Healthcare

Prepaid card programs are becoming one of the more desired incentive rewards among corporate HR execs, according to a survey from incentive marketing firm Young America. Nearly half (46%) of HR executives use prepaid cards for their incentive/reward programs, compared to 33% who reward with cash and 47% who use checks, according to the survey of 355 executives in HR, sales or marketing departments at U.S.-based companies with motivational or incentive programs in place. …

Amidst all the talk of health benefit costs skyrocketing, there may be good news on the horizon. Early responses to a Mercer survey still in the field suggest that the average growth in health benefit cost will slow to 5.4% in 2012, the smallest increase since 1997. Still, cost growth remains well above both general inflation and growth in workers’ earnings.

Don’t be fooled by Hedda Bolgar Bekker’s peppered hair and grandmotherly stature — she is most definitely not your average 102-year-old. Quite the contrary, Bekker still works 20 hours a week as a psychologist and travels to speak about aging and the workforce.

The Kansas City Collaborative (KC2), a three-year long value based benefit project, succeeded in helping the 15 participating employers share best practices for overcoming health care challenges. Nine of these companies reported that they have saved almost $11 million in direct health care costs by implementing a value-based benefits initiative.

Financial planners can prove their worth if they find ways to lessen the chance that their clients will not outlive their retirement funds. David Blanchett, director of consulting and investment research for the Retirement Plan consulting Group of Unified Trust in Lexington, Ky., last week detailed how planners can implement sustainable withdrawal strategies so that retirement income works for their clients.

The Internal Revenue Service has released guidance aimed at clarifying the tax treatment of mobile phones provided by employers to their employees.

All too often, the messages employers intend to convey aren’t the ones employees hear. For companies with a warped communications strategy, a panel of experts offered first-hand advice for becoming an “organizational chiropractor” to straighten out misaligned messaging.

The U.S. Department of Labor on Monday withdrew a controversial proposal to subject financial professionals to a higher standard of care when advising companies on their retirement plans, bowing to pressure from securities industry groups and lawmakers.

Of the endlessly debated provisions in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, the requirements for Medical Loss Ratios stand out for insurance companies because the requirements are designed to dictate how those companies pay their bills. A new study sheds light on the MLR rule; read as experts weigh in.

Life insurance agents are expressing concern about a proposed change emanating from the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2010. Find out what happened at a congressional hearing last week.