Hanna Global Solutions Launches Unique U.S. Healthcare Exchange Solution

Hanna Global Solutions (HGS), a global human resource and employee benefits management and consulting company, today announced the launch of their unique U.S. Healthcare Exchange solution, developed specifically for Indian companies with employees in the United States. This solution has been developed in partnership with UnitedHealthcare (UHC), the most diversified health care company in the United States.

The HGS Healthcare Exchange offers employees more choice, more control and the opportunity to buy a health benefit plan that better meets their needs, including the chance to access coverage at a lower cost depending on the plan selected and the individuals’ health status. In addition to medical insurance, employees will be able to choose dental, vision, life and disability insurance plans from this exchange.

In January 2014, major provisions of the new U.S. health care law (Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act – PPACA) become law. Some of the provisions are regulatory whereas others pertain to plan designs and financial penalties for non-compliance. Many employers are looking to health care exchanges as a solution to offer greater employee choice and predictable cost control, while also reducing the risks of legal compliance. The HGS Healthcare Exchange has been designed to specifically address the unique needs and challenges of Indian companies with a global workforce.

How the Healthcare Exchange works

The Healthcare Exchange works like a marketplace where employees select a health benefit plan that meets their personal needs from a coverage and price perspective. The Exchange offers a selection of plan designs – some with high benefit levels and some with lower benefit levels – with different premiums that reflect the cost of the plan design. An employee with high medical needs can select the richer plan, but will pay more for that coverage.

An employer decides how much they want to contribute or subsidize for the employees. The employees then use the subsidy to select the plan design and coverage level that best meets their personal needs. The employer benefits from financial and budget predictability, a reduced exposure to health care inflation, a lower administrative burden, spending less time and money on benefits and a reduced compliance risk.

“Health care in the United States is changing dramatically, and that offers both a threat and a unique opportunity for cost control to Indian employers with a global workforce. Partnering with UnitedHealthcare, the strongest U.S. health care insurer, we have developed a leading edge exchange solution that will offer greater choice in benefits, lower costs and a reduced legal risk,” said Joe Genovese, President, Hanna Global Solutions.

Hanna Global Solutions and UnitedHealthcare already offer unique capabilities specific to global Indian service companies, and today jointly serve over 100,000 of these employees and their family members living in the United States. They are familiar with the offshore-onshore business model, the challenges of global employee mobility, and effective methods of cost control and cost reduction that are unique to this population.

“Indian IT Service companies with operations in the US face a multitude of challenges posed by their business model, and there are increasing pressures on this due to the fast changing regulatory and economic environments. Hanna Global Solutions has worked along with the pioneers in the IT Service Industry in India right from its inception, and we are excited to bring this unique solution that would help the industry overall,” said Mathew Augustine, COO, Hanna Global Solutions.

About Hanna Global Solutions (HGS)

Hanna Global Solutions is a full service employee benefits advisor that offers a technology platform and services in employee benefit planning, eligibility management, employee advocacy, wealth management and retirement planning. HGS has a sharp focus on the needs of the Indian IT service companies that employ staff in the United States. HGS provides strategies that help combat the rising costs of health care, and guidance in making informed benefit decisions to meet budget goals. (www.hannaglobal.com)

UnitedHealthcare (UHC)

UnitedHealthcare is the most diversified health care company in the U.S. and a leader worldwide in helping people live healthier lives and helping to make the health system work better for everyone. UnitedHealthcare’s core capabilities in clinical care resources, information and technology uniquely enable them to meet the evolving needs of a changing health care environment. UnitedHealthcare serves more than 40 million people in health benefits and is one of the businesses of UnitedHealth Group (NYSE: UNH), a diversified Fortune 50 health and well-being company.