How do I get started with an EMPAQ®?
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Data collection for 2010 program year data has closed. Participants will receive their company-specific benchmark reports on August 26, 2011. For information about future submissions, please email
empaq@businessgrouphealth.org.
What is the cost to participate?
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- Member Companies: EMPAQ® is a membership benefit for all National Business Group on Health members. There is no additional cost for the basic reporting package.
- Non-member Companies: Employers who are not Business Group members may submit data free of charge. The price per benchmarking report is $750 per program up to a $2,500 maximum charge.
- Data Suppliers: Companies submitting on behalf of their clients may submit data free of charge, regardless of their clients’ Business Group membership status. The price per benchmarking report per non-member client is $750 per program up to a $2,500 maximum charge. Recipients of the EMPAQ® Premier Plus and Premier Data Supplier Seals will receive a limited set of free non-member reports.
How do I choose an industry group for benchmarking?
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EMPAQ
® uses the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) for industry benchmarking. Participants are required to select an NAICS code for their company during the data submission process. For a full list of available NAICS codes,
click here.
Which data suppliers and vendors submit data to EMPAQ® for their clients?
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How do I download my EMPAQ® Benchmarking Report from last year?
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I want to log-in but need a Business Group username and password.
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What is the difference between EMPAQ® and WISCORE?
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Click here to get more information about the Business Group's premier benchmarking tools.
What covered populations are included in EMPAQ®?
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Typically for each program, include all covered or enrolled U.S.-based employees including employees on leave. Please note: requirements vary by program so refer to a specific program's
EMPAQ® Data Dictionary for complete details.
What covered populations are included in the Major Diagnostic Categories (MDC)?
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For the Major Diagnostic Categories (MDC) collected for short-term disability, long-term disability and group health, include only active, U.S.-based employees and employees on leave.
Should employees on COBRA be included in the definition of active employees?
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EMPAQ® does not collect costs on former employees and "others" that qualify for COBRA. However, EMPAQ® does collect costs for employees on leave (where health care is being continued while the employee is on leave).
My company has several plans. Which plan should I use to report my data?
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Submit data for the most predominant plan. If there are two predominant plans, divide the populations and submit each population separately. Make sure to assign each population with a unique name in the "Employer or Business Unit" field in the EMPAQ® data submission tool.
For the group health program, how are "group health" and "medical" program costs and headcounts defined? I want to be sure that I'm reading it appropriately regarding account-based health care plans vs. more traditional medical plans (e.g. PPO)s.
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Benefit professionals typically use the term "group health" to correspond to all ofan employer's health related plans (i.e., medical, prescription drug, behavioral health, dental and vision). Where as medical refers only to the medical plan options offered by the company.
For purposes of EMPAQ
®, here are some guidelines to consider as you gather your group health data:
For Program Cost Measures
- Group health: Include medical program costs, behavioral health program costs (if separate from medical program costs), pharmacy program costs, and dental health program costs.
- Medical: Include medical program costs and behavioral health program costs (if separate from medical program costs). Pharmacy program costs for prescription drugs dispensed in an outpatient setting (i.e., not during an inpatient confinement) are submitted separately for these questions:
- Pharmacy Program Costs Paid by Employer for Covered Employees; and
- Pharmacy Program Costs Paid by Employer for Covered Lives.
For Headcount Measures
- Use the above guidelines to determine your covered populations for each metric.
- The number for covered populations (such as Average Number of Medical Plan Covered Employees) should follow the costs you included for the medical plan.
- For example: If an employer is not submitting HMO data for a metric (such as Medical Program Costs for Covered Employees) — the employer should not submit the covered employees for this same plan.
Note: For EMPAQ
® purposes, vision coverage is not included in any metric due to low cost impact on employers.
What are closed claims, in particular for the short-term disability program? Are partially approved claims included? Are medically approved but unpaid claims included?
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Closed claims are only those that are approved and closed. Include only authorized lost calendar days for which short-term disability benefits were paid. Additionally, partially approved claims should be included for the period benefits were paid. Intermittent short-term disability days should be totaled into whole days if they are part of the same claim. Finally, claims that are medically approved but unpaid should not be included in closed claims (e.g. have not met eligibility rules such as one year of service).
Should I include the disability waiting periods in my total number of FMLA lost workdays?
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Yes, if an approved FMLA concurrent claim that is tied to a short-term disability or workers' compensation claim includes a waiting period before that benefit begins, then the waiting period days are considered to be part of the FMLA concurrent claim.
My company does not track unpaid sick days. Should I enter "0" for the response?
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If you can track the number of leave days that are for unpaid sick days then you should enter the number. Otherwise, the field should be left blank. Do not enter zero for any numbers for which you don/t have an answer.
Part of my population uses a PTO bank for absences and there is no mechanism to differentiate between unplanned vs. planned days off. How do I provide data for this population?
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If you can't differentiate between planned vs. unplanned absences, then the data should not be provided. Only provide data for the population for which you track the information. Subsequently, you should only include those employees in the Average Number of Employees Covered for Incidental Absence data element. The employees that use a PTO bank should be excluded.