Buck Consultants Offers Enhanced Health Exchange

Buck recently enhanced RightOpt to include retirees, COBRA members and part-time employees. This means an employer can now cover its entire work force, from hire through retirement, including:

• Full time/benefit-eligible active employees;
• Part time/non-benefit-eligible active employees/COBRA;
• Pre-65 retirees; and
• Medicare-eligible retirees.

According to Sherri Bockhorst, principal and leader, Health Exchange Solutions, “RightOpt provides plan sponsors with a smart way to help their retirees and part-time workers evaluate, and purchase appropriate individual coverage using available public subsidies.”

As part of the expanded RightOpt, eligible active employees have access to group health plans offered through Buck’s preferred-partner strategy, which regionally aligns provider networks based on quantitative criteria including network breadth, provider discounts, cost guarantees and quality. Ineligible active employees, pre-65 retirees and Medicare-eligible retirees will have access to individual, fully insured plans as well as available public subsidies through a centralized portal and call center.

RightOpt, which is designed for employers with 3,000 or more employees, focuses on the participants’ health and well-being, while driving down employer expenses for benefit delivery, according to Buck Consultants. The exchange can help employers reduce health care costs, and improve employee and dependent health outcomes, through a year-long focus in three areas. First, members are encouraged to choose their personally preferred plan options at enrollment. Second, they use those options effectively throughout the year. Third, they improve or maintain their health risks over time.

More information about RightOpt can be found here.