Category: business

Michigan Corporation Offering Progressive Health Insurance Model

POSTED: 01/10/18, 11:28 AM EST, Reprinted, Aurore Henze, The Oakland Press
Aurore Henze touring Atlas Copco
Sunny Connolly with Aurore Henze
Aurore Henze with Kyle Bingham

Changes are taking place in the insurance sphere. More Michiganians are choosing direct primary-care medicine, auditing companies are fighting insurance corruption and some mammoth corporations are putting employees first by reimbursing left over insurance expenses.

Michigan is at the forefront of some of these progressive concepts that prove corporate America can work optimally if given the correct tools and management.

Kyle Bingham of Premier Private Physicians and SALTA Direct Primary Care, gave me some insight as to why and how the concierge medicine or direct primary care business model for insurance is picking up speed.

“Companies are tired of paying more and receiving less,” Bingham says. “Both of our models attract and retain top talent and act as a differentiator from what their competition is offering in terms of traditional insurance benefits.

“We offer a flat fee, which is easy for the business to budget, and our services are giving individuals and families better access and care while lowering overall health care costs.”

Besides building convenience and trust, high level executives appreciate the idea of a medical model that can compete at the same pace as their lifestyle. Having a doctor who knows you, that you can call in a pinch and can be creative with their time for your sake has been a much needed and missing accessory to our current health care model.

Companies like Patterson Bryant Insurance group in Bingham Farms have become a much needed resource when it comes to companies streamlining insurance expenses for their employees and bottom line.

“You would be surprised the millions of dollars that corporations spend in false or outdated health insurance policies for their employees;”

….this could be anything from employees adding false family and friends or doctors charging for services that weren’t actually done. We’ve seen it all,” says Sunny Connolly, a partner at the firm. He adds, “2018 is going to be “a tipping point for companies in Michigan seeking insurance.”

So, how do corporations respond to streamlined insurance audits like this?

Well, nobody quite knows how to handle their employee insurance packages as ethically and responsibly as machining corporation Atlas Copco, headquartered in Auburn Hills. This hugely successful multinational company continues to reward its employees year after year with bonuses from left over insurance policy funds.

Atlas Copco is a Swedish industrial company with an inclusive employee business model that continues to have an excellent employee retention base. Atlas serves customers in more than 180 countries and has almost 5,000 employees. Its business model is one for the entire world to watch, and we are lucky to have it in Michigan.

“Our employees are happy and we all work together,” says General Manager Anders Hoberg. “It’s important that corporations that compete in the global economy keep the health and trust of their employees at the forefront of their goals and a part of their bottom line.”

Aurore Henze is a naturopath and CEO of Michigan Health Star, a division of Health Star Media, a national multimedia health hub. SUBSCRIBE to ourYoutube channel for the latest video updates. Join 14k followers and follow at michiganhealthstar.com …Facebook and Twitter.

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by Aurore Henze

Michigan is Making Health and Longevity a Priority for Seniors

You’ve visited them before, elderly relatives, maybe your own mother and father, in nursing or retirement homes. Some of these homes are beautiful on the outside, some are not, but either type may have the same basic issues, regardless of the price: poor quality food and insufficient care.

We are left frustrated and distraught, knowing our loved ones should be better cared for with the money we invest into their safety and well-being. Well, two Michigan men have made landmark choices to change the way our loved ones spend their later years, and it truly gives hope for a brighter future.

Mohammed Qazi, is a successful businessman who invested in the future of Michigan’s retirement community in 1989. No stranger to kind deeds, he is on the board of many nonprofits and sponsors some great organizations, like The Detroit Rescue Mission, but the mammoth undertaking of creating a better skilled health center for seniors was close to his heart.

“I’m a Detroiter,” Qazi says. “I love to be a part of the city and its new growth and in addition to that, my Pakistani roots have always shown me the importance of honoring our aging community and ancestors.”

Mohammed Qazi, center left, at the opening of the Regency, skilled nursing center in Shelby Township, Michigan.

And honor he has, with more than 15 Ciena Healthcare highly skilled after-hospital nursing facilities in Michigan. With gourmet chefs, fresh food and late-hour room service, patients at Ciena are recovering stronger and happier every day.

Qazi knows that fresh food is key to recovery and health. Someone else who understands that concept is Jerry Beznos, partner of All Seasons, an assisted-living community for seniors that recently opened in Birmingham and Rochester but has other facilities across the United States.

“I became interested in assisted living when looking for a place for my own mother,” he says. “I remember thinking, ‘My mother deserves better.’ This is why I put so much time and effort in developing an alternative retirement community, which offers higher quality care for aging loved ones.”

SMjerrybeznos
Aurore Henze with All Season’s, Jerry Beznos

Walking into All Seasons Birmingham is reminiscent of entering a swanky 1940s lounge with a modern feel. It is not unusual to hear Beznos on the piano playing music for residents, to see friends at the bar café sharing a drink and laughing or listening to live music on the outdoor patio on the top floor.

These refreshing changes in elder care follow a sharp shift in the last 20 years. With people living longer, more choices and options must be put in place for different stages of life. Progressive businesses focusing on health, quality and care are defining the senior movement and making the archaic idea of the cold, lonely retirement institution obsolete.

allseasons
Dr. Aurore  from Michigan Health Star teaches classes on pain alternatives at ALL SEASONS

You can find more information on health and longevity in my “Beyond Natural Cures” book series or on my website michiganhealthstar.com, or visit All Seasons in Birmingham for one of my health classes on Gentle Choices in Health and Aging. Ciena skilled nursing can be found at cienahealthcare.com.

Aurore Henze is the CEO of Michigan Health Star, a division of Health Star Media, a multi-media hub that features progressive Michigan business, she is also an author and naturopath specializing in body/mind health, located in Birmingham. Please SUBSCRIBE to the YOUTUBE channel today!

Reposted from: The Oakland Press, By Aurore Henze, For Digital First Media 02/15/17, 5:53 PM EST

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by Aurore Henze

Progressive Companies Michigan is Proud Of!

This article is reprinted from The Oakland Press, 5/3/2017

Corporate America, you know the drill: limited vacation time, not enough time off after having children and the dreaded insurance game.

Many of us don’t fully understand our corporate insurance policies, but we all have felt taken advantage of or limited by archaic insurance policies.

The Swedish-American company Atlas Copco in Auburn Hills aims to change that by using some progressive European policies in the United States.

Atlas Copco, an industrial tools and equipment manufacturer, is half of a mile from the expressway, in a corporate landscape. Outside, it blends with the industrial theme, but on the inside it’s the happy employees, strategic interior design and extra benefits offered to employees that make this company stand out. I toured Atlas Copco and sat down with General Manager, Anders Hoberg and Human Resource Manager, Roberta Brown, to find out why their employee retention rate is so high.

Aurore Henze, Michigan Health Star, with ATLAS COPCO, General Manager of American Operations, Anders Hoberg

“We were looking to improve our North American sector,” Hoberg said. “We’ve been here in metro Detroit for over 50 years and employ over 640 hard-working men and women, and we wanted to make new policies that focus on health, family, safety and the environment.

“The very things that are important to our employees are also important to us, as a company.”

Atlas has indeed hit those marks of improvement. In 2015 it won the Safety Health & Environmental Award and set a new standard in the corporate sector by starting what’s called SHE week. This is a week worth of activities focused on health and quality of life. But it doesn’t stop there.

Free yoga classes, monthly massages, baskets of fresh fruit, weight watcher programs and smoking cessation programs are all offered by the company either free or at a discounted price. Roberta Brown explains it like this, “Everyone has a voice here, we have open communication and we strive to provide a relaxed environment conducive to working both alone and together.”

“By making the kitchen the center of the office, as a meeting place and by making management accessible among the employees and not sealed off somewhere on another level, has greatly improved the employees work ethic, as they respond favorably to trust and freedom,” she says.

What stood out to me, when I took the tour, were all the smiling faces and the benefits I learned about, such as the lenient work-from-home policies, generous vacation and new parental leave policies. Atlas continues to succeed in the insurance segment, with monthly premium costs 20 percent lower than the national average.

But what about other companies? How can they follow suit, with all the new changes in insurance and the fragility of the Affordable Care Act, where does Michigan stand?

I spoke with Sunny Connolly of Patterson-Bryant insurance in Bingham Farms to get the scoop on new Michigan insurance laws.

“Small business plans have the ability to offer a HRA, which allows for businesses to reimburse employees for premiums and out-of-pocket expenses,” Connolly says. “Larger businesses, over 50 employees, still need to follow the compliance requirements when offering group health plans, such as ERISA, COBRA and Family Medical Leave Act.”

To avoid being audited by the Department of Labor, Connolly says, while Obamacare is still in place businesses are required to follow the act’s rules. Insurance brokers recommend that employers use third-party administrators, who have audit guarantees and hold-harmless clauses.

Aurore Henze, is the host and CEO of Michigan Health Star, a division of Health Star Media. Visit michiganhealthstar.com and subscribe to the Michigan Health Star YouTube channel for weekly updates.

by Aurore Henze

Stress Relief Journey with Michigan Health Star

 

Coming down off of the holiday season is exhausting and even more so if you are a parent. This year I had the pleasure of spearheading the holiday season by doing some self-care. It started out with an amazing daily planner my sister bought for my birthday called, “Rituals for Living: Dreambook and Planner from Dragon Tree Spa.” This helped to remind me that I needed to get back on track of taking care of me. The book sat there, reminding me, until December. That’s when all of the stress I was under took a toll on my well-being and what I needed to do was to get back to “me.” December began with weekly visits for float therapy, followed Orgone Yoga, a practice that I had gotten away from several years ago. It’s been a difficult to find time but it’s truly amazing how once you set that time aside, the benefits are felt immediately.

I have maintained my own yoga and meditation program on my own the last 20 years for the most part. Orgone Yoga, is something I developed while studying with a body mind psychologist on the West Coast, this is a specific emotionally releasing yoga, meant to be used along with or in the interim of Orgone therapy (Body Mind Psychology). I outlined all of the steps in my book “Beyond Natural Cures” but eventually after several life upheaval’s my yoga practice and meditation fell by the wayside. I was able to self-heal enough to take daily walks in nature but as life complexities piled on, so did the need to do my yoga and meditate become more apparent.

Getting into my yoga practice again was not the hard part, I had successfully broken it down into half hour sessions and am not in the habit of making myself feel guilty if I couldn’t find the time, but the meditation aspect eluded me. I tried some of the new businesses that offer sensory deprivation therapy, Inception and True REST Detroit. I was into sensory deprivation therapy 20 years ago but finding a quality and economical place to go was next to impossible, then there was the commute. Fifteen years ago my quest for float therapy would take me almost an hour away from home to get there. I never thought the day would come when float therapy could be so easily accessible and not to mention, a highly sought after therapy.

After arriving for my float at True REST in Farmington Hills, I quickly realized that it’s the absolute disconnection to the electromagnetic fields, sounds, colors and devices that I needed for complete relaxation. The first few times were somewhat challenging, not knowing what to expect, or rather, expecting the darkness and silence and learning to accept it was the turning point in my personal experience. Once I settle in and let go of the noise, the spark of inspiration and the quietness of peace follows, but not always in that order

The team at True REST were very thorough, which made my first float better than what I had imagined. I used some breathing exercises and was able to escape to a level of consciousness and meditation that I have not been able to attain in 20 years. This took me by surprise as it wasn’t something I tried for, rather, it was something that spontaneously happened. Afterwards, I was able to do some yoga in the recovery room and I was back into the busy holiday hustle and bustle but this time with a smile on my face and a bounce in my step.

I spoke with True REST Detroit owner, Jeff Krause, about Float Therapy and he had this to say, “There is a surprising amount of independent data on R.E.S.T. [Reduced Environmental Stimulus Therapy], from studies on stress reduction, pain relief and enhanced creativity to the new anxiety research being done by Dr. Justin Feinstein. We are here to help others overcome pain, stress and anxiety – to reduce the need for addictive opioids, tranquilizers and sleeping pills. True REST also gives back to our Veterans and First Responders, offering free floats on the 11th of each month.”

Aurore Henze, is an naturopath, author, host and CEO of Michigan Health Star, a division of Health Star Media. Visit michiganhealthstar.com and subscribe to the Michigan Health Star YouTube channel for weekly show updates on this and other amazing articles.

[Reprinted from The Oakland Press, Dec. 31 2017]

Would you like Michigan Health Star to promote your progressive business? Contact us at michiganhealthstar.com to find out how we can make your business a shining star.

by Aurore Henze