| HR Assumes Important Health Care Role |
6/1/2010 By SHRM Online staff
Most HR professionals believe that they have a responsibility to help health care plan participants sort out problems with their insurance, according to a new poll released by the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM).
Forty-seven percent of HR professionals surveyed agree with the statement that they have such a duty, and 19 percent strongly agree with it. One-quarter of poll respondents disagree, and 9 percent strongly disagree, that HR should assist health plan participants.
Problems with health care services provided to plan participants—employees and their dependents—are common in the United States and elsewhere. Issues with delayed or unpaid claims also occur. Both types of problems can affect employer productivity and morale, even though in many if not most cases mistakes or paperwork delays can be attributed to the patient, the medical provider or the insurance carrier—not to the employer itself.
However, many HR professionals apparently feel that it is part of their job to try to make things right for employees and their family members when it comes to health care. It’s a role that should only grow in importance as the many provisions of the landmark 2010 U.S. health care reform law take effect over the next eight years.
Poor customer service and long processing times by health insurance companies can prompt organizations to change insurers. In the SHRM poll, 6 percent of respondents said they have changed carriers in the past five years because of long processing times for health care claims. Eighteen percent said they had changed insurers in the past five years because of poor overall customer service.
Another finding of the SHRM poll was that 6 percent of respondents have a provision in their contract with their health care insurer that provides incentives to decrease the time that it takes for claims to be processed. The most common incentive is performance guarantees.
“As a result of health care reform, we can expect to see more and more employers look to their health care providers for alternative ways to provide cost-effective health care options. Employers that provide health care to their employees may be more likely to expect better customer service and increased efficiencies from providers,” said Evren Esen, manager, SHRM Survey Research Center.
Half of the organizations participating in the survey are privately owned for-profit organizations. One-fifth are publicly owned for-profit organizations. The rest are nonprofit organizations, government agencies and other employers. Sixty-four percent have fewer than 500 employees.
The manufacturing industry is the largest sector among poll respondents, at 13 percent, followed in size by health care and social assistance organizations; professional, scientific, technical, legal, engineering and similar service sector employers; and by retail and wholesale trade organizations.
Three-fourths of the SHRM members polled work in U.S.-based operations; the rest are multinational employers. Conducted Feb. 4-11, 2010, the poll has a margin of error of plus or minus 5 percent.
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