Healthcare

A new Harris Interactive poll of more than 2,000 working Americans suggests that bad behaviors occur on business trips, including excessive drinking and extramarital affairs.

State lawmakers in cash-strapped Illinois have run into fierce opposition from unions and concern about a voter backlash in the November elections over plans to fix the state’s woefully underfunded public retirement system.

Assurant Employee Benefits has introduced its WellCard Savings Program that will provide an average savings of up to 30% on medical visits, up to 65% on brand name and generic prescriptions as well as discounts on hearing and diabetes care, diagnostic and lab tests, daily living products and more.

Republican vice presidential candidate Paul Ryan acknowledged late last week that his proposed health care reforms rely on many of the same spending reductions for which he has criticized President Barack Obama, something that could undercut a central message of the Republican campaign.

Encouraged by Rep. Paul Ryan’s focus on fiscal responsibility, many brokers and advisers remain satisfied a week after Gov. Mitt Romney announced his vice presidential pick, saying the seven-term Wisconsin congressman brings a fresh perspective to the presidential election.

If it’s okay to charge higher premiums on employer-provided health insurance to smokers or employees who refuse to take a health-risk appraisal, then why, asks guest blogger Bruce Shutan, is it wrong for the government to help us take better care of ourselves?

Employee morale continues a slow but steady decline from 2008 levels, but the benefits enrollment season, vastly approaching, offers employers the chance to positively engage their employees, according to recent research from Unum.

As carriers ramp up to gain market share ahead of PPACA, Aetna acquires Coventary —increasing its overall share of government health plans to more than 30%, and nearly 42 million members nationwide.

A U.S. bankruptcy court judge has denied a request by American Airlines parent company to abandon collective bargaining agreements with its pilots in an effort to save more than $1 billion a year in labor and benefit costs.

While most benefits professionals responding to a recent poll have seen improvements in their benefits communication efforts in the past three years, a sizeable portion are either unsatisfied with or ambivalent about their current strategy.