Over the past decade, the American workforce has been aging with the Baby Boom generation coming into retirement years. Over 10,000 Americans per day are turning 65 and many continue to work. The aging workforce has continued to contribute to the rise in employer group health plan costs and adds another burden for the human resource team as they try to deal with the complexity of Medicare for aging employees.
Over the past four years, the Manufacturer & Business Association (MBA) has offered a unique, value-added program, in conjunction with its partner, MPC Insurance Group (MPC). This partnership provides an education program to employers for their employees who are approaching or are already at Medicare age (generally 65 years old).
MPC provides education, private one-on-one consultation with Medicare-eligible employees, health plan selection and enrollment services. These services are no cost to the employer or their employees as members of the MBA. Many employers have taken advantage of this service and have been able to provide an excellent resource for older employees, reduce HR burden and lower group health plan costs.
Over the past several years, and especially since the COVID pandemic, many employers have been faced with rising health plan costs and have been forced to reduce benefits and increase employees’ contributions to the health insurance plan. The MBA Medicare program allows individuals to decide if they want to go onto Medicare, and results in a win-win for the employee and the employer. The employee will likely get richer benefits at a lower cost and the employer saves money on their group health plan in addition to an employee relations win by providing a resource for Medicare-eligible employees.
Medicare has numerous rules and regulations that are confusing at best and often misunderstood. Having trained professionals assist your organization not only reduces the burden on the HR team, but also provides a valuable service to employees who often have given many years to the organization.
Allow the MBA and MPC, a team of highly trained insurance professionals, to assist your Medicare-eligible employees to make the right decision for their health insurance coverage needs.
MAJORITY OF CONSTRUCTION FIRMS HAVING HARD TIME FILING VACANCIES, SURVEY SHOWS
Few candidates have the basic skills needed to work in high-paying construction careers, forcing short-staffed contractors to find new ways
to keep pace with demand and undermining efforts to build infrastructure and other projects, according to the results of the latest workforce survey conducted by the Associated General Contractors of America and Autodesk. The results highlight significant shortcomings in the nation’s approach to preparing workers for careers in construction.
“The biggest takeaway from this year’s survey is how much the nation is failing to prepare future workers for high-paying careers in fields like construction,” said Ken Simonson, AGC’s chief economist. “It is time to rethink the way the nation educates and prepares workers.”
Simonson noted that 85 percent of construction firms report they have open positions they are trying to fill. Among those firms, 88 percent are having trouble filling at least some of those positions — particularly among the craft workforce that performs the bulk of onsite construction work.
SURVEY: WORKERS WANT EMPLOYERS TO PRIORITIZE PHYSICAL SAFETY
As emerging technology and consumer demands bring new risks to industries across manufacturing, distribution, and logistics, industrial workers are progressively prioritizing health and safety practices from their employers, according to an inaugural Workplace Safety Report from Ansell and its workplace safety solution, Inteliforz™.
The report is based on a survey of more than 500 workers and decision-makers in the warehousing and manufacturing industries, with a goal to better understand their perception of workplace safety and connected workplace technology as the industrial workplace continues to modernize.
Employees expect their employer to focus on ensuring the workplace environment is safe, with 94 percent of respondents sharing that it’s very important that their employer prioritizes physical safety in the workplace, according to the survey. Additionally, 76 percent said they are more likely to join or stay with an employer who prioritizes their physical safety, and that percentage jumps to 82 percent among workers who have previously been injured on the job.
Michael Fiaschetti is the president of MPC Insurance, an insurance and advisory service company committed to helping people achieve health and financial security. For more information, visit mpcins.com.
For more information, call the MBA’s Insurance Division at 814/833-3200, 800/815-2660 or visit mbausa.org.
