Healthcare

Delays, limited awareness, competition and insufficient subsidies among problems outlined in a Government Accountability Office report on state and federal small group exchanges. CMS says brokers will play a key role in any future growth.

Focusing on quality of care, data analytics tools and consumer-oriented websites are innovations discussed at National Business Coalition on Health conference.

The pro-Affordable Care Act national non-profit group Enroll America is expanding its outreach staff and launching new technology-driven tools in order to reach the still uninsured and enroll them in health insurance during open enrollment, which starts Saturday.

As retirement confidence among employees remains low, small business owners and their workforces may even be less prepared due to the scarcity of formal retirement education and established retirement savings plans to help this demographic.

Employee Benefit Adviser, in partnership with business intelligence data analytics firm miEdge, introduces the first listing of top employee benefit firms in the country to be ranked exclusively on health and welfare revenue. Revealed in descending order, the listing is based on Form 5500 reporting data as of Nov. 7, 2014.

The Supreme Court did not appear overly supportive of the so-called Yard-Man presumption during arguments this week in M&G Polymers USA, LLC v. Tackett.

The funded status of some multiemployer pension plans has not seen any drastic improvements since the great recession. But now, as proposals lurk in Congress to eliminate pension liabilities and improve the overall insolvency of these plans, there may be changes on the horizon.

Depression in the workplace can affect anyone and it takes an emotional toll on those affected, and can also have a significant financial toll on employers. A new program developed by the American Psychiatric Foundation and Employers Health Coalition aims to provide both employers and employees with the tools needed to help combat depression in the workplace.

If employers only look at wellness from a 9-to-5 point of view, they are missing valuable opportunities to engage employees. Wellness doesn’t end at 5 p.m., said one expert at the National Business Coalition on Health’s annual conference.

Knowing all sides of a client’s benefits plan helps both retirement and health benefit consultants make better recommendations.