Health Insurance, a valued employee benefit

September 21, 2020

State Chamber Update

One of the most valued benefits businesses offer employees is health insurance. A few days ago, the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics released updated information about these costs. For private employers, the press release said, “The average cost of health insurance benefits was $2.73 per hour worked and accounted for 7.6 percent of total compensation in June 2020. Read the full release and view data charts >

With many employers approaching “open season” or decision time as they begin to plan and look ahead to 2021, we thought it would be helpful for State Chamber members — especially small business members — to hear about grant options that cover health care policy expenses from Damian DeStefano of the Delaware Division of Small Business, and policy options from providers like Nick Moriello of Highmark Blue Cross Blue Shield Delaware and Louis Memmolo of Weiner Benefits Group.

Mark your calendars for Thursday, October 1st at noon for our next webinar: Health Care Decisions in the Wake of COVID-19.

Disruptors

Today we explore two companies that rank numbers 27 and 28 on the CNBC list. I’m actually familiar with number 28, Ripple, who was a former client of mine during my lobbying days in Washington:

Trulioo: Trulioo is a global identity and business verification company that provides secure access to reliable, independent data sources worldwide to instantly verify consumers and businesses online. Through its worldwide clients — financial institutions, money-transfer companies and online gaming, to name a few — it has instantly verified 5 billion people and 330 million businesses in over 100 countries. Learn more >

Ripple: In a world where video can be streamed from the International Space Station, it’s crazy to think that the fastest way to move money from San Francisco to Bangkok is to bring it in a suitcase on a plane. Ripple’s goal is to change all that through the use of blockchain. The San Francisco-based company uses a cryptocurrency called XRP to facilitate cross-border transactions for its network of financial institutions. It also utilizes an interbank messaging system that’s used by banks to send money around the world. Learn more >

News You Can Use

On Tuesday we’ll see existing home sales figures for August and hear what Fed Chair Jerome Powell has to say about the CARES Act. Powell testifies, again on Wednesday, and several regional Fed Presidents have scheduled speeches that day as well. On Thursday, new home sales figures are released. We close a busy week on Friday with durable goods orders and core capital goods orders information for August.

Michael J. Quaranta

President

Delaware State Chamber of Commerce

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