Disc 7

Lesson 7 Discussion Forum 1: 300 words

Discuss the following statement: “Health care costs are out of control in the United States, and increasing conflicts between employers and employees are likely as employers try to reduce their health benefits costs.

Your discussion is to be submitted in 12-point Times New Roman font using APA format with a minimum of two sources. 

 Reply to Post 1:  160 words

Organizations in the recent days taking all the possible measures to satisfy the employees and motivate them so that they can contribute greatly in the success of the business. Companies are also offering the best healthcare benefits to their respective employees so that they can face the uncertain health issues and protect their families from the illness. But rising health care prices in the US raising the huge challenges for the employers to pay all the possible health care compensation for the employees (Nahin & Stussman, 2018). 

The US government dedicate more tax revenues to the healthcare industries and make sure that they should offer the best services for the people so that they can quickly recover from the health hazards. US also spend far more revenues in this area compare to the other developed countries and they prioritise the people lives and their quick recovery from the long term illness. Hence they charge more in terms of insurance policies so that they can keep on improve the healthcare systems in the country (Mulligan, 2015). 

But rising prices are creating the challenges for the employees and employers to meet the healthcare charges and looking for the solutions. Most of the employers are minimising the healthcare benefits so that they can enhance the revenues for the company. But this move can raise the conflict situation for them in the workplace and hits the productivity if employees did not satisfy with the current packages. Since US healthcare industry is more advance and secure, they charge more from the people and it create the challenging situations for the employers to meet all the possible changes (Mulligan, 2015).

Reply to Post 2:  160 words

The statement reflects a true health cost scenario in the US due to the 25% of the benefits being spent on the payment of insurance costs. The insurance costs are such as medical premiums, vision care, dental care covers, and the life insurance covers. The bill that was passed on the benefits of universal healthcare has only caused anxiety and confusion on how the federal plan will be effective. The dilemma on the effect of the coverage to the healthcare providers, the sponsors of the health care, and the overall burden that it’s likely to have on the organizations and their owners are all still unclear (Okpala, 2018).

The conflicts between employers and employees have greatly been influenced by the authorities. The authorities have shifted a lot of responsibilities to the employers; health costs have all been transferred to the employers. As a result, some of the employers require their employees to provide some health care costs in the provision of the overall health care costs. This monitoring process is done through the market alternative systems to ensure that the medical care provisions are effective. The auditing is done by the health care providers usually provide utilization of review in determining the costs of services rendered and be billed to the respective organization (Woolhandler, S 2017).

Lesson 7 Discussion Forum 2: 300 words

What should be included in disaster planning for a large employer in Annapolis, Maryland, that is concerned about natural disasters such as floods and snowstorms that might shut down the company and parts of the city?

Your discussion is to be submitted in 12-point Times New Roman font using APA format with a minimum of two sources.

Students are required to post their primary response 

Students will respond to at least 2 other postings 

Reply to Post 1:  160. words

Natural disasters

In Annapolis, Maryland, Natural disasters can not be mitigated completely but there are some ways in which they can effectively control the possible damages caused by them. There are many ways to develop a well built and formulated disaster management as well as recovery plan, specially tailored for natural disasters such as flood earthquake cyclone snowstorm (VanVactor, 2017). These tactics, methods, and processes can be followed either individually or in multiple combinations to successfully counter the worst conditions. These provide accountable ways to bring back the business on minimum operational conditions, through which the business can still survive. They are explained below. 

Focusing on prevention

The best way is not to let the natural calamities in the first place, they should focus on the preventions more so they can stop it from happening.  In business, a proper guideline of emergency preparedness is a must-have thing otherwise the business owners can lose everything within seconds. They should conduct daily audits, regularly check the security of fire prevention and safety systems (Zhou, Wu, Xu & Fujita, 2018). They should start planning to prevent the effects based on assumptions so that they can determine the ways of business impact during risks. 

Secure an evacuation planning

In a company, there should be primary and secondary evacuation routes and exits for the employees to make sure of easier access on these routes to make the employees safe during the disasters. They should make a plan on evacuation in advance and create a designated place to meet outside so that they can gather there after evacuation and individuals will also get assistance in the time of need. 

Updated list of emergency phone numbers

They should make a list of updated emergency contact numbers including a fire station, police, doctor, ambulance, agencies of disaster relief,  suppliers, and distributors for employees' needs. They should prepare an emergency kit for tough times which the employees can use in an emergency. The kit should include a first aid box, torchlight, radio, tool kit, etc, and also check that employees can get these easily. 

Protect the important records of business

The board of management in the company should protect the data records of important business by securing it in a safe which is resistant to heat, fire, torch, and various burglary tools. Risks and protections

In the company, the management should analyze the natural threats from the beginning so that they can take the steps to measure the potential and damage of the company's building and employees. It will help them to take the right action towards their needs in case of fire, snowstorm, flood, or other natural disasters. 

Coverage of insurance

There are many kinds of insurance coverage and a variety of insurance limits. So the company should clearly understand the whole process of insurance coverage so that they can recover soon in those hard times shortly by using the policy. They should make these insurance files easily accessible so they can claim it and recover soon in the emergency. Having a proper guideline on emergency preparedness planning is mandatory for every Institute so that the company survives and recovers soon.

Reply to Post 2:  160 words

The assessment of business firms often includes the establishment of a disaster forecasting team which consist of every representative form all the departments such as Human resource, security, information technology and other core sectors within the organization.  The team often assists in the identification of any possible response in case the disaster occurs, impact on staff, and establishment of a contingency plan.  Concerns issues like installation of backup with all the staff data, routine checkups, and maintenance procedures must be stipulated within the plan to ensure safety in case of the occurrence of the disaster. Training is another key factor that must be considered when drafting the plan. All the efforts made by the team can go into waste if directors and staff are not adequately trained to withstand the occurrence of the disaster. The process of training should be done more often by reflecting on the real workstation situation to mimic the actual disaster (Khan and Lurie, 2014).  The organization must have a well established strategic analysis on the emergency forecasting plan paper to distinguish the numerous categories of natural crises in the region. The various mechanism to regulate and prevent disasters such as the installation of automatic fire detection and water sensing alarm must be in place to deter further distraction the crisis occurs. Other aspects such as methods of combating the disaster like the construction of good drainage systems and advanced dykes around the flooding streams must be outlined within the plan. Erection of some tall structures to prevent and contain the effects of a snowstorm. The management of the city must draft a long-term strategic disaster plan. As for business firms, every organization must establish more safety measures suitable to their working environment.(Laaser,2016).