Healthcare

The Employers Council on Flexible Compensation (ECFC) is fighting to repeal parts of the health care reform law that establish annual caps for flexible spending arrangements and require a prescription for over-the-counter medications to be reimbursed under FSAs. It also is pushing for a change to allow for a cash-out at the end of the year in place of the use-it-or-lose-it system that dates back to the 1980s.

The U.S. Supreme Court took no action Monday on a request to speed up a ruling on President Barack Obama's health care overhaul law.

Those who operate a retirement plan face significant potential liability and risk, cautions a new Lockton report.

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services will develop the Health Insurance Assistance Database, a new system of records, as part of a program to oversee states' development and operation of health insurance exchanges.

The Leapfrog Group, an employer coalition advocating increased health care quality and safety, joined many other organizations in applauding the Obama administration's new $1 billion Partnership for Patients safety program.

President Obama signed legislation Thursday, April 14 repealing the expanded 1099 reporting requirements in the health care reform law and Small Business Jobs Act.

"Why Work Sucks and How to Fix It: The Results-Only Revolution," by Cali Ressler and Jody Thompson, is an easy read that outlines the concept of ROWE (Results-Only Work Environment) and how implementing ROWE can revolutionize work as we know it.

Employers nationwide - big and small, retail and high-tech - are watching and waiting keenly to see whether the public state exchanges created under health care reform will succeed when they open for business in 2014. Small employers and those with low-paid or part-time employees are especially interested in finding out whether funneling their employees into, or finding coverage for them through, an exchange would be beneficial.

Having spent about 30 years in health care benefits consulting, health plan management and health services delivery, I've witnessed many products, services, strategies and platforms introduced to the employer market, climb to the top of the solutions menu and eventually fade away as more effective alternatives emerge. One very popular solution today is the onsite health clinic.

Orthokeratology, also known as overnight Ortho-K, is a treatment in which an individual wears special contact lenses while he sleeps at night. The lenses correct the shape of the cornea, so when the patient wakes up his vision is good for the day.