Tech

Lawmakers are pushing through several pieces of legislation that encourage better health information technology, especially interoperability, which will help reduce medical errors.

After two enrollment seasons under the Affordable Care Act's exchanges, the easily accessible and amenable are signed up for health care. With year three starting this fall, the task will be tougher to target the remaining uninsured, who are harder to reach. Who better to drive the message home, Washington state thinks, than brokers?

Commentary: In response to confusion over the IRS’s role in verifying employers are meeting minimum essential coverage and employer shared responsibility requirements, dozens of ACA reporting have entered the market in the last two years. EmployeeTech’s Michael Weiskirch shares how to find the right tracking solution for your clients.

Although most employers who move to private exchanges are seeing some cost savings below trend in their initial years, that is not sustainable over time, says Rob Harkins, practice leader, private exchanges at Willis Group. For Willis, the exchange is not designed to be a long-term money-saving product on its own, but rather part of a larger program for its clients to manage health and wellbeing.

Premera Blue Cross, serving the Northwest and Alaska, was hacked beginning last May, and even more sensitive data was exposed than in the Anthem hack.

As many as 90,000 Sears employees are finding it easier to shop for health care, are savvier about their coverage choices and finally understand the meaning of value since the 129-year-old retailer switched to a private health insurance exchange three years ago.

Some employees can’t even afford to wait for their next paycheck to arrive, and for them there’s a new app for that – assuming their employer is willing to go along with it.

Calling it the most personal device the company has ever created, Apple on Monday officially launched its smartwatch designed as a “comprehensive health and fitness companion.”

A new initiative announced by the White House Monday will bring $100 million in grant opportunities to create new high-tech jobs.

Rather than drop benefits in the Americas, which Hilton says would hurt not only its employees but hotel guests too, the company decided to move to a private exchange. During that process, one of the biggest critics of the move was the company’s vice president of benefits.