The New York Times on Pittsburgh:

PITTSBURGH has undergone a striking renaissance from a down-and-out smokestack to a gleaming cultural oasis. But old stereotypes die hard, and Pittsburgh probably doesn’t make many people’s short list for a cosmopolitan getaway. Too bad, because this city of 89 distinct neighborhoods is a cool and — dare I say, hip—city. There are great restaurants, excellent shopping, breakthrough galleries and prestigious museums. The convergence of three rivers and surrounding green hills also make it a surprisingly pretty urban setting. And if the Pirates are in town, head over to PNC Park. Besides the game, the ballpark offers a great excuse to explore downtown Pittsburgh and the river views.

Worldwide ERC, the association for workforce mobility, and Primacy Relocation announced Pittsburgh, PA as 2008's "Best City for Relocating Families" among large metropolitan areas. The study ranks the likelihood of a successful relocation. Among the factors used to determine this year's ranking were recent job growth for 2007, percentage of nearby top-ranked colleges, average in-state tuition for four-year public colleges, percentage of population growth since 2000, amount of pediatricians per 100,000 population, and separate sales and income tax categories. Conducted each spring, this is the fourth year Primacy and Worldwide ERC have conducted the study. Read more about the study.

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.

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As reported by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, from 2001 to 2005 health care premiums increased at a rate 10 times that of the median income. The disparity was even more acute in the Ohio, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia tri-state area, where incomes either fell or rose at a rate less than the national average. The tri-state breakdown:

Other of-note findings:

• The employer share of health insurance premium costs has increased by 28% nationally
• Americans with private health insurance fell about 6%

Read the full report for national totals and state-by-state breakdowns.

The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette featured the Cowden Associates succession plan in their "Business School" column:

Jere Cowden knew a lot of lives depended on his own.

He was in his 50s with about 25 employees and all of his clients depending on his good health. That's when he came up with the idea that he was going to slowly turn his business over to his vice presidents.

"It hits you pretty early that you need the ability for life to go on if something happens to you," he said.

Now Cowden Associates, a business consulting firm, has a secure future that is no longer dependent on the well-being of one man.

"We're in the business to plan for clients. You better plan for the business, too," he said.

Over the next decade, with an outside cap of 15 years, the men who work for Mr. Cowden, 61, of Leet, will become the owners of the firm. As Elliot N. Dinkin, 48, of Squirrel Hill, and Vincent G. Wolf, 40, of Moon, the two executive vice presidents at Cowden, slowly take over, Mr. Cowden will slowly have less to do.

Read the whole article at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.

Cowden Associates' 2007/2008 Tri-State Employee Benefits Survey featured in the Pittsburgh Business Times:

A survey by Downtown employee benefits consultant Cowden Associates Inc. found that the number of businesses adopting some form of the so-called consumer-driven health care plan more than tripled since last year, but 107 out of 274 respondents, or 62.9 percent, said they were unlikely to offer the coverage in the future. Another 37 respondents, or 21.8 percent, said they had no interest in the plans, which usually incorporate a health reimbursement or savings account.

"It's a big change, and employees are not necessarily looking for big changes in the way their benefits are structured," said Cowden Executive President Vincent Wolf. "We seem to have hit a threshold, a ceiling, with these types of plans."

The full article requires a subscription.

Cowden Associates' 2007/2008 Tri-State Employee Benefits Survey featured in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette:

Cowden Associates' annual employee benefits survey reports that enrollment in [high-deductible and "consumer-driven" health care] plans, and the availability of the plans, increased over last year -- today, 8.8 percent of survey participants offered employees high-deductible plans, up from 2.5 percent in last year's survey.

That's a big increase, but the market for such plans is peaking, or at least appears to be, said Cowden Executive Vice President Vince Wolf. Of employers who don't offer such plans, 84 percent said they "are not likely" to or "have no interest" in offering them in the future.

Read the full article at the Post-Gazette website.

Cowden Associates' 2007/2008 Tri-State Employee Benefits Survey featured in the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review:

This year's Cowden survey included responses from 274 employers in the region, including for-profits and nonprofits, plus government employers. Company size ranged from 100 or fewer employees, to more than 10,000 workers.

The survey found that employers do view wellness programs as a way to hold down annual cost increases. This year's survey found that 50.3 percent of companies surveyed have wellness programs in place, up from 49 percent one year ago.

Read the full article on the Tribune-Review website.

Employers in Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Ohio believe the future of managing health care costs lies in helping their employees manage their health through wellness programs, according to Cowden Associates, Inc. Seventh Annual Tri-State Area Employee Benefit Survey.

Cowden Associates, the region's leading independent human resources, compensation and employee benefit consulting firm, compiled results of its 2007-2008 survey from 274 employers throughout the tri-state region. Survey participants include for-profit, nonprofit and governmental employers. Size of employers ranged from less than 100 employees to more than 10,000.

"Competition for talented employees is strong, and employee benefits play a critical role in attracting and retaining those employees," said Cowden Associates President and CEO Jere Cowden. "As regional employers work to attract and retain talent in part through strong employee benefits plans, our regional survey data allow them to benchmark themselves against their regional competition and develop attractive, cost-effective plans."

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When it comes to your health care, how do you define value?

For a growing number of employers in the region, there's a new, practical approach to answering that question when designing the medical benefit plans that provide health insurance coverage for most workers. Many experts believe the new definition of value could be the silver bullet for the health care cost crisis. Yet this new means of determining "value" is controversial and would limit the availability of certain services and procedures to those enrolled in health plans.

This new definition of health care value, known as "value-based benefits," determines the amount of coverage based on the value a patient receives from the product or service. In other words, how critical is it to one's life that he or she undergo a particular procedure or take a particular medication?

Read the complete article by Cowden Associates' Vince Wolf in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.