AAMSI Survey Finds Leading Medicare Insurance Agents Offer Both MA and Medigap

Jan 3, 2022 | Business

 A survey of leading Medicare insurance professionals finds the vast majority now offer both Medicare Advantage and Medicare Supplement solutions. The survey was conducted by the American Association for Medicare Supplement Insurance.

“It’s hard to overlook the fact that 26 million Americans now opt for Medicare Advantage plan coverage,” states Jesse Slome, director of the Medicare advocacy organization. “The number is growing by roughly 2 million a year while Medicare Supplement policies in force remains rather stable at around 14 million.

The Association surveyed the nearly 1,000 Medicare insurance professionals listed on the organization’s online directory. The directory connects consumers with local Medicare insurance agents.

The vast majority of responding agents (95.9 %) now sell both Medicare Advantage (MA) and Medicare Supplement (Medigap) solutions. “Only 4.1 percent indicated they now only offer Medigap solutions,” Slome shares.

“During the just-concluded Medicare Open Enrollment we heard back from many listed agents who helped consumers compare and choose a Medicare Advantage plan,” Slome explains. “In 2022, we are going to place greater emphasis on educating consumers and becoming the respected vehicle they choose to find local Medicare Advantage agents as well as those offering Medigap solutions.”

Slome believes that consumers do not necessarily differentiate between the various Medicare options. “Consumers look for someone who can educate them about Medicare and help them find the best solution for their needs,” the Medicare insurance expert adds. “Our goal is make the online directory the nation’s leading resource for finding local professionals who can do just that.”

The American Association for Medicare Supplement Insurance advocates for the importance of educated planning and supports insurance professionals who market Medicare insurance solutions. For more information, visit the organization’s website at www.medicaresupp.org.

American Association for Medicare Supplement Insurance

Jesse R. Slome

818-597-3205

www.medicaresupp.org

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Hong Kong – Survey on Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises’ Credit Conditions for for Third Quarter 2021

Nov 2, 2021 | International

Survey on Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises’ Credit Conditions for for Third Quarter 2021

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The following is issued on behalf of the Hong Kong Monetary Authority:

     The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) published today (November 2) the results of Survey on Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises (SMEs)’ Credit Conditions for the third quarter of 2021.
      
     Regarding SMEs’ perception of banks’ credit approval stance relative to six months ago, excluding respondents who answered “no idea/don’t know”, 88 per cent perceived similar or easier credit approval stance in the third quarter of 2021, up from 72 per cent in the previous quarter. 12 per cent perceived more difficult credit approval stance, down from 28 per cent in the previous quarter (Chart 1 in the Annex). The perception of more difficult credit approval stance may not necessarily reflect actual difficulties faced by SMEs in obtaining bank credit as the perception could be affected by a number of factors, such as media/news reports, business conditions and opinions of relatives and friends.
      
     Of respondents with existing credit lines, 95 per cent reported that banks’ stance on existing credit lines was easier or unchanged in the third quarter of 2021, compared with 97 per cent in the previous quarter (Chart 2 in the Annex). 5 per cent of the respondents reported tighter banks’ stance on existing credit lines in the third quarter of 2021, compared with 3 per cent in the previous quarter. In this survey, tighter stance on existing credit lines denotes a range of possible measures or arrangements, such as reducing unused and used credit lines, raising the interest rate, imposing additional collateral requirements, or shortening loan tenor. Therefore, respondents’ indication of banks’ stance on existing credit lines may not directly reflect banks’ supply of credit to SMEs. 
      
     The survey also gauged the results of new credit applications from SMEs. 4 per cent of the respondents reported that they had applied for new bank credit during the third quarter of 2021. Among the respondents who had already known their application outcomes, 89 per cent reported fully or partially successful applications, compared with 91 per cent in the previous quarter (Chart 3 in the Annex). 11 per cent reported unsuccessful applications, compared with 9 per cent in the previous quarter.
      
     Owing to small sample sizes of SMEs with existing credit lines (22 per cent of surveyed SMEs) and with new credit applications (4 per cent of surveyed SMEs) during the quarter, the results could be prone to large fluctuations, and hence should be interpreted with care.

About Survey on SMEs’ Credit Conditions
      
     In light of the importance of SMEs to the Hong Kong economy and concerns about potential funding difficulties facing SMEs over the past few years, the HKMA has appointed the Hong Kong Productivity Council (HKPC) to carry out this survey, starting from the third quarter of 2016. This survey is conducted on a quarterly basis, covering about 2 500 SMEs from different economic sectors each time. The results of this survey can help monitor the development of SMEs’ access to bank credit from a demand-side perspective.
      
     The results of this survey should be interpreted with caution. Similar to other opinion surveys, views collected in this survey may be affected by changes in sentiment due to idiosyncratic events that occurred over the survey period, which can make the results prone to fluctuations. Readers are advised to interpret the results together with other economic and financial information. In addition, views collected are limited to the expected direction of inter-quarter changes (e.g. “tighter”, “no change” or “easier”) without providing information about the magnitude of these changes.
      
     Detailed tables and technical information of this survey are published on the website of the HKPC (smecc.hkpc.org).

Cielo Survey Finds That 50% of HR and Talent Acquisition Professionals in APAC Face Challenges in Quality of Hire

Oct 9, 2021 | Business

Cielo, the world’s leading strategic Recruitment Process Outsourcing (RPO) provider, has found that talent acquisition professionals in the APAC region are challenged with factors that are distinct from general trends faced by organisations globally.

The global survey, conducted by Cielo, consisted of an online survey of over 300 senior Talent Acquisition (TA) and HR leaders, plus over twenty in-depth interviews with key senior executives from multi-national companies across a range of industries. With digitisation efforts undertaken by many industries globally, the requirement for talent equipped with digital skills is also increasing. Digital skills and experience remain the most highly in-demand and least available in the global and regional marketplace. Furthermore, talent acquisition professionals today are increasingly challenged with attracting a future-proof talent pool and ensure new hires meet organisational objectives.

The survey found that globally, a large majority (73.6%) of respondents agree that their business faces a skills shortage, and 78.2% believe that skills shortages and gaps are among the three most significant issues they will face in the near future. However, APAC diverges from this global trend, identifying quality of hire as the main challenge at 46.2% – skills shortage ranks second, jointly with time to hire at 35.4%.

Furthermore, this challenge is exacerbated for APAC respondents that do not leverage RPO models compared to those that do (26.7%). However, APAC also sees many of its organisations willing to implement new recruitment technologies; at 26.2%, this figure diverges greatly from the global average of 8.2%.

“Skills-based talent acquisition has the potential to address many of APAC’s unique concerns, as well as those which the region shares with talent acquisition teams worldwide. In the near future, I believe that professionals are less likely to be concerned with headcount and more concerned with whether a team has the requisite experience to take on their tasks,” said Kumar Bhaya, Cielo’s VP of Client Solutions for APAC.

“That being said, instead of the focus being solely on identifying technical skills gaps in candidates, we should also be looking at their soft skills. These are more in demand in the changing landscape of business as they take longer to develop in a person. Shifting our focus to softer skills such as being able to positively cope with change and to be an inspiring leader to a remote team enables talent acquisition professionals to unshackle themselves from traditional limitations, but more importantly, allows them to access a far wider talent pool,” Bhaya adds.

The survey results also confirm that those who do not leverage RPO face more issues with quality of hire (39.4%), as opposed to the professionals who do use RPO (27.2%) for its technological benefits and recruiter expertise that result in better quality of hires. Experts in the Asia-Pacific (APAC) region highlighted unique factors that were distinct from the general trends that this report identifies. Specifically, concerns included international skills shortages, breaking free of regional roles, and increasing attention to diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging (DEI&B).

“In APAC there are definitely [skill] shortages, which is why we need to look at relocating people or look at other industries,” said Mayur Chaturvedi, Regional Director Rewards, Talent Management and HRBP of Zimmer Biomet. “For example, in Southeast Asia, the developed countries have good talent availability, and there are no problems. But when you go to emerging or developing countries, talent supply is low. Leadership roles and niche skill roles, in particular, are hard to find.”

Across national borders, skills shortages can vary significantly. While Singapore and Malaysia host transient markets of available talent, Thailand, the Philippines, Vietnam, and Indonesia are markets where talent remains harder to find. The survey also found that particular pain points in these markets include hiring talent with leadership roles and niche skills; a challenge that may be eased through partnership with an RPO.

DEI&B continues to be a significant focus in APAC. However, in relation to feedback from their global peers, TA professionals in APAC are generally less concerned with DEI&B. Just 24.6 percent of recruiters in Asia listed it as a top concern compared to 45.6 percent globally. Regardless, APAC respondents who used an RPO were more committed to diversity and inclusion efforts (53.3%) than those who were not using an RPO (17.4%). Organisations and leadership teams are also taking this issue on to ensure they have the right perspectives for further internationalisation.

The whitepaper reports that the modern-day workforce is undergoing rapid, unexpected change, and organisations will be well-served by investing in agility and flexibility, using skills-based workforce planning as a lens to understand business needs and hiring. By considering the unique soft skill needs of a given team or business, TA professionals can focus on hiring based on the needs of their organisation and market, recruiting the right talent that is fit for the future.

To read the full Cielo whitepaper on the ‘Beyond the Skills Shortage’, please visit:
https://www.cielotalent.com/insights/skills-based-workforce-planning-the-future-for-talent-acquisition/

Notes to the editors:

The Future of Talent Acquisition research was commissioned by Cielo to better understand talent acquisition (TA) approaches by international businesses.

The comprehensive survey, consisting of 26 questions, engaged businesses across multiple industries in the UK, Europe and the Asia Pacific. 308 leading businesses were surveyed, with fieldwork conducted across June and July 2021. In addition, 21 in-depth interviews were conducted with HR and TA experts.

About Cielo

Cielo is the world’s leading strategic Recruitment Process Outsourcing (RPO) partner and industry innovator delivering RPO, Total Talent Acquisition, Consulting, and Executive Search services in over 100 countries. We design comprehensive, people-centric solutions and leverage Cielo TalentCloud – our agile technology platform featuring CRM, AI, automation, and analytics capabilities – to help our clients find, attract, and hire the specific talent to move their businesses forward. To learn more, visit www.cielotalent.com.


Topic: Press release summary

Geological Survey of India (GSI) Organizes Activities Across the Country under Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav

Oct 3, 2021 | Business

 Geological Survey of India (GSI), the 171 year old premier Geo-Scientific Organization under the Ministry of Mines  has organized various activities across all the offices of GSI as  part of  Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav programme and paid homage to Mahatma Gandhi on the eve of 152nd Gandhi Jayanti. Shri Rajendra Singh Garkhal, Director General, virtually inaugurated the programme from the Central Headquarters of GSI in Kolkata. Pan India blood donation camp was held across all the offices  and  Coffee table books  titled “Uttarakhand 2013 Deluged Landslide impact on Char Dham routes”,  “Andaman Island:  Glimpses Of Emerald Isles – A Geological Perspective”, “Indian Dinosaurs” and “Paleontological treasures of Rajasthan” have been released. Creatively visualized videos on (i) The Mighty Brahmaputra Tale of Eastern Himalayan Tectonics and Majuli -The Vanishing Island, (ii) Marine Mineral Exploration, (iii) Prototype landslide early warning system in Darjeeling, WB and Nilgiris, TN and (iv) Geotourism window in the state of Bihar were also launched on the occasion.

A  Facebook Live Session on “Women Geologists of GSI: A story of Gender Equality” was also organized where Dr. Snigdha Ghatak and Ms. Geetanjali Rana, two women geologists from the Central Headquarters participated and enlightened the masses about past and current scenario prevailing in GSI in this context.

The Geological Survey of India (GSI) was set up in 1851 primarily to find coal deposits for the Railways. Over the years, GSI has not only grown into a repository of geo-science information required in various fields in the country but has also attained the status of an organization of international repute. Its main functions relate to creating and updating of national geoscientific information and mineral resource assessment. These objectives are achieved through ground surveys, air-borne and marine surveys, mineral prospecting and investigations, multi-disciplinary geoscientific, geo-technical, geo-environmental and natural hazards studies, glaciology, seismo tectonic study and by carrying out fundamental research.

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Sheltered-in-Loneliness; Survey on U.S. Elderly and Caregivers Sheds Light on the Most Vulnerable and Voiceless Americans Impacted by COVID-19

Apr 3, 2021 | Business

. Of the survey respondents, 1,068 were from seniors, and 801 were from people that classified themselves as caregivers. 

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About Hero

Hero is the first and only in-home medication management service. The Hero automatic medication manager intuitively sorts and dispenses medication, has audible and digital reminders, automates refills, and provides real-time as well as historical adherence data at your fingertips. Led by CEO Kal Vepuri, a seed-stage advisor and angel investor in over 175 companies such as Oscar, Clover and Quip, Hero was founded to be the world’s most people-focused health care company by creating frictionless solutions to the most challenging problems facing patients and caregivers.

Since launching in 2018, Hero has dispensed over 15M pills in every U.S. state and sent over 205K “running low on pills” notifications to patients and caregivers. Hero is registered with the U.S. FDA as a medical device and has become a trusted partner in a person’s health journey. The service is wildly popular among members with heart disease, diabetes, high cholesterol, hypertension, cancer, MS, mental health conditions, Parkinson’s, and other chronic ailments that require complicated medication regimens.