Connecting a multi-generational workforce to mental health resources

By Brooke Wilson - Though members of different generations face varying everyday stressors, lead different lifestyles and hold different attitudes towards mental health, all of these individuals are connected through today's workplace. In addition to being a source of connection with a multigenerational team, the modern workplace can also be a source of connection to mental health care. Read Full Article…

VBA Article Summary

1. Workplace Connection and Underutilization of Resources: Different generations experience varying everyday stressors and have differing attitudes towards mental health, but they are all connected through the workplace. Unfortunately, employer-based mental health resources are largely underutilized, with the average use rate being under 10%. This is due to fears of lack of confidentiality, professional consequences for divulging personal information, judgment from co-workers or supervisors, and fear of reaching out for help​¹ ​.

2. Expanding Access and Encouraging Care: With multiple generations interacting in the workplace, employers have a unique opportunity to expand access to mental health care and encourage its use through comprehensive benefits packages. It's important to make employees aware of these resources and encourage their use. Employers can provide tools that connect employees with a network of mental health professionals, support groups, community resources, and legal help. They can also offer practical help with everyday tasks through employee wellness initiatives. For instance, a Gen X employee caring for elderly parents can use resources to find local services providing transportation to doctor's appointments​¹​.

3. Breaking Barriers and Providing Support: Employers can break down barriers by acknowledging feelings like stress and anxiety through seminars and candid discussions on stressors inside and outside of the workplace. This may encourage employees to seek help and prioritize their well-being. Furthermore, offerings like "Resources for Living" allow employees from all walks of life access to practical, professional help at all points on their mental health journey. Those with an understanding of which offerings resonate with which employee demographics can make a profoundly positive impact on mental health that spans generations​¹​.

SHRM Releases 2023 Employee Benefits Survey Results

By SHRM - The number ofemployers offering various family support and leave benefits has increased significantly, according to the 2023 SHRM Employee Benefits Survey results released today at the SHRM Annual Conference & Expo. The need for heightened family support during the pandemic seems to have evolved into long-term parental benefits. Significant increases from 2022 were seen in the share of organizations offering paid maternity and paternity (up 5 percentage points each) or parental leave (up 6 percentage points), as well as adoption leave (up 6 percentage points). Read Full Article… 

VBA Article Summary

1. Family Support and Leave Benefits: There has been a significant increase in the number of employers offering various family support and leave benefits. This is largely attributed to the need for heightened family support during the pandemic, which seems to have evolved into long-term parental benefits. Specifically, there were notable increases in the share of organizations offering paid maternity and paternity leave, parental leave, and adoption leave. Furthermore, more than half of employers now offer onsite lactation facilities, and paid leave (beyond local requirements) continues to rise modestly​¹​.

2. Health and Retirement Benefits: Health benefits continue to be the most important benefit category that employers feel they can offer. There has been an increase in the coverage for weight loss surgery and a rise in the popularity of high-deductible health plans linked to a health savings or spending account. On the retirement front, more than 90% of employers continue to offer a traditional defined contribution plan, with Roth (post-tax) retirement options also gaining popularity. Half of the employers automatically enroll eligible employees in a retirement plan​¹​.

3. Flexible Work and Professional Development: In 2023, 62% of employers continue to offer hybrid work opportunities, and 59% subsidize the cost of at-home office equipment. However, the average amount that organizations provide for at-home office equipment has dropped slightly. Regarding professional development, a large majority of employers provide formal training or education for upskilling/reskilling employees and for keeping skills current. They also cover costs for professional memberships, certification/recertification, and professional licenses​¹​.

Fatherhood changes men's brains, according to before-and-after MRI scans

By Darby Saxbe and Magdalena Martínez García - The time fathers devote to child care every week has tripled over the past 50 years in the United States. The increase in fathers’ involvement in child rearing is even steeper in countries that have expanded paid paternity leave or created incentives for fathers to take leave, such as Germany, Spain, Sweden and Iceland. And a growing body of research finds that children with engaged fathers do better on a range of outcomes, including physical health and cognitive performance. Read Full Article…

VBA Article Summary

1. Over the past 50 years, the time fathers in the U.S. devote to child care every week has tripled, with an even sharper increase in countries that have expanded paid paternity leave or created incentives for fathers to take leave. Despite the rising involvement of fathers in child care and the benefits this brings to children's health and cognitive performance, there is limited research on how fatherhood affects men, particularly in terms of brain and biological changes​¹​.

2. Similar to the transformative experience of becoming a mother, fatherhood can potentially reshape men's brains and bodies, even though they don't experience pregnancy directly. The experience of caring for an infant might lead to what neuroscientists call "experience-induced brain plasticity" - changes that occur when practicing any new skill. Preliminary research suggests that fathers who are primary caregivers show stronger connections between parenting brain regions when viewing their infants, compared to secondary male caregivers​¹​.

3. In a study conducted by research groups in Los Angeles and Madrid, 40 first-time fathers were put into an MRI scanner twice: once during their partner's pregnancy and again after their baby was six months old. The study found several significant changes in the brains of the fathers from prenatal to postpartum that did not emerge within the control group of childless men. The changes appeared in regions of the cortex related to visual processing, attention, and empathy toward the baby​¹​.

LIMRA: Investors Becoming More Conservative Amid Concerns of Continued Equity Market Volatility

By LIMRA - Facing continued equity market volatility and higher interest rates, investors expressed more interest in deferred annuity products that offered greater asset protection in 2023, compared with responses in 2021. As advisors work with their clients to develop a holistic financial strategy, it is important to note that a majority of investors are bracing for market uncertainty or a downturn over the next five years. In early 2023, LIMRA asked more than 2,000 investors (ages 40-80 with at least $100,000 in investible assets) to hypothetically buy one of four annuity products — fixed deferred-rate annuity, fixed indexed annuity, registered indexed-linked annuity and variable annuity — that they would keep for the next five years. This is the second time LIMRA has conducted this experiment. Read Full Article…

VBA Article Summary

1. Fixed-Indexed Annuities (FIA) remain the top choice for investors: In a survey conducted by LIMRA, FIAs were the preferred annuity product for more than half of investors (51%), showing a 5-point increase from the previous year. The appeal of FIAs lies in their combination of downside protection and upside investment growth potential, which aligns with the record-high sales growth of FIAs in 2022 ($79.8 billion) and the first quarter of 2023 (43% increase to $23.1 billion).

2. Increased interest in Fixed-Rate Deferred Annuities (FRD): The proportion of investors selecting FRD annuities rose to 12% in 2023. This can be attributed to the significant increase in interest rates since the end of 2021. FRDs consistently offer higher crediting rates than CDs, making them an attractive option for risk-averse investors seeking guaranteed returns. FRD annuity sales reached a new quarterly record of $41.5 billion in the first quarter of 2023.

3. Registered Indexed-Linked Annuities (RILA) popularity and investor demographics: While the number of investors choosing RILAs decreased to 30% in 2023, they remain the second most popular option. RILAs provide investors with greater potential investment growth while sharing downside risk with carriers. Younger investors with higher risk tolerance are more likely to select RILAs. RILA product sales reached an all-time record of $41.1 billion in 2022 and increased by 8% to $10.4 billion in the first quarter of 2023.

National Health Expenditure Projections, 2022–31: Growth To Stabilize Once The COVID-19 Public Health Emergency Ends

By Sean P. Keehan, Jacqueline A. Fiore, John A. Poisal, Gigi A. Cuckler, Andrea M. Sisko, Sheila D. Smith, Andrew J. Madison, and Kathryn E. Rennie - National health expenditures are projected to grow 5.4 percent, on average, over the course of 2022–31 and to account for roughly 20 percent of the economy by the end of that period. The insured share of the population is anticipated to exceed 92 percent through 2023, in part as a result of record-high Medicaid enrollment, and then decline toward 90 percent as coverage requirements related to the COVID-19 public health emergency expire. The prescription drug provisions of the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 are anticipated to lower out-of-pocket spending for Medicare Part D enrollees beginning in 2024 and to result in savings to Medicare beginning in 2031. Read Full Article… 

VBA Article Summary

1. Slowing Growth in Personal Health Care Spending: Personal health care spending is projected to grow at a slower rate of 5.0 percent in 2024, compared to a 6.5 percent increase in 2023. This deceleration is primarily driven by expected trends in Medicaid, with a decline in enrollment and a contraction of Medicaid spending.

2. Medicaid Enrollment Decline: Medicaid enrollment is anticipated to decline by 8.9 percent in 2024, reducing the number of beneficiaries by about eight million people. This reduction is a result of the expiration of the public health emergency, leading to the departure of younger and healthier beneficiaries who are no longer eligible.

3. Accelerating Medical Prices: Medical prices are expected to accelerate, with a projected growth rate of 3.3 percent in 2024. This increase reflects the lagged impact of recent faster price growth associated with the inputs required to provide medical care. In contrast, economywide prices are projected to slow further to 2.4 percent in 2024.

US drug overdose deaths top 109,000 in the past year

By Nandhini Srinivasan and Khushi Mandowara - More than 109,000 Americans died from drug overdoses in the 12-month period ending January 2023, a slight increase from the previous year, according to provisional data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) released on Wednesday. The figure is up 0.7% from 108,825 overdoses recorded in the 12-month period ending January 2022, according to U.S. data. Read Full Article… 

VBA Article Summary

1. Over 109,000 Americans died from drug overdoses in the 12-month period ending in January 2023, marking a slight increase from the previous year. This surge in overdose deaths began before the pandemic due to abuse of prescription opioid painkillers and illegal drugs like heroin. Despite efforts by the Biden administration to tackle drug addiction and overdoses, including sanctions on 17 entities involved in the production of counterfeit fentanyl-laced pills, the numbers have continued to rise​¹​.

2. The U.S. drug overdose death toll crossed the 100,000-mark for the first time in 2021, a rise associated with the COVID pandemic which disrupted medical care and exacerbated mental health issues. Rates of mental illness, depression, and anxiety increased dramatically during the pandemic, and drug overdose deaths rose by 13.7% between January 2021 and January 2022, and by 31.4% in the 12 months at the height of the pandemic. The availability of lethal drugs such as fentanyl, which is 50 times stronger than heroin and increasingly mixed with other illegal drugs, played a significant role in these numbers​¹​.

3. Stacey McKenna, a senior fellow at the R Street Institute, suggested that crackdowns on fentanyl and other addictive drugs may be having the opposite of the intended effect. According to McKenna, the harder the crackdown on the supply, the more likely it is to result in a more potent or dangerous supply. The CDC also noted that these numbers are an estimate, accounting for underreporting and pending investigations​¹​.

Part 1: Basics of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Healthcare Compliance

By Joanne Byron - Artificial intelligence (AI) technology has created new opportunities to progress on critical issues such as health, education, and the environment. In some cases, AI may do things more efficiently or methodically than humans. AI is the theory and development of computer systems able to perform tasks that normally require human intelligence, such as visual perception, speech recognition, decision-making, and translation between languages, according to the Oxford dictionary. Read Full Article…

VBA Article Summary

1. Artificial Intelligence and Its Role in Healthcare: AI technology has significantly advanced, creating new opportunities to address critical issues such as health, education, and the environment. It is defined as the theory and development of computer systems that can perform tasks typically requiring human intelligence, such as visual perception, decision-making, and language translation. In healthcare, AI can be used to improve diagnostics, detect medical errors, and reduce paperwork. Yet, AI still has limitations, particularly in understanding context and nuance - two critical aspects for safe and effective patient care. Also, AI technology holds the potential to transform medical billing by reducing overhead, improving compliance, and reducing billing errors​¹​.

2. AI and Government Health IT Infrastructure: The Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC) and the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) have been exploring how AI might shape the future of public health, community health, and healthcare delivery. Factors driving this exploration include frustrations with existing medical systems, the ubiquity of networked smart devices, and comfort with at-home services provided by tech companies. ONC and AHRQ, along with other agencies, will work to identify opportunities for the use of AI to improve biomedical research, medical care, and outcomes, including work related to precision medicine​¹​.

3. AI and Compliance Challenges: Despite its potential, AI introduces new challenges regarding compliance and security. Particularly in the context of healthcare, safeguarding sensitive information under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) is a major concern. While AI tools like ChatGPT have been used to automate medical coding and billing processes, concerns about safety, privacy, and misuse by cybercriminals persist. For instance, a bug in ChatGPT's source code led to a breach of sensitive data in March 2023. As a result, some entities, including Samsung and the Italian government, have initiated bans on the use of ChatGPT, and experts have called for a pause in AI development​¹​.