The Cason Connection

Give Employees a Chance by Giving them a Choice

Chad V. Blankenburg, RHU — Thu, 10 May 2012 16:20:36 +0000

The American consumer likes choices. Shopping and comparing value and prices on clothing, groceries and furniture is commonplace. Choosing a health plan should be no different. For a long time, employees have felt as if it’s “take it or leave it” when handed their one health plan option by their employer. And they were right [...]

Government Cuts Medicare Advantage Bonus

Trevor Bowers, RHU, REBC — Wed, 02 May 2012 14:35:19 +0000

Last week the Government Accountability Office (GAO), the investigative agency of Congress, called for a cancellation of an $8.3 billion dollar Medicare Advantage bonus program. The money is going toward a three-year project intended to make quality improvements to Medicare Advantage plans and financially reward those plans that are scoring well by the Department of [...]

Help Your Groups Lower their Healthcare Costs

The Cason Group — Wed, 25 Apr 2012 18:29:28 +0000

Though the costs of healthcare are rising, there are still some things employers can do to help lower their healthcare costs, without laying off employees. An article in Forbes magazine explained 10 ways that small businesses could reduce the costs of their healthcare plans, even in this economy. A few ideas highlighted in the article include: [...]

5 Ways to get Faster Quotes

The Cason Group — Wed, 18 Apr 2012 14:18:13 +0000

Be clear and concise. Confusing RFPs create questions and questions take time to answer. Multiply the number of questions by the number of carriers to whom you send RFPs and it’s not hard to imagine that a good amount of time can be saved by sending requests that are clear from the start. Examples of things [...]

You Still Have Time to Make HSA Contributions for 2011

Jesse Pikus, VP of Finance — Tue, 10 Apr 2012 13:07:17 +0000

2011 has come and gone, but there is still a little time for your clients to take advantage of tax-free funding of their HSA for the 2011 tax year. As long as the client was covered under a qualifying high-deductible health plan in 2011, they are allowed to make a contribution to their HSA any [...]