Kathy Bergstrom, CEBS, Author at Word on Benefits

Four Questions to Evaluate Your Investment Manager Relationship

Kathy Bergstrom, CEBS

14 Feb 201814 Feb 2018

Roses are red, violets are blue, is it time to bid your fund’s investment manager adieu? With Valentine’s Day upon us, you may be thinking about relationships. And an employee benefit fund’s relationship with its investment manager is an important one to […]

When Opioid Addiction Shows Up at Work

Kathy Bergstrom, CEBS

02 Feb 201822 Sep 2020

When his teenaged daughter came home with an opioid prescription after having her wisdom teeth removed, Randall Kratz challenged her doctor. Kratz, senior account manager for FEI Behavioral Health in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, had worked as a substance abuse counselor and knew about […]

Employee Benefits Global Benefits Health Care

Global Health Plan Risks Following Domestic Trends

Kathy Bergstrom, CEBS

19 Dec 2017

High blood pressure. Obesity. Lack of exercise. Many of the same risk factors that drive up health care costs in the United States are pushing up medical costs around the world, presenting challenges to global employers. In his article “Managing Medical Plans […]

Employee Benefits Health Care Insurance Opioid Abuse Prescription Drugs

Opioid Epidemic: The Role of Workplace Injuries

Kathy Bergstrom, CEBS

21 Nov 201721 Jan 2019

Private employers reported 2.9 million nonfatal workplace injuries and illnesses in 2016, and it’s likely that some of those employees received prescriptions for an opioid to manage their pain. In fact, research shows that workers’ compensation insurers spend about $1.54 billion annually […]

Employee Benefits Wellness

Seven Sleep Rules for Overall Wellness

Kathy Bergstrom, CEBS

06 Nov 201709 Aug 2018

Most of us across North America enjoyed an extra hour of sleep this past weekend—Sadly for many, this may be a rare occasion of getting the optimal amount of sleep. Many people wear their ability to function on small amounts of sleep […]

Affordable Care Act (ACA) Employee Benefits Voluntary Benefits

Voluntary Benefits Becoming Mandatory to Attract and Retain

Kathy Bergstrom, CEBS

11 Oct 201711 Oct 2017

Pet insurance, vision insurance, identity theft insurance. A growing number of employers are offering these and other types of voluntary benefits as they look for ways to recruit and retain employees and improve worker well-being. Leigh Stepan, CEBS, principal of Leigh Stepan […]

Communication Employee Benefits Health Care

Take the Surprise Out of Emergency Medical Bills

Kathy Bergstrom, CEBS

15 Sep 2017

When an emergency medical situation occurs, whether it’s a playground mishap, a car accident or a life-threatening health care crisis, the first priority for patients and their loved ones is getting care and getting it quickly. They may not think about whether the […]

Employee Benefits Paid Time Off (PTO) Vacation

Unlimited Paid Time Off—Who Benefits?

Kathy Bergstrom, CEBS

14 Jul 201718 Jul 2019

It’s summer vacation season. Employees who may spend the rest of the year squirreling away their vacation time are finally getting out of the office to go on a European adventure or take a long-awaited family trek to a theme park. What […]

Employee Benefits Fraud Prescription Drugs

Fighting Prescription Drug Fraud: Five Strategies

Kathy Bergstrom, CEBS

20 Jun 201715 Sep 2017

Prescription drug fraud is already a billion-dollar problem for insurers in the United States, with estimates for the cost of drug diversion alone at $75 billion annually. The opioid epidemic threatens to exacerbate the problem as drug-seeking behavior is the biggest contributor […]

Employee Benefits Fraud

Trusted Employee, Fraud Threat, Both?

Kathy Bergstrom, CEBS

26 May 2017

When we think about people who defraud benefit plans, we probably picture the typical bad guys—fundamentally dishonest people who feel no remorse. In reality, about 95% of the people who commit internal or occupational fraud, such as embezzlement or financial statement fraud, […]