Healthcare

The barometer is falling when it comes to how well companies are helping employees focus on their retirement income as well as retirement savings. In a new report on Fortune 1000 companies, MetLife’s inaugural Qualified Retirement Plan Barometer assigned a score across all plan types of 59 out of a possible 100. The higher the barometer, the stronger the overall culture of retirement income. While individual scores vary, the companies that offer broad access to defined benefit and defined contribution plans outpace plan sponsors who offer only a DC plan or incidental access to a DB plan as well as a DC plan.

Target-date funds became the leading default investment option for auto-enrolled retirement plans for a reason: The simplicity of an age-appropriate, asset allocation strategy that grew more conservative as plan participants edged closer to retirement age.

Mike Brewer, president of Lockton Benefit Group, urged a U.S. House Committee March 10 to help employers reduce the costs and administrative burdens of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.

Nearly 15 million people in the United States take care of a loved one with Alzheimer's disease or another form of dementia, amounting to 17 billion hours or more than $202 billion in unpaid care, Alzheimer's experts said on Tuesday.

Nearly three quarters of those seeking health insurance in the U.S. individual market in recent years faced roadblocks or were turned down due to prior medical conditions, a report released on Wednesday said.

Prices for prescription drugs rose at a faster rate than costs for other medical goods and services over the last four years, according to a new government report.

Could a U.S. Department of Labor plan to broaden the definition of a fiduciary for the purpose of giving investment advice undermine the level of service that producers offer their employer clients?

The IRS is asking for $62 million to prepare for the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act in 2012, IRS Commissioner Douglas H. Shulman told the House Appropriations Committee in testimony earlier this month.

A large majority of Massachusetts residents are satisfied with the commonwealth's subsidized health plan, which has components similar to the Obama administration's federal plan, according to a poll released on Thursday.

Four medical associations representing more than 350,000 primary care physicians have issued new guidelines for patient-centered medical home recognition and accreditation programs.