The ALS Group
April 30, 2013
We manage more than a quarter billion dollars of premiums for a diverse range of clients around the globe.
Employers should be concerned about the possibility of higher health care costs in 2014. Depending on the industry, some employers may be hit with premium increases and could possibly see penalties. For instance, employers in the hospitality sector such as retail and restaurant industries could see average increases of 60 percent in their health care costs. According to a report last month from the Society of Actuaries, the reasons for these increases are being attributed to the greater use of health care services by individuals who had previously had no coverage, and they further predict that the claims costs could increase by another 32% as early as 2017.
In January of this year the National Council on Compensation Insurance (NCCI) changed the methodology of determining an individual employer’s experience modification factor. In a blog published in July of last year, we warned our Clients and Friends of the Firm about the upcoming change and significant impact it may have on their workers’ compensation premiums. In the same blog we explained how a company’s loss history will impact premiums for at least three (3) years after losses occur.
Many Baby-Boomers have helped one or more of their parents with the difficult emotional and financial decisions related to long-term continuing care. While Medicare covers skilled nursing care, it does not pay for continuing care in nursing homes or assisted-living facilities. Nor does Medicare pay for home attendants, who provide personal care, such as bathing and dressing, which can easily cost $500 or more a day. In response to their financial advisor’s recommendations and their involvement with their parent’s experience(s), many “Boomers” have purchased long-term care insurance to cover a significant percentage of these costs.
Last week we spoke about the importance of reputational risk management. We offered you some tips on what you can do to be proactive and actively seek out and be informed on what is being said about your organization. Now, you can monitor and measure all you want, but eventually, a crisis will occur, and the purpose of this post is to advise you on what to do when something does actually happen. Of course, all crisis response plans should be tailored and unique to your specific organization’s culture, goals and problem. A 2005 survey of senior risk managers by the Economist Intelligence Unit found that less than half of
“It takes 20 years to build a reputation and five minutes to ruin it. If you think about that, you’ll do things differently.” – Warren Buffet
The world economy is becoming even more global and with that, exposure to risks posed to employees traveling abroad continues to grow; thus it becomes ever more apparent that any company should take a more 3-dimensional approach to risk. This means that as your employees travel abroad in order to bring in more business, Senior Management must also consider how they [employees] are protected.
To continue the discussion of Enterprise Risk Management (ERM) and its role within the business world The ALS Group held its second ERM meeting to discuss recent articles that show the influence of ERM today in business. One periodical that often speaks of ERM is Rough Notes. This week’s discussion revolved around The Institutes update of the ARM course curriculum to include ERM into its material; see here for the article written by Michael Moody.
Many mid-market employers are becoming increasingly concerned regarding the rising costs of workers compensation coverage in the hardening insurance market. These cost increases combined with uncertainty over the magnitude of cost increases related to implementation of the Patient Portability and Affordable Care Act (aka Obamacare) have employers scrambling to identify alternatives to reduce cost going forward.
I read an interesting article in this month’s Claims Management magazine about claim letter templates. The article was fairly lengthy and discussed how to improve and organize templates to add to claims efficiency (for the carrier). Makes sense, right? Well, maybe…
Our areas of expertise include:
At The ALS Group, we help clients achieve their strategic goals via expert and insightful identification, quantification, and mitigation of the risks that could impact their business, or present opportunities for it.
More Information: info@thealsgroup.com
Florida
1800 NW Corporate Blvd Ste 202
Boca Raton, FL 33431
Tel: +1-561-437-0024
At The ALS Group, we help clients achieve their strategic goals via expert and insightful identification, quantification, and mitigation of the risks that could impact their business, or present opportunities for it.
More Information : info@thealsgroup.com
New Jersey
175 Main St
Woodbridge, NJ 07095
Tel: +1-732-395-4250
Florida
1800 NW Corporate Blvd Ste 202
Boca Raton, FL 33431
Tel: +1-561-437-0024