Zachary Karaul, Author at Spring Consulting Group

As the Cayman Captive Forum starts just this week. We are proud to announce Spring and our consultants have been recognized for multiple awards from Captive International’s Cayman Awards 2022. We look forward to continuing to do excellent captive work in all domiciles, including but not limited to the Cayman Islands.

Spring has been awarded for:

Background

On election day, Massachusetts voters were asked to approve or reject four ballot questions when casting their votes for Governor and Attorney General. The 2^nd ballot question focused on regulating Dental Insurance, which if passed would “require that a dental insurance carrier meet an annual aggregate medical loss ratio for its covered dental benefit plans of 83 percent¹” In layman’s terms, this means dental insurers will have to spend at least 83% of premiums on patient care instead of administrative costs, salaries, profits, overhead, etc. The legislation mandates that if an insurance carrier does not meet that 83% minimum requirement, they will have to issue rebates to their customers. It further allows state regulators to veto unprecedented hikes in premiums and requires that carriers are more transparent with their spending allocation.

Prior to election day, Massachusetts did not have a fixed ratio when it came to dental insurance and will soon be the first state in the nation to have a fixed dental insurance ratio. Although MA requires reporting from dental plans, there were no regulations on premiums. The proposed law sets up a protocol similar to what the Affordable Care Act (ACA) requires of health insurers, where in Massachusetts health insurance carriers must spend at least 85%-88% of premiums on care.

Over 70% of voters voted in favor of regulating dental insurance, the most one-sided response of all four ballot questions. Although at face value regulating dental insurance may seem beneficial for patients, the impacts are not cut-and-dry, and the legislation may affect multiple parties, from consumers to carriers and dentists and practice owners.

Leading up to election day, general reactions about the legislation from dental insurance carriers were negative, while it was supported by most dental practitioners. In fact, the ballot initiative was brought to fruition, in large part, due to an Orthodontist in Somerville. As we can see from the polling results, the general population, or consumers/patients, were also in favor of question #2 passing.

Potential Impacts

For patients: On the intangible side for patients/consumers, the law would provide some peace of mind that the money they pay for their dental insurance was going, in large part, to their care. There is also an indirect advantage to increased transparency, mitigating the typical confusion that surrounds insurance plans and payments. More tangibly, the change could mean that insurers are willing to cover more procedures as a means to hit their minimum requirement (good), however that could result in dental practitioners charging more (not so good).

For employers: We anticipate that the new law will give employers who sponsor a dental insurance benefit plan more control over pricing and protection against unreasonable rate increases. Since many businesses do not offer a dental plan, or offer it on a voluntary basis, the effects should be relatively small. On the other hand, if the law were to create a change in the number of carriers in the marketplace, this could have an impact on plan and network options and negotiating power.

For dental practitioners: With the change, one perspective is that dental practitioners will be able to better focus on the best care for each patient. They may also see an increase in business and revenue if insurers are allocating more dollars towards care and procedures.

For dental insurance carriers: Dental insurers largely opposed question #2 for obvious reasons, such as restrictions on how much they can charge and additional requirements they need to adhere to, but also for less obvious reasons. For example, some carriers argue that the law will require them to make up for profit loss by raising premiums, warning that they could increase by as much as 38% in the state². They have reason to believe this law will lead to less competition in the dental insurer marketplace, which typically does not benefit the consumer.

Conclusion

Having worked with Massachusetts employers of all sizes on their benefits, including but not limited to dental insurance, as well as interfacing with insurance carriers, being the broker representative for a large percentage of dental offices in the state and working with MDS, we are looking at this update from all angles. Our expertise and decades of experience in this industry enables us to make the following conjectures about passing of ballot question #2:

Dental insurance premiums may rise, but at a minimal rate
We ultimately believe this is a step in the right direction as an advocate both for our employer clients and their employees, and that transparency is a positive attribute largely missing from the healthcare experience today
Immediate impacts will also be minimal, but we may see some of the other factors mentioned above play out over the next few years

If you have specific questions about how the new law might impact your dental plan(s) or practices, please get in touch. In the meantime, you might be interested in watching our recent webinar, “Why Long COVID Needs Short-Term Attention” as you develop your 2023 benefits strategies.

¹https://www.sec.state.ma.us/ele/ele22/information-for-voters-22/quest_2.htm
²https://www.wbur.org/news/2022/10/18/massachusetts-ballot-question-2-explainer

It is estimated that ~44 million Americans are experiencing long COVID symptoms. During a recent Spring webinar, our SVP, Teri Weber was joined by a pulmonologist and a representative from Goodpath to review common long COVID symptoms and how it is impacting productivity and claims. You can access the webinar here.

Our Actuarial Team teamed up with Alera Group experts on this COVID-19 and Mental Health Trends whitepaper which looks at the post-pandemic mental health landscape, including impacts on employees, children, plan costs, care gaps, and substance abuse.

In collaboration with Alera Group, our Actuarial Team helped create a whitepaper which provides guidance around eligibility, procedures, and plan costs for coverage of over-the counter COVID-19 tests within health plans, as mandated by President Biden. You can find the full whitepaper here.

Within the last couple of years, we have seen drastic shifts in the wants and needs of employees nationwide. The COVID era sparked and enhanced new practices and benefits that were not popular in the past, such as mental health resources for remote workers, utilizing tech in HR and addressing burnout. Now that COVID effects are less severe and we have returned to more normalcy in many ways, employers must grapple with remote, on-site, and hybrid work models while keeping their workforce happy and engaged. These trends were evident in this year’s Annual Conference hosted by the Northeast Human Resources Association (NEHRA). NEHRA is one of the leading organizations that brings together HR industry professionals to network and share best practices. This year’s conference took place in Newport, RI and Spring had the pleasure of attending and exhibiting.

Here are some of the areas most focused on this year:

1) Adapting to a Hybrid Workforce

Although hybrid and remote work may seem like the norm for many of us, employers are still struggling to keep their workforce connected and satisfied while retaining efficiency. During the peak of the pandemic, many organizations moved to fully remote and are now looking at whether they will require employees to be in the office full-time, part-time, or not at all. Below are some of the sessions that best tackled this issue.

– A session titled “Driving Career Development in a Hybrid World” explored how the adoption of technologies during the pandemic has led to an increase in professional career development tools, but on the other hand, has prevented many employees from showcasing their true talents.

– In the Closing Keynote Panel, three local HR executives from Mersana, Progress and Ocean State Job Lot explained how their organizations have maintained award-winning workplace cultures with a dispersed workforce.

2) Acquiring/Retaining (Next Gen) Talent

As baby boomers are exiting the workforce and Gen Zers are entering, it has caused a great shift in office culture and employee benefits. Gen Z grew up in a technological world with an emphasis on mental health, and often expect their organization to reflect the same standards. Here are a couple of noteworthy sessions related to attracting and retaining next gen talent:

– During “Bridging the Generational Gap through Wellness Initiatives,” a representative from the Town of Barrington, Rhode Island, described how their wellness initiatives have helped increase retention and alleviate burnout among cross-generational employees.

– Experts from Apprentice Learning and FHL Boston explained how organizations can introduce a workplace culture that attracts young people of color in their “Engage Your Employees to Build an Equitable Workforce for the Future” presentation.

3) Reinforcing Employee Wellness

At previous NEHRA conferences and other industry-related events we have seen a giant emphasis on mental health. This year the topic of mental health resources has taken a back seat and many industry leaders chose to focus on the related subject of employee wellness practices instead, spotlighting the importance of…

a) Creating a Culture

Creating a workplace culture with employees of different ages, experiences, locations, and expectations can be a daunting task as an employer. Below are a few of the sessions that provided insights on how to best establish an inclusive company culture.

– National Behavior Health Leader, Dr. Joel Axler discussed signs and symptoms of someone struggling with mental health challenges employers should look out for during his session “Empathy in the Workplace.”

– Roman Music Therapy Services, Meredith Pizzi spotlighted unique ways HR teams can generate workplace cultures that reflect the company’s vision while also inspiring employees.

b) Just Add Joy!

– In the Keynote Presentation titled “Create a Workplace People Love – Just add Joy!” the Co-Founder of Menlo Innovations, Rich Sheridan, suggested organizations move away from outdated corporate traditions and adopt new approaches based on what employees want.

– In the breakout session, “What is Stealing Your Joy? Simple Steps to Bring it Back,” attendees had the chance to openly discuss what obstacles are weighing them down at work and possible solutions.

All in all, the conference was a great success and provided an excellent atmosphere for networking and discussing industry trends. Every year I feel like I’m seeing more young talent, which gives me a good feeling about the future of our industry. I am already excited to see what next year’s conference brings!

Spring has been selected to help the Maryland Department of Labor (MDL) more effectively implement and administer the Family and Medical Leave Insurance (FAMLI) Program. Check out the press release here.

Captive International has released the winners for the 2022 US Awards. Spring is proud to announce that our company and our Managing Partner, Karin Landry were selected as winners for Best Feasibility Study Firm and Best Feasibility Study Individual (respectively). We were also highly commended for Best Actuarial Firm, Best Individual Feasibility Study (Prabal Lakhanpal) and Best Actuary (Peter Johnson).