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5500 Preparer's Manual for 2012 Plan Years
The premier resource in the field of Form 5500 preparation, 5500 Preparer's Manual will help you handle the required annual Form 5500 filings for both pension benefits and welfare benefit plans.
from Spencer’s Benefits Reports: Employers are becoming dependent on affordable Web-based technology to communicate employee benefits to workers, according to the 2007 Employer Survey released by United Benefit Advisors (UBA). More than 70% of employers provide online network provider directories, 56% provide Web-based benefits-related forms, and 51% provide summary plan descriptions to employees on the Internet. UBA found that 25% of employers currently provide side-by-side comparisons of plan offerings online, and 22% provide access to online hospital cost or quality information; however, nearly 75% of employers would like to offer these services in the future.
UBA found that half of all employers provide employees with online access to various benefits-related Web sites. Online tools that allow employees to project their medical costs or choose among the various plans offered currently are only utilized by 5% to 7% of employers, but more than 60% of employers would like to offer such employee decision-support tools in the future. The survey noted that the most common employee communications tool was employee meetings (91%), followed by nonpersonalized handout materials (83%), individually personalized handout materials (41%), and a dedicated employee benefits portal Web site (30%).
In addition, UBA found that the adoption of personal health management strategies by employers of all sizes continues to increase. Nearly 25% of employers currently provide wellness and/or health risk assessment programs, and an additional 50% would like to add these programs in the future. Between 30% and 50% of employers hope to add the following programs in the future: employee decision-support tools; formal disease management programs; early warning tools to identify chronic conditions and potentially serious claims; and online enrollment/employee self-service.
UBA found that employers are placing a greater emphasis on educating employees, rather than plan design changes, to help reduce the cost of health care. More than 70% of employers believe that employees can become better health care consumers if given the right tools to do so (i.e., provider cost and quality information). In contrast, 53% of employers believe that plan design changes (i.e., high-deductible health plans or increased coinsurance) will make employees better consumers.
The survey contains responses from 1,746 employers. For more information, visit http://www.benefits.com.
For more information on this and related topics, consult the CCH Pension Plan Guide, CCH Employee Benefits Management, and Spencer's Benefits Reports.
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