Wellness

Private exchanges are a complex tool in a complex market, but they continue to evolve as employers switch to them, and brokers learn to work with them. Panelists discussed where they will go next during at opening keynote Tuesday at EBA’s Workplace Benefits Mania.

As the part-time workforce in America expands, a growing number of employers are considering voluntary benefit packages as a recruitment and retention tool not only for full-time staff, but their variable hour employees, as well.

Accountable care organizations promise better alignment of health care provider incentives and patient outcomes. Can ACOs revolutionize employer-sponsored health care?

Commentary: Meditation is not just some quirky, hippy philosophy; it is actually grounded in physiology. Some companies have taken these benefits so seriously that they have dedicated quiet rooms within the office so employees can meditate.

The IRS released draft forms for employers to use to report health coverage offerings to employees, unveiling a glimpse of the administrative onus in store for benefit advisers and their employer clients working to comply with the health law.

Two federal appeals courts have issued conflicting decisions about the legality of subsidies on the federal exchanges — a split that may have some significant impact on employer planning for ACA compliance.

In another blow to the health law’s federal subsidies this week, the GAO says fake application information successfully yielded subsidy payouts in an undercover investigation. One broker says if consumers are able to obtain subsidies in circumstances where they shouldn’t, they’re not going to trust brokers who tell them the truth.

Commentary: Here are some tips from blogger Jeff Hyman on how to ensure employers’ wellness programs are on track, including top-level buy-in and consistency.

As some brokers continue to wait for their payments, it seems no one carrier is better or worse at this issue across the U.S. What is clear is that advisers who previously worked in group need to learn a new system to track and monitor commissions.

In another blow to President Barack Obama’s signature legislation, a three-judge panel on the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled in favor of the plaintiff, declaring the law’s premium subsidies are invalid in more than two dozen states due to the law’s specific language.