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It may be a while before we face the holiday season again, but since sooner is always better than later, now is the time to address what has come to be known as "the Christmas bonus." Every year someone calls me the Grinch because I'm the guy who points out the ineffectiveness of the holiday bonus. Employee benefit advisers, brokers and consultants need to recognize there exists more creative vehicles that can serve as incentive programs to drive and maintain growth, as well as recruit and retain key talent.

Behavioral health must play an integrated role in overall employee wellness efforts

When you think of client diversity, what comes to mind? Do you believe being a generalist is the appropriate course for your future?

Third biggest U.S. health insurer says the share of health care premiums it spends on patient care rose to 84.1% from 80.7% a year earlier. The insurer finished 2012 with 18.2 million members in its medical plans, an increase of 64,000 over the third quarter.

The IRS and HHS released new regulations Wednesday for the individual mandate portion of PPACA. The proposed regulations shed new light on the process the agencies will take in determining which individuals are subject to the mandate or whether they’re exempt, and whether their insurance coverage is sufficient.

Americans are again taking advantage of health savings accounts and health reimbursement arrangements. According to new research, average account balances across the nation in 2012 were up 4% from the year before.

Oklahoma opposed a request by the U.S. that a judge dismiss the state’s lawsuit challenging President Obama’s 2010 health-care reform legislation.

Tax the rich! Raise their rates! Limit their deductions! That seems to be the populist mantra. It’s perpetuated in the press, and there’s some indication that the general public seems to support the idea. Now middle class workers with higher than average incomes seem to be caught up in discussions defining those that are “rich,” says EBA Blogger and The Principal Financial Group’s tax-exempt national practice leader.

UnitedHealth Group Inc. and other U.S. health insurers will soon have company in Maryland: a nonprofit started by a county government that plans to sell coverage at rates as much as 30% lower than competitors.

With the 113th Congress up and running and the president’s policy schedule filling up by the day, the Kaiser Family Foundation and Harvard School of Public Health polled Americans last week on what they would like the government to set as top health care priorities for the year.