Advisers Latest

The Department of Health and Human Services has yet to release any data on the number of small businesses that have enrolled in the Affordable Care Act’s Small Business Health Options Program, angering lawmakers who have been prodding the agency for answers.

This week started out with the much anticipated employer responsibility ruling and first shocked us with the additional employer mandate delay. But there’s much more to the ruling that advisers and plan sponsors need to be aware of in the coming months.

Fewer people are getting their primary health insurance coverage through their employers, according to a Gallup Poll released Wednesday, which also reported the number of uninsured Americans has reached a five-year low.

Welltok Inc., vendor of a Web-based health wellness platform called CafeWell that providers and payers can offer to consumers, is the latest organization to collaborate with IBM Corp. to enhance the health care cognitive computer capabilities of the Watson supercomputer.

The day after Addie Wilson was quoted in a newspaper article complaining about her experience with President Barack Obama’s Affordable Care Act, her mobile phone rang while she was in the bathroom.

Commentary: When it comes to qualified domestic relations orders, plan sponsors and their financial professional partners need to ensure they have a robust and detailed process that can actually work, says The Principal’s Aaron Friedman.

From the latest in voluntary benefits to the challenges businesses face under the Affordable Care Act, speakers at the 2014 Workplace Benefits Renaissance — held Feb. 24-26 at the Trump Taj Mahal in Atlantic City, N.J — will address a range of timely topics.

Obamacare health plans enrolled 3.3 million people through January, with young adult participants increasing 65% from a month earlier, the U.S. government said.

In-house branding increases program utilization; helps close the sale

The number of employers contributing to their employees’ HSA or HRA continues to grow, reaching a record high in 2013, according to a new Employee Benefit Research Institute report. However, the dollar amount of employer and employee contributions is slipping.