Insurance

Benefit brokers say employers are more and more looking toward financial wellness programs to assist employees saddled with increased health care costs.

The number of employees participating in employer-based retirement plans increased in 2013 for the first time in several years, pointing to a national economy slowly mending itself and an increasing employment rate in the aftermath of the recession, the Employee Benefit Research Institute says.

The Internal Revenue Service needs to go to greater lengths to safeguard taxpayer information on health insurance exchanges, according to a new government report.

In a $600 million cash transaction, Optum, the IT and business services unit of UnitedHealth Group, is buying health management vendor Alere Health, which provides services to more than 200 regional and local health plans, 89 Fortune 500 employers and 29 states, covering about 22 million people in the U.S.

Knowing the client, using the best medium and avoiding industry jargon are a few ways to discuss retirement plans with clients.

After multiple delays, early access to the federally-facilitated Small Business Health Options Program launched Monday in five states.

Alongside the IRS’ announcement last week to increase contribution caps to 401(k) plans, the Department of Labor issued guidance that will ease plan sponsors’ abilities to offer annuities as part of their retirement plans.

Commentary: Columnist John Ludwig asks, with all the effort put into fee disclosures and the money to produce them; does it really help the participant in the end?

Third-party administrators need to use a variety of methods to ensure employers supply the correct data.

EBA’s first-ever technology survey reveals where benefit agencies plan to invest their IT dollars.