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    <title>Shober Employee Benefit Services News and Information</title>
    <link>http://www.shoberebs.com</link>
    <description>
      This information is provide by Shober Employee Benefit Services to help our clients
      stay informed about events in the healthcare industry, as well as to display news or other
      information about Shober Employee Benefit Services.
    </description>
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<title>A Simple Health-Care Fix Fizzles Out</title>
      <link>http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703652104574652401818092212.html?mod=WSJ_WSJ_US_HealthCareReform26_4</link>
      <description>
        <![CDATA[By KEITH J. WINSTEIN It sounds like such a simple concept: Study different medical treatments and figure out which delivers the best results at the cheapest cost, giving patients the most effective care.
Even before Congress took up the now-stalled health-care overhaul, it appropriated $1.1 billion to fund these studies. Both the Senate and the House included it in their versions of the bill. President Barack Obama backed it.
Yet, an examination of one of the best-known examples of a comparative-effectiveness analysis shows how complicated such a seemingly straightforward idea can get. ]]>
      </description>
      <pubDate>Thu, 18 Feb 2010 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate>




      <title>Report Takes Aim at Rising Health-Insurance Premiums</title>
      <link>http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703315004575073013721784050.html</link>
      <description>
        <![CDATA[By PATRICK YOEST WASHINGTON—The Department of Health and Human Services took aim Thursday at health insurers for what it characterized as "massive increases" in insurance premiums, highlighting one company's 39% premium increase for an individual plan in California.
Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius held a news conference to highlight a department report showing double-digit percentage increases in health insurance premiums in California, Michigan, Connecticut, Oregon and Maine. The report specifically cites Anthem Blue Cross of California, a company owned by Wellpoint Inc., for premium increases as high as 39% for their insurance plans on the individual market.
The report argues that health-care overhaul legislation—a White House priority that has seen its prospects fade this year—would make the insurance market more competitive by making more information available about how companies are using premiums. An insurance "exchange" created by the legislation could also bar companies from offering plans if officials decide that premiums are out of line with the benefits offered by the plans.]]>
      </description>
      <pubDate>Thu, 18 Feb 2010 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
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      <title>How House, Senate Bills Would Increase Insurance Coverage</title>
      <link>http://online.wsj.com/article/SB126168224056204717.html</link>
      <description>
        <![CDATA[WASHINGTON--Both the House and Senate health-care bills envision a major expansion of health-insurance coverage to those currently lacking it, creating what would be the largest new social entitlement in generations.
But while the broad parameters of the bills are similar, their scales and approaches differ significantly. The House bill is more expensive--costing upwards of $1 trillion, compared with the Senate's $871 billion price tag. But the House bill also extends coverage to 36 million people, while the Senate bill would cover 31 million people.
House and Senate lawmakers will begin efforts to reconcile the two bills when they return in mid-January from their holiday recess. Here are some key differences in how the two chambers would seek to expand insurance coverage:
Beginning in 2014, individuals will be required to obtain health-insurance coverage or pay a penalty assessed when they file their federal income taxes.
Under the Senate bill, when fully phased in, that penalty will equal $750 per individual, or $2,250 per family, or 2% of household income, whichever is greater. The House bill would impose a penalty of 2.5% of annual income for failing to obtain coverage.]]>
      </description>
      <pubDate>Mon, 04 Jan 2010 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
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      <title>How Health Costs Can Lower Tax Bills</title>
      <link>http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703300504574567781847701974.html</link>
      <description>
        <![CDATA[This may be the year to take a tax deduction for medical expenses. 

This write-off has long been one of the least useful for most taxpayers because medical costs have to be a significant percentage of income to be deductible. But this year the economy's convulsions have left an estimated 16% of the U.S. work force—25 million people—unemployed or underemployed. And many are digging into their own pockets to cover medical bills, insurance premiums or Cobra payments. Meanwhile health costs have surged, even for those with coverage. The upshot is that more people are likely to qualify to take it than in the past.
 ]]>
      </description>
      <pubDate>Thu, 03 Dec 2009 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
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      <title>President Makes His Pitch</title>
      <link>http://online.wsj.com/article/SB125251148557696003.html</link>
      <description>
        <![CDATA[WASHINGTON-Calling the initiative "my plan," Mr. Obama set the size of a health-insurance plan at $900 billion over 10 years, a figure smaller than versions approved in the House and fully paid for, he said, by spending cuts and tax increases. Most individuals would be required to purchase health insurance, but the costs would be mitigated by generous tax credits. Large employers would also face a requirement to offer health coverage to employees or pay a fine, while most small businesses would be exempt.]]>
      </description>
      <pubDate>Fri, 11 Sep 2009 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
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      <title>Burger Chain's Health-Care Recipe</title>
      <link>http://online.wsj.com/article/SB125149100886467705.html</link>
      <description>
        <![CDATA[By SARAH E. NEEDLEMAN - Four years ago, executives of Burgerville, a regional restaurant chain, agreed to pay at least 90% of health-care premiums for hourly employees who work at least 20 hours a week. Today, the executives say the unusual move has saved money by cutting turnover, boosting sales and improving productivity. Burgerville's experience is notable for the food-service industry, where turnover is high and fewer than half of chains offer health insurance for part-time hourly employees, according to People Report, a research firm. The chains that do offer benefits pay on average 49% of the cost for employees working at least 30 hours a week, People Report says.]]>
      </description>
      <pubDate>Tue, 1 Sep 2009 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
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      <title>France Fights Universal Care's High Cost</title>
      <link>http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124958049241511735.html</link>
      <description>
        <![CDATA[When Laure Cuccarolo went into early labor on a recent Sunday night in a village in southern France, her only choice was to ask the local fire brigade to whisk her to a hospital 30 miles away. A closer one had been shuttered by cost cuts in France's universal health system.
        Doctors, trade unions and others have called national protests against French health-care cutbacks this year. One petition signed by prominent physicians said they feared the intent of the reform was to turn health care into a 'lucrative business' rather than a public service. 
        Ms. Cuccarolo's little girl was born in a firetruck.]]>
      </description>
      <pubDate>Fri, 7 Aug 2009 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
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      <title>MinuteClinic Treatments and Costs</title>
      <link>http://www.minuteclinic.com/en/USA/Treatment-and-Cost.aspx</link>
      <description>
        <![CDATA[MinuteClinic's team of board-certified practitioners are trained to diagnose, treat and write prescriptions (when clinically appropriate) for a variety of common family illnesses to patients 18 months and older (24 months and older in Massachusetts). 
MinuteClinic is in-network with most major insurers, so patients are responsible for either their copay or the price clearly listed on our treatments and services menu. For those who are uninsured or prefer to pay out-of-pocket, MinuteClinic accepts cash, checks and credit cards. Visit 
the MinuteClinic website to learn more about their offerings.]]>
      </description>
      <pubDate>Fri, 31 Jul 2009 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
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      <title>Mayo Clinic CEO: Medicare Payment Model is a Catastrophe</title>
      <link>http://blogs.wsj.com/health/2009/07/22/mayo-clinic-ceo-medicare-payment-model-is-a-catastrophe/</link>
      <description>
        <![CDATA[Denis Cortese, the doc who runs the Mayo Clinic, swung by the Health Blog’s office today to talk health reform. His bottom line, which he’s been repeating in public in the past few days: The big health-care bill unveiled last week in the House of Representatives misses a key opportunity to change the way Medicare pays for health care.]]>
      </description>
      <pubDate>Thu, 23 Jul 2009 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
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      <title>Ten Questions on the Health-Care Overhaul</title>
      <link>http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124812571962066393.html</link>
      <description>
        <![CDATA[It is crunch time for health care. Lawmakers who are trying to fundamentally remake one-sixth of the U.S. economy say this might be the most complicated legislation they have undertaken. Here are some basics that everyone can grasp -- and probably ought to, because the health bill, if it passes, will affect almost everyone.]]>
      </description>
      <pubDate>Tue, 21 Jul 2009 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
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      <title>Budget Blow for Health Plan</title>
      <link>http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124775966602252285.html</link>
      <description>
        <![CDATA[WASHINGTON -- Congress's chief budget scorekeeper cast a new cloud over Democratic efforts to overhaul the nation's health-care system, telling lawmakers Thursday that the main proposals being considered would fail to contain costs -- one of the primary goals -- and could actually worsen the problem of rapidly escalating medical spending.]]>
      </description>
      <pubDate>Fri, 17 Jul 2009 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
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      <title>Some Financial Medicine to Cushion Health Crisis</title>
      <link>http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124460090649600963.html</link>
      <description>
        <![CDATA[Finding the gaps in your health and disability coverage, 
        and then filling them, may be one of the best ways to protect 
        against financial disaster. The costs of illness contributed 
        to six out of 10 personal bankruptcies filed by Americans 
        in 2007, according to a study published online by the American 
        Journal of Medicine. Three-quarters of those affected had 
        health insurance. "It's perilous to assume that we are protected 
        just because we have a health-insurance card in our wallet," says 
        Karen Pollitz, a research professor at Georgetown University's 
        Health Policy Institute.]]>
      </description>
      <pubDate>Fri, 12 Jun 2009 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
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      <title>Republicans Offer Health-Care Plan</title>
      <link>http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124286548605041517.html</link>
      <description>
        <![CDATA[WASHINGTON -- Republican lawmakers stepped up their opposition to Democrats' plans for overhauling the nation's health-care system, introducing legislation on Wednesday that would give Americans tax credits to pay for health insurance.
The plan, backed by some Republicans in the House and Senate, offers a glimpse into how the GOP is mobilizing against Democrats' effort to create a public insurance plan and to require companies to provide or otherwise pay for health-insurance coverage for workers. Republican lawmakers say such measures would bureaucratize the nation's health system and stifle job creation. ]]>
      </description>
      <pubDate>Thu, 21 May 2009 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
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      <title>Employee Background Checks and Drug Testing - New ShoberEBS Strategic Business Partner</title>
      <link>http://www.carolinaconnectionsinc.com/</link>
      <description>
        <![CDATA[Shober Employee Benefit Services announced today the development of a strategic alliance
        with a employee background and drug testing company, Carolina Connections, Inc.  Carolina Connections
        specializes in pre-employment screening services with nationwide coverage, competitive pricing, 
        and fast turnaround. With solid background check information you can make sound and accurate 
        hiring decisions.]]>
      </description>
      <pubDate>Fri, 15 May 2009 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
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      <title>The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act – COBRA Revisions and Children’s Health Insurance Program Reauthorization Act</title>
      <link>http://www.shoberebs.com/file.ashx?FileName=COBRARevisions.pdf</link>
      <description>
        <![CDATA[Important News For Employers And Other Health Plan Sponsors: President Obama signed the 
		American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, which includes COBRA assistance for certain 
		unemployed individuals. Earlier this month, Obama signed the Children's Health Insurance 
		Program Reauthorization Act, which extends and maintains health coverage for uninsured children.]]>
      </description>
      <pubDate>Wed, 13 May 2009 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
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      <title>Engaging Employees through Effective Communication Tools</title>
      <link>http://www.shoberebs.com/file.ashx?FileName=EET.pdf</link>
      <description>
        <![CDATA[From Business Leaders Magazine (March 2009): In a time where we are faced with doing more with less, 
the most essential part of your business is your top talent. And right now, your top performers are more valuable than ever. 
Ensuring that they are engaged and motivated is going to be what sets your organization apart and gets you through to the 
other side of this economic crisis. How can you keep your employees productive and give them a sense of security and 
control in an otherwise uncontrollable environment? It's time to refine and execute a comprehensive communication 
strategy. View the attached article to view ways to engage employees.]]>
      </description>
      <pubDate>Fri, 08 May 2009 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
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      <title>To Your Health! Aetna's Proposal for Healthcare System Transformation</title>
      <link>http://www.shoberebs.com/file.ashx?FileName=AetnaProposal.pdf</link>
      <description>
        <![CDATA[The only certainty in life is change and transforming healthcare and health insurance 
	is a constant work in progress.  I believe this proposal by Aetna makes very important points 
	about how transformation should occur to make Healthcare more affordable.  Listed below are a 
	few statistics and ideas which are discussed within this proposal.  We know what the challenge 
	is for the future, now we just need to work together as employers, employees Insurance 
	companies, brokers, consultants, doctors and hospitals to develop, promote and implement the 
	best ideas and practices.  When we do that, we will be taking a big step to containing and driving 
	the cost of Healthcare and health insurance.

	1. 84% of Americas 250 million people have some form of Health Insurance
	2. 60% of firms offer health benefits to employees
	3. 16% of the GDP is attributed to healthcare
	4. Public Government and Private Sector must work together
	   a. Expand coverage to 47 million in the United States with great access and affordability
	   b. Create strong competitive market place where consumers have better information to make decisions.
	   c. Create incentive e.g. Section125
	   d. Facilitate consumerism and Health Savings Account into growth.
	5. Promote Preventive care and wellness 
	6. Give Customers/consumers easier access to healthcare information ]]>
      </description>
      <pubDate>Fri, 29 Aug 2008 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
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      <title>ShoberEBS Enhances Benefits Line up</title>
      <link>http://www.shoberebs.com/Services/Partners.aspx</link>
      <description>
        <![CDATA[As a growing and innovative employee benefit services company, Shober
        Employee Benefit Services has significantly enhanced the breadth and scope of our 
        benefit package resouces.  BCBS of North Carolina is a trusted, well-known, and 
        responsive organization with a 75 year history of providing over 1,000 different
        combinations of benefits. Contact ShoberEBS at 704-780-1070 to learn more.]]>
      </description>
      <pubDate>Fri, 22 Feb 2008 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
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      <title>Bubble wrap in the operating room</title>
      <link>http://blogs.wsj.com/health/2008/02/22/bubble-wrap-in-the-operating-room/</link>
      <description>
        <![CDATA[Leave it to the blog Aggravated DocSurg, one of our favorite reads, 
        to connect surgery and bubble wrap. We plead guilty to grabbing and popping 
        all the bubble wrap we can find. But that happens in the O.R., too?]]>
      </description>
      <pubDate>Thu, 21 Feb 2008 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
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