HCW Company News

Contributor:
Renata Brophy, Triad Regional Manager
Hill, Chesson & Woody

It is crucial to know where your organization stands when compared to other North Carolina employers. Even more important is where you want your benefits plan to benchmark in relation to your overall strategic business objectives.

The NC Healthcare Benefits & Cost Survey, co-developed by CAI & HCW, provides the only state-specific benchmarking data available in our marketplace. From this year's survey, we saw a few major points:

Last week at the CAI HR Management Conference, we asked attendees to test their benefits knowledge by answering several tough benefits questions. Now it’s time to find out the results! We’ve quizzed our experts and noted their answers below. Did you answer correctly?

Name 3 specific provisions of healthcare reform will encourage employers to self fund their health plans.

1. Modified Community Rating
2. Medical Loss Ratio
3. Guaranteed Issue

How many days a week does wellness author Tom Rath say that individuals need to exercise in order to be happier and have significantly less stress?

2

What are 3 main tax advantages to owning a Health Savings Account?

1. Funds go in tax-free
2. Funds grow tax-free
3. Funds are distributed tax-free if used for qualified expenses

What’s the name of the program that allows employers to self-report the misclassification of employees as 1099 contractors instead of W-2 employees?

VCSP – Voluntary Classification Settlement Program

What is the penalty for self-reporting errors in employee misclassification?

An amount equaling just greater than one percent of the wages paid to the reclassified worker for the past year

Contributor:
Stephanie Clark, Marketing Coordinator
Hill, Chesson & Woody

December marks the time of year when people are inspired to reflect on the last 365 days that seemed to fly by. Looking back on 2011, HCW has had a number of reasons to celebrate. 43 of those reasons happen to be our awesome staff. We’ve begun to notice our break room getting more and more crowded at our monthly staff meetings, but we’re squeezing in and making room for the new family members. And these lucky individuals get to know quickly what it means to work at HCW…

We have a few traditions here that we all look forward to each year. We kick these off early on with March Madness, followed by Cinco de Mayo. Our Cinco de Mayo celebration this year consisted of a few flying tortillas, so we’re not entirely certain we’ll be allowed back to that particular establishment – but, our fingers are crossed!

Contributor:
Chris Tutino, Communications Specialist
Hill, Chesson & Woody

Hill, Chesson and Woody Managing Partner Todd Yates was recently featured in a four-segment interview on Business Leader Radio Network. Now it’s your chance to ask the questions!

Listen below to hear how HCW is helping its clients design, implement and manage the employee benefits program that best supports the strategic direction of its clients’ organizations. Then, post your own question and Todd will answer it personally.

Segment 1 – The first segment of the interview covered the ways HCW helps employers: stay safe within the tightening employee benefits regulatory environment; find the best strategy; communicate benefits clearly; and stay focused by doing the benefits administration work for them.

Contributor:
Todd Yates, Managing Partner
Hill, Chesson & Woody

Hill, Chesson & Woody (HCW) and CAI have launched the 7th annual NC Healthcare Benefits and Cost Survey to employers within North Carolina. Co-sponsored and developed by HCW and CAI, 778 statewide groups gained invaluable benchmarking insight last year by receiving a free copy of the 6th annual survey results, simply by providing their health plan information at http://j.mp/12-hc.

Open from Nov. 14 through Dec. 16, employers who input their plan information via an online survey will receive a report of the findings, which can be used to see how their plan stacks up against other businesses. The data is broken down by geographic location, industry, company size and other factors. This information is crucial in determining the competitive advantages necessary to recruit, reward and retain key personnel.

Contributor:
Stephen Hungate, Administrative Assistant
Hill, Chesson & Woody

“Hello, my name is Stephen Hungate. I work for Hill, Chesson & Woody, an employee benefits consulting firm, where I’ve served as administrative assistant for ten months. Ah, yes…it’s been a good run. In today’s environment...wait. What’s that? You have everything you need? You’re tired of talking to me now? Well, alrighty then.”

And…cut!

That’s a typical day for me. Being an administrative assistant, you know what you are and you know what you’re not. You’re not a comedian. You’re not Rico Suave. You’re not the reason the person on the other line is calling.

But, you are the vehicle that moves the conversation from point A to point B. (Literally, by use of a transfer button. It’s awesome.) You’re necessary. And, it’s a good feeling to be necessary. The position requires you to engage clients and insurance carriers and, frankly, anyone who calls. That may sound daunting at first – building relationships over the phone with someone whom you’ve never met. But, ultimately, it’s a great gig. You just have to learn how to connect with the caller.

Contributor:
Katherine Fernandes, Client Service Representative
Hill, Chesson & Woody

Did you know that behaviors such as poor diet, stress, and lack of exercise are among the leading causes of healthcare costs?  Personal choices often affect an employee’s likelihood of developing serious chronic conditions like diabetes, high blood pressure, and certain types of cancers.  With that in mind, why wouldn’t prevention and wellness be a major priority of any employer?

By providing employees with the tools and motivation to maintain a healthy lifestyle, an employer can do more than save themselves from paying hefty medical costs; they can ensure a healthier and happier workplace.

HCW considers workplace wellness a high priority. Our employee-led Wellness Committee provides the following toolkit to our staff:

Contributor:
Chris Tutino, Communications Specialist
Hill, Chesson & Woody

On Monday, July 11, HCW and CAI launched the inaugural and only North Carolina survey covering trends in healthcare strategies. The survey, which is separate from the two companies’ exclusive NC Healthcare Cost & Benefits Survey, is designed to discover:

• What other North Carolina business leaders' concerns are around their benefit plan,
• What they believe to be the most effective strategies to reduce healthcare costs, and 
• What actions they are considering implementing to reduce healthcare costs

While national benchmarking data is readily available by companies like Kaiser, Towers Watson and PricewaterhouseCoopers, etc., North Carolina-specific data on health and welfare benefit plans would not be around if HCW and CAI did not undertake the projects.

We encourage all North Carolina-based employers to participate 2011 NC Trends in Healthcare Strategies Survey! Those who take the roughly 15-minute survey will receive a full report of the findings, which will otherwise only be available for purchase from CAI.

Contributor:
Carol Wagoner, VP Administration
Hill, Chesson & Woody

One stop along my vacation route a couple of weeks ago was Disney; specifically and only the Magic Kingdom. I’m certain I was the only person in the park snapping pictures of Walt Disney quotes.  Yes, it’s an occupational hazard, or simply that I am a nerd. Either way, this quote caught my attention plastered to a construction fence hiding the new and improved “Fantasyland” to be unveiled in 2012:

Instantly, I thought of our little group in Chapel Hill. Teamwork and group effort are the foundation of many accomplishments at HCW, and I drive that point home at each monthly staff meeting when we talk about our wins. We win together and we lose together through our group effort.

Walt Disney was an innovator in the entertainment industry who dreamed big. We like to think of HCW as an innovator in the employee benefit consulting industry as well. Eleven years ago, our partners had visions of a premier firm delivering benefits management services to middle market employers, consistently profitable, easy to manage, and a destination employer.

Contributor:
Stephanie Clark, Marketing Coordinator
Hill, Chesson & Woody

This year, HCW has made a strong effort to offer free educational seminars to human resources professionals. At the beginning of the year, we embarked on a series of HRCI-certified educational seminars called “Eleven in 11,” hosted by our partner, Capital Associated Industries.

The Eleven in ’11 series features one topic roughly every month in 2011, held at CAI’s Raleigh and Greensboro offices. We’re halfway through the year with the 6th course being completed this week, and we’ve gotten excellent feedback on this series!

Topics covered so far have been:

1. How to Keep Your Wellness Initiatives from Running Out of Steam
2. An Employer's Guide to Medicare: Understanding Plan Basics and the MSP Rules
3. Reality Check: What's Driving Healthcare Costs and How it Affects Your Business
4. Benefits Stuck Between a Rock and a Hard Place: Aligning Your Benefits with Your Business Strategy
5. Reducing Healthcare Costs: A Complete List of Cost Control Measures
6. It's Not Hip to Be Square: Round Out Your Benefits Program with Effective Ancillary Benefits