今天有一個壞消息

發信人: THR

WALGREEN把16萬員工推向EMPLOYER EXCHANGE，讓他們自己去買保險。

這是OBMACARE通過後目前最大的企業走向這一步。


這個和把PENSION改成401K其實一回事。


就是把公司的支出從隨通脹調整改成固定支出，員工能享受福利的肯定大大降低。


WALGREEN以前一直以好福利著稱的。



Walgreen Joins Rush To Employer Exchanges, An Alternative To Obamacare
Marketplace

HOLLYWOOD, CA - JANUARY 15: People walk out o...

Walgreen Co. and another 17 large employers are turning to a new concept of
offering workers health benefits via private online marketplaces known as
exchanges such as one run by Aon Hewitt. (Image credit: Getty Images via @
daylife)

Walgreen WAG -0.02% Co. (WAG) and another 17 large employers are turning to
a new concept of giving them money to buy health benefits via private online
marketplaces known as exchanges.

Aon AON +2.39% Hewitt, (AON) the large employee benefits consultancy, said
Walgreens will be the largest employer thus far to join its Aon Hewitt
Corporate Health Exchange, bringing more than 160,000 eligible employees to
such coverage in 2014. Aon Hewitt said it could not yet disclose the others
coming into the exchange in 2014.


  On Jan. 1, 2014, Aon Hewitt expects more than 330,000 employees to be have
enrolled in its exchange. Pioneers in the effort include Sears Holdings
SHLD -3.72% (SHLD) and Darden Restaurants DRI -0.18% (DRI), which have
employees signed up.

The exchanges work like those that are expected to be operational by states
or the federal government next month under the Affordable Care Act next year
in that they offer consumers more choices plus people who buy coverage are
empowered to make choices for their individual needs, benefits consultants
say. Open enrollment for uninsured individuals under the health law begins
Oct. 1 and runs through next March.

Under the health law signed into law by President Obama, millions of
Americans in January of next year who have no coverage will receive federal
subsidies of about $5,000 to help them buy coverage from health insurance
companies that sell individual and small group policies. That subsidized
coverage will be offered on exchanges as well but those marketplaces will be
operated by each state or the federal government or a partnership between
state insurance administrations and the U.S. Department of Health and Human
Services depending on the state.

Thus, Walgreen and other employees are not headed to an open market like the
uninsured under the health law who will sign up for coverage on government-
run exchanges.

Aon Hewitt』s exchange works with each employer in the exchange deciding on
the subsidy or 「credit」 that each worker will get to purchase coverage
offered by the employer. Then, the employees take to the AON Hewitt exchange
to select their coverage. The subsidy will vary from employer to employer.

「(The exchange) seeks to mitigate health care cost increases by creating an
efficient marketplace that fosters competition at a consumer level and
offers an improved employee experience and greater choice for employees,」
said Ken Sperling, Aon Hewitt』s national health exchange strategy leader.

Walgreens is calling its marketplace the 「Living Well Benefits Store,」
which the drugstore chain says is an 「outsourced solution through」 the Aon
Hewitt exchange.

「We are continuing to invest in the health of our team members and their
dependents through expanded choices to personalize their health care
coverage in a competitive environment, giving our diverse workforce the
flexibility they need to meet their health care needs,」 said Kathleen
Wilson-Thompson, Walgreens senior vice president and chief human resources
officer.

Critics of the private exchange approach say it』s a way for employers to
freeze the amount of money they provide to workers by essentially giving
them a chunk of money and telling them to 「go buy their own health care」
with no promise that the amount offered to workers will rise or keep up with
medical inflation in the future.

No matter how well-funded it is from employer to employer, it』s an approach
that is gaining momentum. Other benefits firms are pushing it to employers.
Aon Hewitt rival Mercer earlier this year said that 10 major insurance
carriers, including Aetna (AET), Cigna (CI), Humana (HUM), UnitedHealth
Group (UNH) and a host of Blue Cross and Blue Shield plans have signed on to
the firm』s 「private exchange for 2014 enrollment.」