Healthcare

With the cost of pharmaceuticals consuming an ever-increasing proportion of health benefit expenditures, many employers are responding by adding pricing tiers to their drug plan designs.

Advisers are needed now more than ever to help individuals reach their retirement goals as employees assume the responsibility of managing their financial future.

Commentary: Who would argue that spending $10,000 is worth the trade-off of cardiac surgery? Or $90,000 for drugs which might avoid a costly liver failure incident? A lot of employers, that’s who.

Three Republican senators have sent a letter to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services expressing concern for the “lack of oversight for more than $1 billion in federal grants” given to state-based marketplaces.

Significant amounts of participant balances are leaking out of 401(k) plans and not being replenished, with potentially disastrous results.

Benefits and HR professionals are generally optimistic about the job prospects in their field, yet express lingering concerns about job security.

More small and midsized employers are looking at self-funding, but it’s not a winning formula for everyone.

Some baby boomers are carrying too much risk in their retirement portfolios because of the stock market’s rapid rise over the past five years.

Advisers who provide a variety of distribution methods, year-round support and targeted messages help employees better understand their benefits, which leads to increased participation.

State-based marketplaces were overall quite successful in retaining enrollees, however, a large number of consumers shopping within the marketplace during 2015 open enrollment decided to switch plans based on the price of services offered.