-
Heath savings accounts are the hot ticket item in private sector benefits these days. On Monday, Bank of America announced a record 34% growth in health savings accounts in 2011, adding more than 50,000 accounts last year. The growth is attributed to increases in account use among employees of existing corporate clients, and new relationships with individuals and employers.
February 14 -
U.S. health insurers said on Friday they feared President Barack Obama had set a new precedent by making them responsible for providing free birth control to employees of religious groups as he sought to defuse an election-year landmine.
February 14 -
People in the market for health insurance will soon have clear, understandable and straightforward information on what health plans will cover, what limitations or conditions will apply, and what they will pay for services, thanks to the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act according to final regulations published last week.
February 14 -
Financial advisers have turned decidedly more optimistic about the markets prospects for 2012, according to an SEI Quick Poll. Nine in 10 of the advisers surveyed in early February, including bank advisors, say they expect a positive return for the S&P 500 in 2012, up 18% from a similar survey conducted in mid-January. More than six in 10, 63%, predicted gains greater than 5%, a sentiment that spread dramatically from just three weeks ago.
February 14 -
Six federal agencies have issued a final rule requiring insurers to provide to consumers at the time of enrollment a plain-English summary of benefits and coverage, and a uniform glossary of terms.
February 14 -
The number of Americans signing up for unemployment benefits unexpectedly fell last week, the latest sign of recovery in the labor market.
February 13 -
President Barack Obama, in an abrupt policy shift aimed at quelling an election-year firestorm, announced on Friday that religious employers would not be required to offer free birth control to workers and that the onus would instead be put on insurers.
February 13 -
Proceedings of the Supreme Court, long kept out of the view of most Americans, would be televised under a bipartisan bill approved on Thursday by the Senate Judiciary Committee.
February 13 -
Despite evidence that younger investors are well-positioned to benefit from long-term retirement savings less than half (45%) plan to contribute to an Individual Retirement Account for the 2011 tax year, according to research.
February 13 -
A growing number of younger participants in 401(k) retirement plans are investing in target-date funds, according to a recent analysis. Using data from the EBRI/ICI 401(k) database, Employee Benefit Research Institute finds that the percentage of recently hired 401(k) participants with two or fewer years of tenure holding TDFs jumped from 43.6% in 2008 to 46.6% in 2009 increasing slightly to 47.6% in 2010.
February 8
