products, contact HANYS Benefit Services by email or call 800.388.1963.

SECURE 2.0 Discussion Series: Session Two

The retirement industry has been buzzing since the SECURE 2.0 Act was signed into law last December. This new, comprehensive legislation has sparked a lot of discussion. As with any major reform, it will take time for the industry to fully adapt and understand all its implications. Following our April 11 webinar on the first three months of the industry’s response, our team reconvened to discuss some of what we have heard from our client and vendor partners and to respond to some of the great questions we heard from attendees. Panel participants included the following HBS team members: Noah Buck, Christina Bauer-Dobias, Sean Bayne, Vincent Bocchinfuso and Kathleen Coonan. The Discussion SB – Throughout the webinar, I wanted to stress two things: 1) confusion about where to start and what is expected from plan sponsors is normal; and 2) even more than three months in, this is a developing situation and people should expect changes as time goes on. With those in mind, engagement through

SECURE 2.0 Discussion Series: Session One

SECURE 2.0 provisions: What we know and what’s still up in the air The SECURE 2.0 Act, signed into law in late December 2022, has factored heavily in retirement industry discourse since the final legislation was published. As with any legislation of this depth and breadth, there’s a lot to digest and the industry takes time to adjust. Our team of experienced advisors recently met to discuss some of the more nuanced provisions of the legislation, such as changes to Roth contributions, and what they could mean for plan sponsors. Panel participants included the following HBS team members: Noah Buck, Christina Bauer-Dobias, Sean Bayne, Vincent Bocchinfuso and Kathleen Coonan. Highlights of our panel’s conversation below should serve to help guide plan sponsor thinking. On Roth employer contributions NB – In addition to deferring pre-tax or Roth, plan sponsors can now allow employer contributions to be classified as Roth, is that right? VB – Correct. This is immediately available to plan s

What you should know about biosimilars

Rapidly increasing healthcare costs will likely continue to impact employers for the foreseeable future. As a result, many employers are considering strategies to manage these costs, including rising prescription drug costs. The introduction of biosimilar drugs as an alternative to biologics may bring value to healthcare by offering cost savings and increasing employee access to necessary medications. While biosimilars can potentially combat rising prescription drug costs, employers will need to learn more about them before considering how their health plans can accommodate these newer drugs. This article explores biosimilar drugs and ways employers can promote or manage their use. What are biosimilars? The European Medicines Agency defines a biosimilar as “a biological medicine highly similar to another already approved biological medicine.” It is produced from living organisms — humans, animals or microorganisms, meaning they aren’t created from synthesized chemicals. They are also

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