Insurance

Six ways employers can lead employees down the path to confident health care consumer behavior.

The Internal Revenue Service and the Treasury Department have issued guidance aimed at making it easier for taxpayers to be automatically enrolled in retirement plans such as 401(k) and 403(b) plans by their employers, simplifying the correction methods if errors are made.

Avoiding the Affordable Care Act's excise tax, set to take effect in 2018, is front-of-mind for many benefits decision-makers.

While the U.S. Supreme Court ponders its decision in King v. Burwell, a senior economist at the nonprofit, nonpartisan RAND Corporation suggests that the time may have come to re-evaluate the tax-favored status of employer-provided health benefits coverage to offset the costs of lost subsidies, maintain budget neutrality and end a bifurcated system that favors the wealthy.

Commentary: Proactive case management is the first step to creating a process for disability leave management that clients can count on, says The Standard’s Sandy Johnson.

Now, more than ever, the retirement plan services industry is placing a greater emphasis on in-plan guaranteed income solutions to help employees achieve better retirement outcomes.

As health evaluations move further center stage – be it via celebrities pushing for cancer screenings or companies including health assessments in wellness programs – it is becoming clear that to take full advantage of the health opportunities available, employees need to know as much as possible about their current health status.

Voluntary business is a well-known tool for brokers to increase their revenue while offering new products. But many employers are hesitant to add these products because of additional administrative burdens they can require. Enter the private health care exchange, says Carlos Ferrera, COO of Solstice Benefits and the Solstice Marketplace. With an exchange, the burden is gone, he says.

From its broker recruitment efforts to commission-based business model, common misconceptions and areas of business Zenefits will never enter, former CEO Parker Conrad got candid on the future of the fastest growing small-group brokerage in the country in a May 2015 EBA interview.

UnitedHealth Group’s $12.8 billion purchase of pharmacy benefit manager Catamaran Corp. continues a trend of PBM acquisitions, and there’s more to come, industry consultants say. In the long term, that may mean lower costs and more data availability for employers.