Healthcare

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.

As a CPA with 20+ years of experience, I'm a big supporter of accountability and company audits. (See a related story on page 10 on benefit plan audits.) Early in my career as an auditor, I made a living by ensuring companies said what they did and did what they said. The Statement on Auditing Standards No. 70: Service Organizations, commonly known as the SAS 70, has been an industry staple since its issuance in 1992 and a requisite for service providers to test internal controls.

Not complying with current law can be expensive in today's legal climate. Thus, employers should review their employee handbooks and employment-related policies to make sure they are up to date. More importantly, though, employers should draft their handbooks so their employees actually read them and follow their policies.

Some employers are investing more time and resources to find out whether workers are tobacco-free and in the process are rewarding those who pass muster with lower health premiums or financial rewards.

It’s no surprise that unhealthy employees cost employers big bucks. But a new workforce wellness index shows that the unhealthy behaviors of the U.S. workforce cost employers an average of $670 per employee annually.

Even though 68% of workers are saving for retirement, nearly half (46%) have less than $10,000 saved for retirement, and 50% are not confident they will have enough money to live comfortably in retirement, a survey by the Employee Benefits Research Institute found.