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Category: Benefits Technology
SMB Human Resources interviews Cowden Associates' Executive Vice President, Vince Wolf. He discusses the results of the Cowden Associates 2007/2008 Tri-State Area Employee Benefit Survey, high deductible health plans and wellness.
Vince Wolfe of Pennsylvania-based Cowden Associates says that 84% of businesses responding to their 2007/2008 Employee Benefit Survey don't plan to adopt high deductible plans now or in the future. Wellness, he says, is the way to go.
Health Care being the number one domestic issue on the minds of voters, The Kaiser Family Foundation's health08.org has released a tool to compare the health care proposals of the US presidential candidates. The 2008 Presidential Candidate Health Care Proposals: Side-by-Side Summary reports candidate's positions in four overall categories: access to health care coverage, cost containment, improving the quality of care and financing. The candidates' summaries were prepared by Foundation staff with the assistance of Health Policy Alternatives.
Cowden Associates, Inc., the region’s leading independent actuarial and employee benefit consulting firm, today presented results from its first Tri-State 401(k) Plan Sponsor Survey. Results identify areas of 401(k) plan sponsorship and participation in need of improvement as the plans emerge as America’s primary retirement vehicle.
The survey provides a baseline for measuring the effectiveness of the Pension Protection Act, which was passed to make participation in 401(k) plans easier.
"Tonight, Jeff Levkulich shows us how much more private sector employees pay for health care than government employees, and why one local insurance broker feels the system can change to put everyone on a level playing field.
"In a survey done by Cowden Associates of Pittsburgh, local government spends 6%more than private employers on family medical coverage."
Cowden Associates, Inc. is pleased to present our Sixth Annual Medical Benefit Survey, featured in the business sections of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette and Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, and referenced in The Patriot-News . This year's survey includes responses from over 300 participants with participation growing each year. The 2006/2007 survey of employers in the Tri-State Region that includes Pennsylvania, Ohio and West Virginia, was conducted during November and December, 2006. The intent of the survey is to develop a summary of the key findings on a regional basis related to healthcare costs and plan design.
The law frees plan administrators from liability for investment performance, providing due diligence has been used in choosing investment advisors for the plan, according to Jim Bartoszewicz, president of Cowden Advisers Inc., which is based Downtown. For the first time, investment advice can be given directly to participants, but the advisers have to disclose all fees they receive.
"...companies can reduce the amount of paperwork they process and file, cut back on the number of phone calls concerning benefits and increase the accuracy and consistency of information they distribute to their employees," said Merle McGee, Cowden Associate's vice president of client services.