Do you want to create a better life for your employees?  You can – and you don’t have to do it alone! HealthPartners can help your employees achieve exceptional health. Healthy employees are happier, more productive employees, which directly impacts your bottom line. HealthPartners has the plans, programs, coverage and care your employees need to get healthy and stay healthy.

This fall, as most employers head into open enrollment, we're kicking off our new exceptional health campaign that's all about helping your employees live their best lives. From late August to mid-September, you'll see more of HealthPartners on billboards and buses – you'll even hear us on the radio. Our goal is to raise awareness about the difference HealthPartners can make in the health and lives of your employees. While the media campaign will only run for a few months, this program is here to stay. It's part of our philosophy and our mission to improve the health of our members.

So if you stop, look and listen, there’s no way you’ll miss it. Let HealthPartners get you and your employees on your way to a better life!

As you may have heard, the State of Minnesota recently expanded its definition of who is considered eligible for fully insured medical and dental benefits. Our goal is to ensure that you are aware of this new mandate and to provide useful information on the impact it will have on you, as well as suggestions for mitigating its effect. Effective January 1, 2008, as coverage is sold or renewed, the dependent definition includes all unmarried dependents through age 24 regardless of student status. Prior to this, dependents age 19 through age 24 could only be covered if they were full-time students.

There are three ways this mandate affects you:

1. Plan administration – Since this mandate is a “new” benefit for employees, they are now able to add additional dependents to their coverage. This will require additional administration.
2. Price impact – The cost of this mandated benefit change will be taken into account during the underwriting rating process. We estimate that this mandate will increase rates by a total of 1.7 percent over the next two years. Rate increases will go into effect based on renewal dates. This change applies to all groups, including those with rate caps and rate guarantees.
3. Tax implications – The state and federal definitions of a dependent do not match. The federal definition classifies a dependent as a full-time student through age 23. When employees receive benefits for family members that do not meet the federal definition of dependent, these benefits are considered taxable income for the employee. Additionally, when an employer allows pre-tax contributions to premium and contributes to the premium, the contributions attributed to the dependent who meets the state, but not the federal, definition should not be pre-tax.

Also, if you offer employees a health reimbursement account (HRA) or a flexible spending account (FSA), and the added dependent does not meet the federal definition, additional restrictions apply. These dependents are not eligible for HRA or FSA reimbursement and must opt out of automatic claims submission from the medical plan. We recommend that you consult with an attorney or tax advisor regarding what steps to take to handle these issues.

There are a variety of strategies you could implement to mitigate the financial impact of this change. Some options include:

1. Change your contribution formula
2. Change your rate structure from single/family to a structure that breaks out dependents (example: single + 1 child, single + 2 children, single + 3 children, etc.)
3. Change plan benefits to neutralize the cost impact

You can count on HealthPartners to support you in implementing this new mandate. Please contact your broker or HealthPartners Sales Executive if you need additional information or want to learn more about the rate structures available.

2006 Pharmacy Trends

Our continued focus on pharmacy cost management produced great results in 2006. HealthPartners maintained a single-digit pharmacy trend for the third year in a row.  Slightly more than half of the increase came from utilization increase versus prescription cost increases. Overall, pharmacy costs held steady, accounting for 21 percent of all health care spending. That means managing pharmacy trend is critical to successfulyl managing medical trend.

Increased generic drug use is still the key strategy to keeping pharmaceutical cost in check.  Last year was an important year for generics, as several widely used brand drugs went off patent. The biggest examples were Zocor (simvastatin) and Zoloft (sertralin). Other 2006 drug facts:

• The average brand prescription cost was $148, while the average generic prescription was $25. This $123 difference means that for every one percent increase in generic use, HealthPartners and its members save over $7 million dollars.
• Several categories of drugs are approaching total generic use including muscle relaxants, anti-anxiety drugs and narcotic analgesics.
• Specialty drugs (those used to treat Multiple Sclerosis, Hepatitis C, Rheumatoid Arthritis, etc.) are the fastest growing category of drugs. They now account for nine percent of pharmacy cost, but account for less than half a percent of all prescriptions.
• Direct-to-consumer advertising of prescription drugs was still controversial in 2006, but very effective in product promotion. The use of the heavily advertised sleeping pills grew by 60 percent in 2006. Congress is considering expanded supervision of this activity. 
• Mail order pharmacy services continue to grow as a convenient and less costly way to obtain prescription services. 
• HealthPartners Pharmacy expenditures exceeded $430 million in 2006 and more than 5.8 million prescriptions were filled for members.

Our generic use rates lead the market – and we keep improving. Last year our generic rates exceeded 65 percent, which is up from 60 percent in 2005. The bottom line: HealthPartners delivers bigger pharmacy savings to you and better savings to your employees.
See for yourself at the Pharmacy section of healthpartners.com.

HealthPartners introduces new prescription labels

HealthPartners Pharmacies have implemented new prescription labels designed to increase safety and convenience for customers. Improvements include larger font and placement of the patient's name, drug name and instructions at the top of the label as shown here.

NAMI 5K Walk for Mental Health Awareness

HealthPartners is the premier sponsor of the first ever NAMI (National Alliance on Mental Illness) 5K walk for mental health awareness event in Minnesota. The walk will be held on September 29, 2007 at Minnehaha Park in Minneapolis.

NAMI is the largest education, support and advocacy organization that serves the needs of all those whose lives are touched by mental illness. The goals of the NAMIWalks program are: to fight the stigma that surrounds mental illness, to build awareness of the fact that the mental health system in this country needs to be improved, and to raise funds for NAMI so that it can continue its mission.

Participate or learn more about this event.

See you at the Minnesota State Fair

We’ve partnered with the Minnesota State Fair Foundation and 2nd Wind Exercise Equipment to create a walking tour of the fairgrounds, complete with HealthPartners Health Behavior Group’s step and calorie counts along the way. HealthPartners will be featured on the 12 walking tour signs, the tour passport and a “swag bag” that will be handed out at the start of the tour. We’ll see you at the fair as we step off some of those corndog-calories!

HealthPartners offers an array of discounts and services to help your employees get healthy and stay healthy – and help you save money on health care. This article is designed to be passed on to your employees as you see necessary.

Don’t forget about all the ways you can save with HealthPartners!

Jump Start – Jump Start gives you a boost to get started or kick your fitness program into overdrive. It’s easy! You complete the health assessment to get your personal health score and then use the score to create a personalized action plan – plus, there’s a reward just for completing the assessment! Learn more.

Healthy Discounts^SM – This retail savings program provides members with discounts on tools and services from reputable organizations that help promote improved health. Discount partners include Weight Watchers®, eyewear discounts, 2nd Wind Exercise Equipment and many more.  Get a complete listing.

Frequent Fitness – You save money by improving your health! Get $20 off your monthly club membership by working out 12 times per month, with a limit of two workout incentives per household for a maximum $40 reimbursement per month. Get a list of participating facilities and more information.

GlobalFit – Save over 60 percent on monthly dues at over 2,000 fitness clubs nationwide. See the complete listing.

Phone Courses – Choose from several award-winning courses that are conducted over the phone by registered dietitians, health educators, exercise specialists and pharmacists — all who have behavior change counseling experience. These experts will work with you one-on-one to set goals tailored to your needs and provide support to help you achieve them. Get a list of available services.

Contact HealthPartners Member Services or visit healthpartners.com for more information on these programs.