Tip of the Day: Find just the right touch

We always hear "one size doesn't fit all" regarding benefit plans, but research reported in the February EBN is showing the same is true for wellness interventions.

Research shows that more than 125 million Americans suffer from at least one chronic illness, while 75 million have two or more. Additionally, those with three or more chronic diseases represent virtually all growth in health care spending since 1987, according to Health Management Associates.

In the face of both rising costs and number of workers suffering from diseases, employers have adopted wellness and disease management strategies to better target workers with chronic conditions, such as online health coaching, 24/7 nurse lines and combinations of these and other high-touch and high-tech interventions.

Recently, HMA examined which types of interventions were most successful in reducing costs for specific diseases, to benefit employers as they make decisions on how and where to target valuable wellness and disease management dollars. Their findings regarding three conditions - asthma, diabetes and mental illness - are outlined here.

News You Can Use: Medicare to stop covering weight-loss surgery for diabetics

Medicare officials said this week the government intends to stop covering weight-loss surgery to help fight diabetes, Workforce Management reports.

Although the agency currently covers such surgery for all Type 2 diabetics, the threshold for coverage will shift to those with a body mass index of 35 or higher, an indicator of severe or morbid obesity, according to Workforce.

The story is significant because, as the nation's largest health care payer, Medicare can throw its weight around (no pun intended) and strongly influence what services/procedures other health insurers will cover.

Tip of the Day

Get a handle on diabetes costs. Two new studies on diabetes reveal the number of Americans with the disease spent $12.5 billion last year on drugs to manage it, and that although newer, more costly medications are driving the spending surge metformin (an inexpensive, reliable generic) may be more effective than sticker-shocking Avandia.

EBN reporting from earlier this year aims to help you "close the gate" on diabetes -- a gateway illness that can lead to or worsen hypertension, heart disease and obesity.