[chambernews] Fw: Health & Benefit E-newsletter from the MN Chamber
Kanabec Area Chamber of Commerce
macc at ncis.com
Tue Jun 12 08:55:36 CDT 2007
Health & Benefit E-newsletterPassing this along for your information.
Karen.
----- Original Message -----
From: Minnesota Chamber of Commerce
To: macc at ncis.com
Sent: Monday, June 11, 2007 5:38 PM
Subject: Health & Benefit E-newsletter
IN THIS ISSUE
» Federal Minimum Wage Increase
» Health Care: Dependent Coverage Extended
» Smoking Ban - Effects on Businesses
» Worksite Wellness Seminar
» Keeping Fit Cuts Health Care Costs
» Time for an FMLA Checkup?
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This email is brought to you by MEDICA and the Minnesota Chamber of Commerce
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400 Robert Street North
Suite 1500
St. Paul, MN 55101
www.mnchamber.com
As the Human Resource contact at your organization, the Minnesota Chamber wants you to be aware of legislation that may affect your company.
Federal Minimum Wage Increase
Congress recently passed legislation that will raise the federal minimum wage in three incremental steps. The current federal minimum wage is $5.15 per hour. The new law raises the rate in three steps to: $5.85 on July 24, 2007; $6.55 on July 24, 2008; and $7.25 on July 24, 2009 (see table below).
States are allowed to have higher minimum wages than those prescribed by federal law; states, however, cannot have minimum wages lower than stipulated by federal law. When there is a difference in federal and state minimum wages, the law most beneficial to the employee controls. Thus, although Minnesota currently has a minimum wage rate higher than prescribed federally, as the table below outlines, soon the federal rate will be higher. So, barring future action in the Minnesota legislature, the new federal minimum wage increases will soon take effect in Minnesota.
An item to note is that the federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) states that the minimum wage law applies to employers with more than $500,000 in annual dollar volume of business. Thus, the new rates will not apply to employers below this threshold. Minnesota has segmented its minimum wage law into categories for large employers ($6.15/hr for employers with more than $625,000 in annual gross sales) and small employers ($5.25/hr for employers with less than $625,000 in gross annual sales). So, there is a difference in the state/federal minimum thresholds ($500,000 federally, and $625,000 for the state), and again, federal law would control. Therefore, Minnesota employers making less than $500,000 (gross annual sales) are exempt from the new law, and employers making more than $500,000 in gross annual sales will be subject to the new wage rates.
The table below outlines the current federal minimum wage, Minnesota's minimum wage, and the new minimum wage effective dates.
For more information on the federal Fair Labor Standards Act, please visit http://www.dol.gov/compliance/laws/comp-flsa.htm.
Health Care: Dependent Coverage Extended
Fully insured employers will be required to cover unmarried dependents up to age 25 regardless of full-time student status, following a law passed by the 2007 Legislature. This will be effective January 1, 2008, as groups renew. The change does not apply to SEGIP or self-insured groups. Check with your health care provider for more information.
Smoking Ban - Effects on Businesses
A new statewide smoking ban also was enacted into law and takes effect October 1, 2007. The legislation prohibits smoking in public places, public meetings, places of employment and on public transportation. Place of employment is defined as any indoor area at which two or more individuals perform any service for consideration of payment under any type of contractual relationship. Vehicles used for work purposes are considered places of employment during hours of operation if more than one person is present. An area in which work is performed in a private residence is a place of employment during hours of operation.
The Department of Health will be developing rules around this issue, and the Minnesota Chamber of Commerce will provide a report in a future issue of this e-newsletter.
Worksite Wellness Seminar
Employers are increasingly seeking ways to have an impact on the rising cost of health care and engaging employees in managing their health is an important piece to managing that cost. To address this issue, the Minnesota Chamber of Commerce will be holding an Employer Wellness Seminar June 19, 2007, in the Schwan Center of the National Sports Center in Blaine.
Join us as Minnesota employers, representing small, medium and large companies, highlight their employee wellness programs. In addition, a panel of health care providers, including BlueCross BlueShield of Minnesota, HealthPartners, Medica and PreferredOne, will outline the individual wellness plans available to their customers and you will hear from an attorney with Leonard, Street and Deinard who will outline the legalities of setting up and implementing a program. A representative from the Governor's office will also provide a sneak peak at their Healthy Minnesota Workplace Initiative, an employer wellness program toolkit which will be unveiled this fall. For more information or to register, go to our Web site at www.mnchamber.com.
Keeping Fit Cuts Health Care Costs
It is generally believed that improved fitness leads to improved health, but now Medica® has the data to back this up. A new study released by Medica and Lifetime Fitness® shows that Medica members who began a new, regular program of exercise at Lifetime Fitness centers saw a decrease in claim costs after just two years in the program. This decrease averaged 33 percent on a per member per month basis.
The study involved 3,249 participants in the Fit ChoicesSM by Medica program, a program that offers members a $20 monthly credit on their health club membership fees if they work out at their health club at least eight days per month. To ensure the study was valid, a control group with equivalent demographics, health status, and health care consumption habits also was established and studied. The study then evaluated the facility claims, physician claims and pharmacy claims of each group.
The study found that new Lifetime Fitness members who worked out at least eight days per month after joining Fit Choices achieved an overall 33.6% average decrease in claims cost per month compared to the control group.
The study also revealed a dramatic difference in visits to the emergency room and outpatient health care providers as well as a significant decrease in the number of inpatient admissions between the two groups. The non-participant control group members showed an average of:
a.. 63.6% more visits to inpatient facilities.
b.. 105.0% more visits to emergency rooms.
c.. 43.3% more visits to outpatient facilities.
"Fit Choices is all about helping people make better decisions about their health," said Charles Fazio, M.D., chief medical officer at Medica. "Via the study, we found that offering a financial incentive is effective in motivating people to exercise. We also validated that health care cost reductions occur when participants exercise at least eight days per month and participants experienced improvement in their health status based upon self-reported survey results."
In addition to the monthly membership dues reimbursement offered by Medica, Fit Choices participants receive preferred Lifetime Fitness membership enrollment fees and can also take advantage of a comprehensive personal fitness screening, individualized health and wellness action plans, and many other unique programs and services.
Fit Choices is a standard component of Medica plan offerings to fully insured customers and is an option for self-insured groups. For more information, contact your broker or Medica Sales at (952) 992-3055 or (800) 371-1613.
Learn more about Fit Choices and other innovative health improvement programs offered by Medica. Attend "Worksite Wellness: Strategies for Success," a seminar offering a hands-on look at these programs being held on June 21, 2007, at the Minneapolis Marriott Southwest. Learn how you can encourage your employees to make healthier lifestyle choices which in turn may lead to a more productive workforce and a healthier bottom line. For more information, visit www.medicatraining.com.
Healthy Minnesota Initiative Statewide Summit
The State of Minnesota was awarded a grant by the National Governor's Association to develop a worksite wellness toolkit for Minnesota employers. A summit will be held on Monday, August 20, from 8:30 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. at General Mills headquarters in Golden Valley to unveil this toolkit available to employers. Learn strategies to implement a comprehensive worksite wellness program of your own! Minnesota employers will share their experiences with creating healthy worksites through wellness programming, cost benefits of worksite wellness programs, engaging employees in worksite wellness activities and how to best leverage funding and resources. For further information on the Summit, please contact Margaret Winchell at miwinchell at comcast.net.
Time for an FMLA Checkup?
The Family and Medical Leave Act seems easy enough to understand, but as an employer, how can you be sure you are complying with the law? There are risks of penalties to your company, and you and your managers can be held personally liable for violations.
FMLA provides eligible employees with up to 12 weeks of unpaid, job-protected leave a year and requires employers to maintain a group of health benefits during the leave. FMLA leave can be taken because of the employee's own serious health condition and/ or care for a child, spouse or parent. Under certain circumstances, employees may substitute appropriate paid leave if they have earned and accrued it. Under the act, an employee generally has the right to return to the same or an equivalent position with equivalent pay, benefits and working conditions at the conclusion of the leave, without losing any benefit that accrued before the start of the leave. This law also includes provisions for notices, certification and record-keeping requirements.
According to federal and state labor laws, it is mandatory that all of the standard State and Federal Labor Laws & OSHA Regulations are clearly posted and maintained in your workplace. Do you know what postings the federal and state governments require for employers?
Not sure if you are adhering to the law? The Minnesota Chamber of Commerce and Ceridian are here to help with our HR Compliance Solutions that help busy employers remain compliant. Ceridian offers a complete State and Federal Mandate Posters and FMLA reference guide that has more than 600 pages of accurate, up-to-date information on this complex law. Sample contents include: FMLA Background, Extended Definitions of Employer and Employee, and Federal vs. State Comparison Charts. To learn more call (800) 643-5999, option 3, or visit http://www.solutioncenter.ceridian.com/hrsc/MN and click on the Compliance Catalog. For more information on these products, please contact Mary Bethke at (651) 292-4672 or mbethke at mnchamber.com.
For more information on this or other products and services available through the Minnesota Chamber of Commerce, contact Mary Bethke at (651) 292-4672, (800) 821-2230, or mbethke at mnchamber.com or visit our Web site at www.mnchamber.com/benefits.
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