Member Newsletter

Fall 2019

Message from the President Happy Fall! There are so many things we associate with this time of year – colorful leaves, brisk morning temperatures, start of the school year, football and for employers, the bustle of open enrollment season! In the midst of this extremely busy time of year, I hope you make time for your own personal self-care and are able to preserve a healthy balance of home and work responsibilities. MBGH staff recently set aside a few hours to follow our own advice and connect as a team by making Zen tea bowls, part of an East Asian tea ceremony for guests to enjoy the hospitality of the host in an atmosphere distinct from the fast pace of everyday life! Our September 11th annual member meeting, luncheon and social event was a big success with attendees enjoying a delicious meal at the Metropolitan Club, an outstanding panel on Social Determinants of Health and a tour of the Willis Tower Skydeck. Check out event highlights and pictures below.  Our 2020 planning has already started! The MBGH team is actively planning programs for next year, including our BIG 40th Annual Conference. We’ve chosen our theme, the venue is set and sponsorship opportunities will be rolled out next month. Use the save the date link to put a reminder on your calendar.  Wishing you moments of peace and calm during this hectic time of year and I look forward to seeing you at our upcoming programs!

Cheryl Larson President & CEO 

MBGH 40th Annual Conference Health Benefits Transformation: Employers Unite to Reduce Waste and Improve Outcomes May 7 - 8, 2020 JW Marriott, 151 W. Adams St, Chicago Save the Date

LEARNINGS FROM ANNUAL MEMBER MEETING & SOCIAL EVENT

We really enjoyed our time together earlier this month! Nearly 100 MBGH members came together at the Metropolitan Club for a tasty lunch, a great presentation and wonderful desserts and cocktails. We began the afternoon with a discussion on Social Determinants of Health (SDOH) facilitated by MBGH Medical Director, Jan Berger, MD, MJ. Employers were encouraged to focus on this issue as social factors not only impact the corporate culture and can make a big difference in the health of the workforce, but this smart workforce investment can result in reduced health care costs as well. Panelists shared real-world examples of how employers can take small but meaningful steps to impact SDOH, including holding a vendor summit to ensure program alignment, tapping into community resources, and discounting healthy cafeteria options. Following the presentation, members had a chance to network and luckily, the weather held out allowing us to catch a glimpse of the beautiful Chicago skyline from the Skydeck of Willis Tower!  This event is just one of the many benefits of being a MBGH member. You don’t have to be in Chicago or even in the Midwest to take advantage of MBGH programs, services and resources – membership is designed to support employers of any size, industry or location.

"Loved the luncheon- great content and networking :)"  Leslie Kocher, Accolade "The event was great! MBGH does an excellent job of setting these things up and making everyone feel comfortable with talking with one another." Anthony McQuade, Wellthy

NEWLY ELECTED BOARD MEMBERS

The September board meeting provided an opportunity to review current and future MBGH programming, elicit feedback from the board on a variety of MBGH initiatives and elect three new board members. These new members bring with them a wealth of knowledge and real-world experiences – they are highly committed and incredibly enthusiastic about enhancing the value of MBGH to our members. Please welcome to the board:

John Butler Manager, Benefit Design Edward-Elmhurst Health "I am truly humbled and excited to be part of the MBGH board, an organization that I have looked to over the past decade for my own education and growth. I hope I can use my position to further the mission and success of MBGH."

Jean Galovich Manager, Employee Benefits Cook County "I look forward to working together with employee benefits thought leaders to identify and share strategies for improving the well-being of employees and for making available high quality health care at a reasonable cost."

Victor Villanueva Managing Director ROC Group "I’ve been doing employee communications for over 35 years. I’m hoping this experience can further help our members connect with and engage their employees in all facets of the health care and wellbeing arena."

WELCOME NEW MEMBERS!

MBGH’s success is driven by our members and we all benefit from our diverse membership base – sharing best practices and learning from each other is what makes MBGH one of the leading employer coalitions in the U.S.! Thank you for your support and participation.

Amino PBMI Zillion Group, Inc. View Member List

FALL EVENTS AT A GLANCE

MBGH has a number of educational events in the fall line-up. In conjunction with the Employee Benefit Research Institute (EBRI), MBGH will host two complimentary employer-only Chicagoland Regional Roundtables, giving employers an opportunity to engage in discussion with industry experts and peers on employee benefits research and policy, financial wellbeing and health care quality improvement. For your convenience we will hold two events — a lunch session in Lisle on October 7, and a breakfast session in Chicago on October 8. Choose the event that works best for you!

Employer-Only Chicagoland Regional Roundtable Monday, October 7, 2019 Lunch: 12:00 PM; Program: 12:30 to 2:30 PM Location: 801 Warrenville Rd., Conference Room 801, Lisle, IL

Register

Employer-Only Chicagoland Regional Roundtable Tuesday, October 8, 2019 Breakfast: 8:00 AM; Program: 8:30 to 10:30 AM Location: 191 North Wacker Drive, 37 th Floor, Chicago, IL

Register

Webinar: Hemophilia & Bleeding Disorders Tuesday, December 3, 2019 2:00 to 3:30 PM

Register

Later this year, MBGH will release an online employer toolkit on hemophilia management. If you are covering an employee or family member with hemophilia, then you know the financial impact of people affected by this rare and serious condition. This 90-minute webinar will share employer member case studies on ways to address the high cost of bleeding disorders and how: Over-prescribing and over-dispensing of clotting factor causes significant waste, increasing your costs Centers of Excellence can provide best in class treatment while decreasing the total cost of care Implementing a comprehensive benefits strategy that includes the right contracting, reporting and evaluation to hold your vendors accountable will support cost management efforts and help patients achieve better clinical outcomes

EMPLOYER TOOLKITS

Let MBGH take some of the work out of program planning, whether it’s enhancing your diabetes management strategy, launching an eye care benefit or tackling rising specialty drug spend. MBGH toolkits are chock-full of strategies to 1) build the business case, 2) review your current plan design, 3) support efforts to reduce employee health risks, and 4) drive behaviors that not only improve the overall health of your organization but also positively impact your healthcare spend.

View Toolkits

Our most recent toolkit, Osteoarthritis Management, was released in conjunction with the September 11 annual meeting. This toolkit offers insight into the impact of arthritis to your organization and provides free awareness and prevention resources. Considering 60% of adults with OA are between the working ages of 18 and 64, the cost to individuals and their employers can be significant.  Use these toolkits to launch or refine your current benefit strategy!

MORE RESOURCES

Benchmarking Surveys Offers a quick and easy way to measure what other employers are doing in managing health benefits with aggregate results provided to members at no cost – check out the most recent surveys on mental health parity, infertility coverage and policies around marijuana use. Employer members may also request a survey specific to their needs.

A new enhancement for MBGH employer members – one complimentary membership to WELCOA includes access to resources, training and certification courses – a $395 value. WELCOA

PURCHASING SERVICES

EmployeRxEvolution is our latest purchasing solution to help employers clearly define PBM contract terms and conditions. The result of contract optimization is improved transparency, increased flexibility in design, and a renewed focus on outcomes at the lowest unit cost. Optimizing your contract alone has the potential to realize PBM savings of 10-15%! Shortlister is an affordable alternative for navigating the rapidly changing wellness vendor landscape. As a MBGH member benefit, you can tap into this resource for finding and selecting a wellness vendor - whether you are just launching your wellness program, looking to replace your current vendor, wanting a “market check” to evaluate other options or exploring specialty vendors such as those with expertise in pre-diabetes and/or financial wellness.

SUMMER IN REVIEW

A number of educational programs and webinars were offered during the summer months, providing members with insights into employer best practices, chronic disease management and so much more! A few highlights below:

June 12 - Employer Forum on Pharmacy Benefits & Specialty Drugs: Oncology and Genomic Medicine Keynote Speaker: Ted Okon, Executive Director Community Oncology Alliance  Ted provided many pearls to help employers gain a better understanding of the nation’s cancer care delivery system and was joined by industry experts who shared how pharmacy benefits legislation and merger/acquisition activities are impacting purchasers. An employer panel provided insights into how they are shaking up the industry with disruptive policies and practices.  View Program Summary

July 16 - Impact of Migraine and a Migraine Education Program in the Workplace Facilitator: Wayne N. Burton, MD, Former Chief Medical Officer, American Express  In mid-July, Dr. Wayne Burton facilitated a webinar discussion on the impact of migraines. Participants learned that migraines often go undiagnosed, have a peak in prevalence during the working years (30-49 years of age), and although they appear inexpensive to treat, can cost employers significantly in both direct healthcare costs as well as indirect costs associated with lost work days. Case studies were shared that showed the positive impact of a workplace migraine education program. View Webinar If you missed any of our recent educational programs, no worries! The recordings and summaries from our year-to-date programs and annual conference are available on the MBGH website – capture all the learnings at a your convenience. View Program Summaries

MBGH IN THE NEWS

Over the past few months, MBGH was featured in a number of publications and provided expert commentary and background information on key industry issues including reigning in the costs of specialty drugs, chronic disease management coverage and effective strategies to address pre-diabetes.   A few highlights…

In a recent Business and Tech article, Cheryl Larson, MBGH President & CEO, shared how employers benefit when employees have resources to manage both their physical and financial health and what employers can do to achieve a “whole-person” healthy workforce.

Cheryl also contributed to a piece in Bloomberg Law , describing how employers are focused on reining in the cost of specialty drugs by moving away from traditional pharmacy benefit manager contracts and pursuing direct contract arrangements.

In a Benefits Pro article, Dr. Jan Berger provided insights into how a proposed amendment to the Chronic Disease Management Act of 2018 allowing chronic disease prevention services to be excluded from an employee’s deductible could be a boon for employers.

MBGH staff provided expert commentary on how employers can change the course of pre-diabetes in Human Resource Executive . Judy Hearn, Director of Member Initiatives, and Dawn Weddle, Director of Member Engagement, shared how employers are leveraging vendor partners, providing onsite, affordable nutritious food, and adopting value based benefit designs to reverse the course of prediabetes.

Denise Giambalvo, MBGH Vice President, and Cheryl Larson, MBGH President and CEO, contributed to the Managed Care cover story about PBM price transparency and accountability for performance. In this article, they encouraged employers to customize their formulary and shared how when employers optimize their PBM contract, everything changes including the bottom line impact of prescription drug coverage.

Denise also co-contributed to an article in Chicago Medicine Magazine (p. 22) along with Cheryl Irmiter, PhD, Executive Director of the Institute of Medicine of Chicago. They shared how key stakeholders convened to create a mental health collaborative to benchmark access to behavioral health services and outlined five key strategies employers can take to turn the tide on mental health including improving access and management of this chronic disease.

‘Eye’ spy a savings opportunity for health and vision benefits was the topic of a recent Employee Benefit News article. In this piece, the collaborative work between the MBGH and the Optometric Association (AOA) was highlighted including the development of a no-cost eye care toolkit to support employers in evaluating their current eye health and vision care benefits and the impact of these benefits on health care costs, employee health and quality of life, job satisfaction, and work productivity.

See all coverage here!

LEGISLATIVE UPDATE

There are a number of bills and amendments making their way through the legislative process that impact employers and the benefits landscape. Staying in front of these changes can be challenging. See below for important topics impacting employers.

Generally, a HDHP (High Deductible Health Plan) does not provide benefits until the minimum deductible for that year is satisfied. In June, President Trump issued an executive order that provides a safe harbor for preventive care. The Treasury Department and the IRS, in consultation with HHS, have determined that some medical care services and items for chronic conditions, including certain prescription drugs, glucometers, and peak flow meters, should be classified as preventive care. Learn More As U.S. support for the legalization of marijuana grows and more states approve marijuana's medical and recreational use, employers need to understand the relevant legal developments and how they affect the workplace. Your policies and practices may need a refresh! (This topic will also be covered at our January 22, 2020 Wellness, Wellbeing and Engagement Forum) Learn More

As of August 2019, Illinois is one of nine states that require employers to provide leave for parents and guardians to attend their children’s school-related activities. Other states have enacted legislation that encourages, but does not require, employers to provide school-related leave to employees. Now is the time to review your current attendance policies!

Learn More

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