Advisers Latest

States should not step in and establish their own exchanges if subsides are ruled illegal on the federal health care marketplace, a recent national study found, but industry experts say that is not the national consensus and point to the wording of poll questions to support the discrepancy.

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.

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.

Sometimes what happens in Vegas doesn’t just stay on the Strip – it blows across the Sagebrush State like a wayward tumbleweed. Case in point: Nevada Health Link enrollees have been reporting mistakes on the 1095-A IRS forms to calculate their premium tax credit on the federally supported state-based HIX.

The decrease in compensation is negligible since the medical loss ratio took effect, study finds, but other industry organizations disagree.

Commentary: It’s harder for women to get ahead in business, thanks to pay inequality and other factors, says ACI Specialty Benefits’ Erin Krehbiel. But, they can do something about it.

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.

Commentary: Three reasons Individual contracts are incompatible with ERISA plans and how to handle it, according to The Principal’s Aaron Friedman.

Commentary: While these FMLA changes don’t require any immediate action or changes to employers’ benefit plans, they could serve as a catalyst for federal officials and agencies to further extend their reach into benefits programs, says Sam Fleet.