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Learn more about pressing issues in the healthcare community. Corporate Synergies provides you with fresh points of view and recent articles that are both relevant and timely.
The Kaiser Family Foundation - 2011 Employer Health Benefits Annual Survey
The Kaiser Family Foundation and the Health Research & Educational Trust (Kaiser/HRET) conduct this annual survey of employer-sponsored health benefits. HRET, a nonprofit research organization, is an affiliate of the American Hospital Association. The Kaiser Family Foundation designs, analyzes, and conducts this survey in partnership with HRET, and also pays for the cost of the survey.HRET subcontracts with researchers at NORC at the University of Chicago (NORC),to work with Foundation and HRET researchers in conducting the study. Kaiser/HRET retained National Research, LLC (NR), a Washington, D.C.-based survey research firm, to conduct telephone interviews with human resource and benefits managers using the Kaiser/HRET survey instrument. From January to May 2011NR completed full interviews with 2,088 firms.
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Business Insurance Ranks Top 100 U.S. Agents & Brokers
Corporate Synergies Group ranks fourth on the Business Insurance list of Largest U.S. Benefit Specialists and 60th on the Business Insurance list of the 100 Largest Brokers of U.S. Business. The rankings were published in the July 18, 2011 issue of Business Insurance. The rankings are based on 2010 revenues. Benefits Specialists are defined by Business Insurance as brokers who derive 50% or more of their gross revenues from benefit business. The Largest Brokers of U.S. Business list includes companies that derive at least 50% of revenues from commercial retail brokerage or employee benefits.  For more information please visit: www.businessinsurance.com.
Trends and Tradeoffs In Employee Medical Benefits
We know that financial executives face tough decisions every day in order to ensure the future health of their companies. And our industry is no different – between the rising costs of employee medical benefits and the development of healthcare reform, health insurance has been a topic discussed over many conference tables in recent months. At Corporate Synergies Group we are committed to staying on top of healthcare trends both across the marketplace and in Washington.
Amara Decision Affects Health and Welfare Plans, Too
In May 2011, in the case of Cigna Corp. v. Amara, the U.S. Supreme Court held that a misleading or incomplete summary plan description (SPD) for a cash balance pension plan could not support a claim for benefits under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA). Instead, the terms of the actual plan document were the controlling factor. While this was only one of the court’s conclusions in Amara, the impact will be felt by all ERISA-covered benefit plans—including health and welfare plans.
The Kaiser Family Foundation - 2010 Prescription Drug Trends
Prescription drugs are vital to preventing and treating illness and in helping to avoid more costly medical problems. Rising drug costs, implementation of the Medicare Part D drug benefit in 2006, and expansion of both the number of people covered by health insurance and the breadth of their benefits from the passage of health reform legislation in March 2010 have highlighted the need for a better understanding of the pharmaceutical market and for new approaches to address increasing prescription costs.
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