Sherlock Health Administration Expense Benchmarks Invitation

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Sherlock Benchmarks – Participation and Licensing

By Douglas B. Sherlock CFA

sherlock@sherlockco.com

thoughtSherlockHello All ME-P Readers and Subscribers:

This email invites your participation and/or licensing of the Sherlock Benchmarks.

A central effect of the Affordable Care Act is to sharply increase the incentive for health plans to minimize their administrative expenses. The Sherlock Benchmarks can be a catalyst to respond to these incentives since they identify and prioritize cost variances.

Use of the Sherlock Benchmarks reflects this:

• At least 40 health plans serving at least 40 million people with health insurance are so far committed as participants in this year’s Sherlock Benchmarking study.

• Of the 36 U.S. – based Blue Cross Blue Shield primary licensees, one-half are participating in this year’s Sherlock Benchmarking Study, either as an enterprise or through a subsidiary.

• Of the 13 members of the Alliance of Community Health Plans that are not focused on public programs or are staff-model plans, 11 are participating in this year’s Sherlock Benchmarking Study for Independent / Provider – Sponsored Health Plans.

• Most of the largest members of the Health Plan Alliance that are not focused on public programs are participating in this year’s Sherlock Benchmarking Study for Independent / Provider – Sponsored Health Plans.

• Health plans serving at least one-half of all insured Americans are licensed users of Sherlock Benchmarks since January 1, 2015.

Licensing and participation is available to all health plans

We have recently launched the Independent / Provider – Sponsored and Blue Cross Blue Shield surveys. There is still time, but the financial metrics survey form must be returned to us by the end of April.

So please contact me immediately if you wish to join these robust panels.

Our universes of Medicaid and Medicare plans will launch in a few months to avoid conflict with your Medicare bid process. If a plurality of your members are in either Medicare or Medicaid, please contact us about participation. Note that all costs are segmented by product as well as by function to assure an apples-to-apples comparison between the plans.

Licensing is available without participation. Licensing costs more but it entails less effort.  The 2016 Sherlock Benchmarks for Blue Cross Blue Shield Plans and Independent / Provider – Sponsored plans will be available beginning in July. The 2016 Sherlock Benchmarks for Medicare plans and Medicaid plans will be available beginning in September. 

Assessment

We look forward to working with you.

Conclusion

Your thoughts and comments on this ME-P are appreciated. Feel free to review our top-left column, and top-right sidebar materials, links, URLs and related websites, too. Then, subscribe to the ME-P. It is fast, free and secure.

Speaker: If you need a moderator or speaker for an upcoming event, Dr. David E. Marcinko; MBA – Publisher-in-Chief of the Medical Executive-Post – is available for seminar or speaking engagements. Contact: MarcinkoAdvisors@msn.com

OUR OTHER PRINT BOOKS AND RELATED INFORMATION SOURCES:

[HEALTH INSURANCE, MANAGED CARE, ECONOMICS, FINANCE AND HEALTH INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY COMPANION DICTIONARY SET]

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Blue Cross Blue Shield, Independent / Provider – Sponsored Plans

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Transcripts and Slides

DougBy Douglas B. Sherlock, CFA sherlock@sherlockco.com

The Affordable Care Act is intended to create strong incentives to reduce the administrative costs of health insurers. The medical loss ratio rules and the new ACA-related taxes are manifestations of this policy, and the recent announced business combinations between leading national health insurers are adaptations to these incentives.

It follows that the most recent rate of increase in health plan administrative expenses, excluding the new taxes, is dramatically lower than in recent years. Sherlock Company materials summarizing the results of our surveys are found below.

Independent / Provider – Sponsored Plans

Blue Cross Blue Shield Plans

Assessment

The contents above are a very small portion of the 1,000 page Sherlock Benchmarks for each of these universes. The Sherlock Benchmarks are essential tools to manage administrative costs for your health plan.

budget

Conclusion

Your thoughts and comments on this ME-P are appreciated. Feel free to review our top-left column, and top-right sidebar materials, links, URLs and related websites, too. Then, subscribe to the ME-P. It is fast, free and secure.

Speaker: If you need a moderator or speaker for an upcoming event, Dr. David E. Marcinko; MBA – Publisher-in-Chief of the Medical Executive-Post – is available for seminar or speaking engagements. Contact: MarcinkoAdvisors@msn.com

OUR OTHER PRINT BOOKS AND RELATED INFORMATION SOURCES:

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January 2012 [Health] Plan Management Navigator

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With 2012 Benchmarking Study Invitation

By Marco Georeno

Health Care Analyst

Dear Dr. Marcinko and ME-P Readers

At the risk of appearing overwhelmed with New Year’s enthusiasm, we think the attached edition of Plan Management Navigator is especially interesting:

1. We report on the cost decisions made by low cost Blue Cross Blue Shield plans. Low cost plans make decisions that differ from their higher cost peers. Hallmarks of these decisions include levels and distributions of expenses between functions, the levels and distribution of staff between functions, the levels of compensation and its distribution between functions and the distribution between functions, and levels of, non-labor expenses. Overall, low cost Blue Cross Blue Shield Plans have “tactical” administrative expenses that were $5.63 PMPM, or 29%, lower than their higher cost counterparts. These tactical expenses are all administrative expenses excluding medical management and sales and marketing.

2. We provide an update on the most recent operating and financial results for firms participating in our monthly Dashboard.

3. We invite appropriate ME-P readers to participate in the 2012 benchmarking study. Participation is very timely given that the weak economy is placing great pressure on commercial enrollment, creating the risk that administrative expenses could be a source of negative operating leverage.

Assessment

A more detailed version of this analysis is available to licensed users of Blue Cross Blue Shield Sherlock Expense Evaluation Report (SEER). Please call us for further information if you have an interest.

Link: Navigator Late January 2012

Sherlock Company

mgeoreno@sherlockco.com

Ph: 215-628-2289

Fax: 215-542-0690

Conclusion

And so, your thoughts and comments on this ME-P are appreciated. Please review our top-left column, and top-right sidebar materials, links, URLs and related websites, too. Then, subscribe to the ME-P. It is fast, free and secure.

Link: http://feeds.feedburner.com/HealthcareFinancialsthePostForcxos

Speaker: If you need a moderator or speaker for an upcoming event, Dr. David E. Marcinko; MBA – Publisher-in-Chief of the Medical Executive-Post – is available for seminar or speaking engagements. Contact: MarcinkoAdvisors@msn.com

Our Other Print Books and Related Information Sources:

Health Dictionary Series: http://www.springerpub.com/Search/marcinko

Practice Management: http://www.springerpub.com/product/9780826105752

Physician Financial Planning: http://www.jbpub.com/catalog/0763745790

Medical Risk Management: http://www.jbpub.com/catalog/9780763733421

Healthcare Organizations: www.HealthcareFinancials.com

Physician Advisors: www.CertifiedMedicalPlanner.com

Subscribe Now: Did you like this Medical Executive-Post, or find it helpful, interesting and informative? Want to get the latest ME-Ps delivered to your email box each morning? Just subscribe using the link below. You can unsubscribe at any time. Security is assured.

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[Health] Plan Management Navigator

January 2011

By Douglas B. Sherlock, CFA
Senior Health Care Analyst

Dear ME-P Readers and Subscribers,

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At the risk of appearing overwhelmed with New Year’s enthusiasm, we think this edition of Plan Management Navigator is especially interesting:

1. We report on the cost decisions made by low cost Blue Cross Blue Shield plans. Low cost plans make decisions that differ from their higher cost peers. Hallmarks of these decisions include levels and distributions of expenses between functions, the levels and distribution of staff between functions, the levels of compensation and its distribution between functions and the distribution between functions, and levels of, non-labor expenses. Overall, low cost Blue Cross Blue Shield Plans have “tactical” administrative expenses that are $5.75 PMPM, or 30%, lower than their higher cost counterparts. These tactical expenses are all administrative expenses excluding medical management and sales and marketing.

Last month we published a similar study of the choices of low cost Independent / Provider-Sponsored Plans. Low cost health plans had tactical costs that were 36% lower than their peers, or by $6.39.

A more detailed version of either of these analyses is available to licensed users of each of our benchmarks. Please call us for further information if you have an interest.

2. We introduce a new service on our website that will enable you to determine how a health plan is doing relative to the 2010 benchmarks. You can select your universe and then determine whether you are high or low and, if so, by how much.

3. We invite you to participate in the 2011 benchmarking study. We are now forming universes. We think that, under pending MLR rules, participation is very timely.

Link: Navigator January 2011

Thank you for your continued interest in our research.

Assessment

sherlock@sherlockco.com
Ph:  215-628-2289
Fax: 215-542-0690

Conclusion

And so, your thoughts and comments on this ME-P are appreciated. Feel free to review our top-left column, and top-right sidebar materials, links, URLs and related websites, too. Then, subscribe to the ME-P. It is fast, free and secure.

Speaker: If you need a moderator or speaker for an upcoming event, Dr. David E. Marcinko; MBA – Publisher-in-Chief of the Medical Executive-Post – is available for seminar or speaking engagements. Contact: MarcinkoAdvisors@msn.com and http://www.springerpub.com/Search/marcinko

Get our Widget: Get this widget!

Our Other Print Books and Related Information Sources:

Health Dictionary Series: http://www.springerpub.com/Search/marcinko

Practice Management: http://www.springerpub.com/product/9780826105752

Physician Financial Planning: http://www.jbpub.com/catalog/0763745790

Medical Risk Management: http://www.jbpub.com/catalog/9780763733421

Healthcare Organizations: www.HealthcareFinancials.com

Physician Advisors: www.CertifiedMedicalPlanner.com

Subscribe Now: Did you like this Medical Executive-Post, or find it helpful, interesting and informative? Want to get the latest ME-Ps delivered to your email box each morning? Just subscribe using the link below. You can unsubscribe at any time. Security is assured.

Link: http://feeds.feedburner.com/HealthcareFinancialsthePostForcxos

Sponsors Welcomed: And, credible sponsors and like-minded advertisers are always welcomed.

Link: https://healthcarefinancials.wordpress.com/2007/11/11/advertise

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Health Plan Management Navigator

Mid-September 2010 Edition

By Douglas B. Sherlock, CFA

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In this edition of Plan Management Navigator, we summarize on the results of selected TPAs. Administrative expenses for core services of selected TPAs were 84% of fees in 2009. This was $11.56 per employee per month (PEPM) or $6.06 per member per month (PMPM). Core Medical product costs were $25.28 PEPM and $11.56 PMPM.

Elite Performers

While the universe of participants was small, at 5 TPAs, the surveyed TPAs may be elite performers. Function-by-function, these TPAs had lower costs than are typically found in competitive products of Blue Cross Blue Shield and Independent/ Provider-Sponsored plans.  They are also typically among the largest 20% of TPAs. Finally, they have accounting systems sufficiently robust to report with the granularity of the Sherlock survey. This may be an indicator of strong management if “you manage what you measure.”

Sherlock Expense Evaluation Report

The summary in Navigator is excerpted from the 2010 TPA edition of the Sherlock Expense Evaluation Report, which is now available to licensees and participants.

Web Conference 

We will host a web conference on Wednesday, September 22 from 2:00 PM to 3:00 PM East Coast Time to discuss the summary results. Doug Sherlock will offer a brief presentation, followed by questions and answers. To participate in the web conference, please register at https://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/ 933935259. Once registered, dial-in information and a link to connect to the web will be provided in a confirmation email. Please note that if more than one person from your firm would like to participant in the conference call and everyone will be in one room, only ONE person needs to register for the conference. 

Assessment

Thank you for your continued interest in our research.

Link: Mid-September 2010 Navigator 09-20

Sherlock Company
sherlock@sherlockco.com
Ph:  215-628-2289
Fax: 215-542-0690

Conclusion

And so, your thoughts and comments on this ME-P are appreciated. Feel free to review our top-left column, and top-right sidebar materials, links, URLs and related websites, too. Then, subscribe to the ME-P. It is fast, free and secure.

Get our Widget: Get this widget!

Our Other Print Books and Related Information Sources:

Practice Management: http://www.springerpub.com/prod.aspx?prod_id=23759

Physician Financial Planning: http://www.jbpub.com/catalog/0763745790

Medical Risk Management: http://www.jbpub.com/catalog/9780763733421

Healthcare Organizations: www.HealthcareFinancials.com

Physician Advisors: www.CertifiedMedicalPlanner.com

Subscribe Now: Did you like this Medical Executive-Post, or find it helpful, interesting and informative? Want to get the latest ME-Ps delivered to your email box each morning? Just subscribe using the link below. You can unsubscribe at any time. Security is assured.

Link: http://feeds.feedburner.com/HealthcareFinancialsthePostForcxos

Sponsors Welcomed: And, credible sponsors and like-minded advertisers are always welcomed.

Link: https://healthcarefinancials.wordpress.com/2007/11/11/advertise