Healthcare

The Affordable Care Act and the troubled launch of the federal insurance exchange have bolstered the business case for data sharing and consumer engagement, according to eHealth Initiative's latest survey of health information exchange systems.

The higher tax rates passed by Congress this year have some top U.S. earners seeking last- minute strategies to lower their tax bite as year-end calculations turn up unpleasant surprises.

Since the institution of 401(k) plans more than 30 years ago, 401(k) providers have escalated the number of plan features to stay competitive within the marketplace. But, in order to be successful today, selling features alone won’t cut it, writes blogger Jerry Kalish.

United Benefit Advisors is the latest group to launch private exchanges, though these are limited to brokers who are UBA members, there is one for small and one for large employers alike.

After Tuesday’s news that CMS wants to recruit more brokers to enroll consumers on Healthcare.gov, the group made the first public announcement Wednesday about a broker-focused website improvement.

Despite taking Healthcare.gov offline for hours a day to make technological fixes, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services said Wednesday the site continued to experience multiple slowdowns and displayed error messages to numerous visitors throughout the day.

Funded ratio equals highest monthly level since 2008.

Leaving on a jet plane for health care abroad? Medical tourism is a booming industry, but employers need to be aware of the potential risks to ensure the safety of their employees and avoid fraud.

Employers and HR professionals will have to come to terms with the most common (but hopefully not absolutely systemic) reality for employees: rates will, in some cases, go up. That’s a simple fact of life, and you can blame the ACA all you want, but the truth is that health care rates were likely to inch marginally anyhow.

If your clients’ plans don’t exhibit these success signs, consider doing an audit before the end of the year.