BRIGHT CLIENT
EMPLOYERS
H E A LT H
Tall
Order
a
Helping
Employers
Keep Happy,
Healthy
Employees
T
he world of health care coverage
wasn’t always as complex as it is
now. Today, there’s Obamacare.
Health insurance exchanges. Penalties
and tax implications – all associated with
how employers and individuals choose
health care coverage. And with this
complexity comes confusion. Employers
have been scratching their heads, unsure how to keep their employees happy
and healthy while complying with new
health care regulations.
Enter Employers Health, a national coalition of employers that is passionately
committed to providing resources, tools
and advice that help employers (a.k.a.
plan sponsors) deliver high-quality
health benefits at a sustainable cost.
Employers Health has had a pulse on the
changing health care landscape since its
inception in 1983, and has been a driving
force in helping businesses across the
U.S. navigate unchartered waters of the
health care industry. The organization
has always stayed true to the direction
of its founders: banding together to control mounting health care costs. Strength
– or in this case, savings – in numbers.
Adapting With The
Changing Industry
“Many of our original strategies are still
around,” said Christopher Goff, JD, MA,
CEO and general counsel, Employers
Health. “But over the years, we’ve grown
into a trusted employee benefits collective, committed to providing employers
with access to high-quality health care
benefits at a reasonable cost.”
Employers Health saw the bulk of its
growth within the past 10 to 15 years as
it created programs to meet the changing
needs of the health insurance industry. In
1999, the organization established Employers Health Purchasing Corporation – a
group purchasing collective that is focused
on purchasing medical, pharmacy, dental,
vision, behavioral health coverage, as well
as data warehouse and analytics services.
Fast-forward to 2014, when Employers Health Solutions, LLC (EHS) was
established. “EHS serves as a private
exchange evaluation organization,” said
Steven Burger, CPA, MBA, CFO, Employers Health. “EHS provides independence
when evaluating our customers’ benefit
offerings.”
What does that mean? If a traditional benefits consulting firm – that acts as a thirdparty advisor – sells health care exchanges
to its clients, it has to follow The Employee
Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA)
requirements. ERISA requires each employer to select a third-party expert to evaluate potential benefit offerings. “With EHS,
we can provide independence to help our
members in this way,” Goff said.
Where The Rubber
Meets The Road
“When the Affordable Care Act (ACA)
passed, we considered whether the
law would help or hurt our service
model,” Goff said. “To our advantage,
AT A GLANCE
LOCATIONS: Headquartered
in Canton, Ohio, with offices
in Columbus, Cincinnati and
Madison, Wis.
STAFF: 27 employees
6
SIZE: Employers Health serves more than
300 member organizations in 30 states
and covers more than 3 million lives
(employees, spouses, children, retirees)