Request a call Login

  • Earlier this month, the California Occupational Safety and Health Appeals Board (OSHAB) announced that outdoor job sites must contain accessible potable drinking water. Water must be placed within close proximity to where employees work. It was determined that outdoor workplace drinking water must be located “as close as practical” to areas where employees are working, which encourages frequent hydration.

    On February 6th, 2023, OSHAB clarified that the term “as close as practicable” in terms of providing water to prevent heat illness means that the water must be as close as reasonably can be accomplished to encourage frequent water consumption. Millions of U.S. workers are exposed to heat in their workplaces or job sites. Although exposure to heat is preventable, thousands become sick from occupational heat exposure every year, and in some cases, it’s fatal. Most outdoor fatalities, 50% to 70%, occur in the first few days of working in warm or hot environments because the body needs to gradually tolerate the heat over time. The Occupational Medicine and Wellness center states that workers should drink five to seven ounces of water every 15 to 20 minutes to prevent dehydration.

    Help Your Employees!

    If you have employees that are working endless hours outside, especially in the heat, it’s essential that you take steps to prevent them from getting injured on the job. Providing your workers with easy access to water while on the job site is one of the easiest steps you can take to protect your workers. Our safety experts ensure you remain compliant and take every step possible to protect your biggest asset – your employees. Interested in learning more? Contact us today.

  • Unfortunately, diabetes is increasing across the U.S. at an alarming rate. According to the Diabetes Research Institute, 34.2 million individuals, or 10.5% of the U.S. population, have diabetes. Diabetes is a chronic (long-lasting) health condition that affects how your body turns food into energy. Your body breaks down most of the food you eat into sugar (or glucose) and releases it into your bloodstream. When your blood sugar increases, it signals your pancreas to release insulin. Insulin acts as a key to letting the blood sugar into your body’s cells for use as energy. If you have diabetes, your body doesn’t make enough insulin or can’t use it as well as it should. If there isn’t enough insulin or your cells stop responding to insulin, blood sugar builds up and stays in your bloodstream. Over time, this build-up can cause serious health problems, such as heart disease, vision loss, and kidney disease.

    Alongside diabetes, hypertension, or high blood pressure, is a common disease among employees. Nearly half of the adults in the U.S. (47%, or 116 million) have hypertension. Hypertension is when your blood pressure, the force of blood flowing through your blood vessels, is consistently too high. The main way that high blood pressure causes harm is by increasing the workload of the heart and blood vessels, making them work harder and less efficiently. Over time, this force and friction of high blood pressure damage the delicate tissues inside the arteries.

    Your Responsibility As A Business Owner

    Chances are high that you have employees with diabetes. As a business owner, it’s your job to ensure your employees feel safe and comfortable in their work environment and, ultimately, outside of work. For employees that have health conditions such as diabetes, it’s even more important to ensure they have everything they need should an emergency take place. You must create a supportive culture for your employees with diabetes and create health benefits that include a more personalized approach to their care. Giving your employees access to affordable care and tools is essential to attract and retain the talent you need. The following are practices you can take to create a safe environment for employees who have diabetes:

    • Create a private or dedicated space for blood glucose monitoring or insulin delivery 
    • Have on-site educational programs that promote awareness of diabetes 
    • Offer workday flexibility for employees that need to make in-person or virtual health appointments
    • Promote a healthy workplace by encouraging and supporting health-related activities throughout the day (taking walks, adding a workout area in your building, offering gym membership reimbursement, and more)
    • Offer healthy and diabetic-friendly snacks and meals

    When you help your employees who suffer from this disease, it can ultimately help save your company money in health care costs, increase productivity, and reduce absenteeism. Providing your employees with the resources they need to achieve their wellness goals can, in turn, improve your bottom line.

    Diabetic Management With GMS

    At GMS, we understand how challenging it can be to wear multiple hats simultaneously. However, when it comes to your biggest asset, your employees, it’s essential that you do everything you can to make them happy and create a healthy environment. When it comes to employees with a disease such as diabetes, you may have to reconsider what you’re currently doing and determine how you can improve your efforts to support these specific individuals better. When you partner with GMS, you gain access to our diabetic management program as part of our premier employee benefits administration. We help employers and their employees transform their health, change lives, and create new opportunities for everyone through diabetic management with OneDrop. The artificial intelligence-powered program associated with diabetic management adapts to every participant’s specific conditions, including:

    • Diabetes
    • Prediabetes
    • High Cholesterol 
    • High Blood Pressure 

    Through OneDrop, it supports individuals on their journey to better health by providing diabetes testing supplies and blood pressure monitors. When you offer a diabetic management program to your employees, you’re providing them with the tools to, ultimately, transform their lives. They’ll have access to living healthier lives and regain their time and power. The program provides online health data tracking, health coaching, and other resources to access from anywhere.

    “Diabetes is one of the most expensive conditions for employees and their family members, directly impacting employers and productivity. The indirect cost equals $3.3 billion in absenteeism from the workplace, with an average of $26.9 billion annually. Furthermore, living with chronic conditions predisposes people to a greater risk of cardiovascular disease. Multi-condition programs such as OneDrop help make the connection between chronic conditions rather than treating each as a competing health narrative,” expressed Beth Kohmann, Vice President of Benefits at GMS. 

    Reimagine possible and contact us today to get started.

  • Since the COVID-19 pandemic began in 2020, employers have started implementing workplace safety protocols to ensure the safety and health of their employees. While that will always be an essential aspect of one’s business, there are additional ways to promote health at work. Health promotion within the workplace ultimately creates conditions that support and teach the best possible health for your employees. This gives employees a sense of ownership, and they learn to work together to form a coordinated action plan to improve their well-being.

    As 2023 approaches, what better way to kickstart the new year than by promoting a culture of health within your organization? Continue reading to understand the importance of health in the workplace and how you can begin implementing it.

    Building A Culture Of Health 

    Healthy employees make for a more productive workplace and a happier workforce. These results in fewer sick days, quicker recovery, and your employees are at less risk for long-term illnesses. In addition, did you know that healthy employees incur 41% fewer costs? Knowing that, businesses have begun prioritizing encouraging and supporting their employees in adopting healthy behaviors. Business owners are providing their employees with the following:

    • Preventive support
    • Convenient treatment options
    • Tools and resources employees need in all areas of their health

    To establish the right foundation for what’s suitable for your business and employees, you must have the right programs in place and ensure your health strategy fits into your workplace culture. A great way to begin this process is by partnering with an expert in this area. A professional employer organization (PEO) like GMS can apply the following experience to your blueprint:

    • Incentive strategies
    • Benefits design
    • Communication strategies

    From there, create a culture of health by following these steps:

    • Dedicate senior leadership and manager support
    • Identify a worksite health and wellness coordinator (if applicable)
    • Create a wellness plan
    • Dedicate resources

    Why Is This Important?

    While business owners care about their employees and want them to be healthy, a culture of health ultimately provides significant financial benefits to your business. Employees who aren’t healthy cost employers $530 billion in productivity annually. Employee well-being provides your business with the following outcomes:

    • Employee engagement
    • Customer engagement
    • Turnover
    • Workplace safety

    Health promotion in the workplace shows employees that the organization recognizes that both the employer and the employee share some extent for the employee’s health. The company’s bottom line remains intact when your employees are taken care of.

    Creating A Healthy Culture With GMS

    We understand this might be an information overload for you. However, GMS experts are here to help you wherever you need them. Our benefits experts work with you to implement a wellness program within your workplace. If that seems too much to jump into, we can also assist you with creating a benefits package with basic wellness benefits for your employees to get the resources they need. Allow GMS to help you create a healthy workforce to kickstart 2023. Contact us today. 

  • Inflation continues to rise, increasing health insurance premiums for Americans. Employer-sponsored insurance (ESI) is the largest source of health insurance coverage in the United States. Employer health insurance premiums have continued to rise quicker than wages and inflation.

    According to The Los Angeles Times, two in five adults enrolled in employer-sponsored coverage find it difficult to afford health care and insurance costs. Commercial rates for hospital care are averaging 224 percent of Medicare rates.

    The Cost Of Employer-Sponsored Insurance

    According to a recent analysis from the Kaiser Family Foundation, in 2021, the average ESI premium for single coverage was $7,739 per year, and the average ESI premium for family coverage was $22,221 per year. Additionally, with those plans, the average deductible for single coverage was $1,669, and the average aggregate deductible for family coverage was $4,705.

    To combat the increasing costs of ESI, it’s vital to take immediate action to bring down costs. As an employer, it can be challenging to negotiate prices on plans. However, many consider the option of joining other firms to combine buying power to obtain fair provider prices.

    Those with lower incomes may find it increasingly challenging to keep up with the ESI rates. In 2020, the Commonwealth Fund survey defined the word, “underinsured” as being covered by a plan with high out-of-pocket costs, the findings were that one-fourth of working-age adults in employer plans were underinsured.

    How GMS Can Help

    A partnership with GMS allows you to provide the best healthcare benefits to your employees. When it comes to medical coverage, this is a necessity for your employees. As the economy fluctuates, your health insurance pricing cannot. With GMS, we give small businesses the buying power of a large corporation. GMS represents over 40,000 worksite employees, allowing businesses to receive a lower rate. Retake control of this essential benefit, and contact GMS today!

  • In late July, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared monkeypox a “public health emergency of international concern.” While employers are still dealing with the effects of COVID-19 within the workplace, the global spread of monkeypox, the rise of related health advisories, and the extensive media coverage about the virus leave employers concerned.

    Understanding Monkeypox

    The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and Prevention define monkeypox as: 

    “Monkeypox is a rare disease caused by infection with the monkeypox virus. The monkeypox virus is part of the same family of viruses as variola virus, which causes smallpox. Monkeypox symptoms are similar to smallpox but milder, and monkeypox is rarely fatal.”

    While experts are still assessing how this disease is transmitted, it is currently understood to be transmitted and spreads from person to person through:

    • Direct contact with the infectious rash, scabs, or bodily fluids
    • Respiratory secretions during prolonged, face-to-face contact
    • Touching items that previously touched the infectious rash or bodily fluids
    • Pregnant women can spread the virus to their fetus through the placenta

    Steps Employers Should Take

    While the health risk of monkeypox to the general public, including employees in non-healthcare settings, remains low, it’s still critical to evaluate current policies. A good starting point for a business owner is to reinforce specific health and safety protocols adopted during the COVID-19 pandemic. In addition, it’s vital to consider how you can limit the spread of monkeypox throughout the office. The following are precautions you should take, including:

    • Wash hands often with soap and water
    • Have sanitation stations located throughout the office 
    • Routinely clean all frequently touched surfaces in the workplace
    • Avoid close, skin-to-skin contact with people who have a rash
    • Avoid close contact with people who are sick
    • Stay home when you feel sick 

    GMS Is Here To Protect You

    While GMS can’t stop the spread of monkeypox, our HR experts can help you establish health guidelines and update handbooks to ensure your policies protect you as an employer. We help clients write safety manuals to ensure the safety of their employees. There’s no need to stress about the what-ifs and the endless number of questions you may have. Partner with GMS so we can help you take a proactive approach to ensure the safety and well-being of your employees. Contact us today. 

  • A survey conducted by AKASKA, a leading developer in Artificial Intelligence for healthcare operations, released findings demonstrating how individuals research healthcare. The survey indicated that Americans often turn to health insurers for pricing rather than other sources. In addition, the findings of this survey showcase the need for both payers and providers to be proactive on price transparency measures.

    Survey Findings

    Among the 2,000 adults who participated in the survey, only 36% indicated that they researched prices for healthcare services. In addition:

    • 60% look to their insurance provider for pricing information
    • 44% look on the websites of health insurers for information
    • 29% would call their health insurance company for information 

    In addition to the statistics above, respondents said: 

    • 44% say their health insurance company does not provide pricing information for local healthcare providers
    • 34% are uncertain if this information is available

    On July 1st, 2022, the Centers for Medicaid and Medicare Services began requiring health plans to comply with several initiatives related to price transparency. The goal is to provide consumers with the necessary information to make knowledgeable health care decisions. Along with price transparency, health plans must provide machine-readable files (MRF) with information on in-network and out-of-network insurance rates. However, some question how valuable the MRF format is because it’s not user-friendly and difficult to interpret.

    Stop Questioning Your Health Plans

    Medical coverage isn’t just a benefit for employees; it’s a necessity. At GMS, we provide our clients with various tools and resources to find a coverage solution tailored to their needs. Not only do we provide clients with the buying power of a large corporation, but we’re able to offer financial security, flexible benefit options, and an unprecedented customer service experience. Along with your dedicated benefits specialist, you gain access to a team of experts who train your employees on how your plan works and answer coverage questions. Health insurance is complicated, allow GMS to support you. Contact us today.