Wellness

President Barack Obama’s use of federal loans to bankroll untested businesses is sparking controversy again, this time over a $6 billion program to create nonprofit competitors to commercial health insurers.

A new study confirms that a majority of large and mid-size U.S. employers are planning to change provider payment models to become more cost effective.

The Kaiser analysis, penned by Cynthia Cox, Gary Claxton and Larry Levitt, says that if MLR had not been in effect, premiums for individual health insurance would have been $1.9 billion higher in 2012.

Anne Filipic, who helped Barack Obama secure a turning-point victory in the 2008 Iowa caucuses, plans to send thousands of volunteers door-to-door this year on a new campaign: to help the president sell the Affordable Care Act to the nation’s 50 million uninsured.

Historically, voluntary benefits have been dismissed by busy agents as more trouble than they are worth, but with the Affordable Care Act moving closer to full implementation, agents looking to keep existing clients and gain new business should give them a closer look. Still not convinced? Following are five reasons for incorporating voluntary benefits into client proposals: …

Since its passage in 2008, the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act has largely just affected HIPAA notice requirements and wellness plans. But this month the EEOC settled its first case under the law and should serve as a reminder to employers about what it really means.

U.S. Health Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said she talked with health care companies she regulates, including Johnson & Johnson, about helping a nonprofit group publicize the Affordable Care Act.

Nathan Schwegman was just 25 when his doctor told him he had a 3% chance of surviving the melanoma that had spread into his lungs and spine, soon leaving him in so much pain he could hardly move.

When choosing an employer, about 87% of prospective employees favor a company that has a wellness program in place, finds Virgin HealthMiles. But with the return on investment of such programs in question, will they continue to gain favor with employers as well?

UnitedHealth Group Inc. will offer coverage in just a dozen of the Affordable Care Act’s new insurance exchanges, in the latest sign big insurers see little gain from quickly plunging into the new markets.