Practice management

Commentary: As open enrollment season moves into full swing, columnist John Ludwig turns your focus to financial wellness, a growing concern for employers.

Commentary: Is your agency ready for 2015? Columnist Nelson Griswold shows how an in-depth analysis of a firm's strengths and weaknesses can help set goals for the new year.

In the midterm elections, a majority of Massachusetts voters checked “yes” for Question 4 on their ballot – a measure that calls for employers with 11 or more employees to earn and use up to 40 hours of paid sick time per calendar year. Companies with fewer than 11 employees will have to provide up to 40 hours of unpaid sick time.

Numerous states and cities across the country decided during last week’s midterm elections to raise their minimum wage, which has legal and retail employment experts predicting changes to other benefits could occur as a result.

As an effort to comply with the ACA, some employers have been considering offering employees a lump sum of cash to purchase health care coverage on the exchanges, but the DOL now says such an arrangement isn't going to cut it.

Delays, limited awareness, competition and insufficient subsidies among problems outlined in a Government Accountability Office report on state and federal small group exchanges. CMS says brokers will play a key role in any future growth.

Rather than ignoring emails, employees may be more inclined to remember to take part in health offerings such as immunization clinics if notices are sent out via text messages - given our text-obsessed culture.

Commentary: Targeting the small employer in today’s benefit landscape requires specific resources and knowledge from a benefit adviser. Columnist Jack Kwicien unveils what considerations to make when addressing the needs of your small employer clients.

The funded status of some multiemployer pension plans has not seen any drastic improvements since the great recession. But now, as proposals lurk in Congress to eliminate pension liabilities and improve the overall insolvency of these plans, there may be changes on the horizon.

Depression in the workplace can affect anyone and it takes an emotional toll on those affected, and can also have a significant financial toll on employers. A new program developed by the American Psychiatric Foundation and Employers Health Coalition aims to provide both employers and employees with the tools needed to help combat depression in the workplace.