Kathleen Koster

To make sense of the past and looming health care reform changes, employers may transfigure into the Roman god Janus this year, with one head focused on the decisions of 2010 and the other fixed on the future.

Days after delivering what he called a "little speech" (also known as the State of the Union address), President Obama vehemently defended the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, rallying the audience at a Families USA conference in Washington, D.C., that "we are moving forward."

Employers struggling to stay afloat in the flood of guidance on implementing the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act will find themselves looking both forward and backward this year. Their challenge: to gauge how the PPACA rules issued so far are affecting their plans while at the same time anticipating the changes that lie ahead in 2012, 2014, and even 2018.

Despite efforts to defund PPACA in the Republican-controlled House, and prospects of a Supreme Court test for the federal health reform law, employers are forging ahead as best they can with short-term compliance issues and long-term strategic decisions.

According to WellPoint Inc. research, 83% of American employees think more highly of employers that offer voluntary insurance benefits than those that don't.

Complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) treatments are all the rage lately for consumers, and many carriers are catching on to the trend by offering discounts on or coverage of certain benefits.

Employers have taken on new aggression toward cutting prescription benefit costs while enhancing quality of coverage. Even in a dark economy and among confounding health care reform legislation, prescription benefit managers are having success with new benefit tactics and evidence-based value design.

A Senate panel in December deepened a probe of copay-based mini-med plans that raised pointed questions about the plans' value and transparency for workers, even when employers are unable to sponsor more comprehensive coverage.

Days after delivering what he called a “little speech” (also known as the State of the Union address), President Obama vehemently defended the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, rallying the audience of a Families USA conference in Washington, D.C., that “we are moving forward.”

More evidence that automatic enrollment succeeds in raising participation rates comes in a new study on South Dakota's Supplemental Retirement Plan.

In a new twist on teleworking programs, some organizations are paying employees lump sums to furnish a home office.

Americans were estimated to spend an average of $688.87 each on holiday-related shopping, according the National Retail Federation. Now that the wrapping paper has been tossed and many holiday gifts have been exchanged or returned, there is still one big-ticket item many workers have yet to buy.

Flush with victory from last November's midterm election, Republican strategists are delving into possible measures to repeal or significantly hamper existing health care reform legislation.

A Senate panel last week deepened a probe of co-pay based mini-meds that raised pointed questions about the plans' value and transparency for workers, even when employers are unable to sponsor more comprehensive coverage.

The advantages of educating employees about their benefits through technology are many: The information transmitted to their Web browser or smart phone is always up to date, it's scalable to any population, yet allows an employer to individually tailor information to an employee.

Although voluntary turnover has dipped significantly this year, a new PwC Saratoga study says employers are giving more attention to career development and performance management in anticipation of increased turnover as the economy improves.

Flush with victory from election night, Republican strategists are delving into possible measures to repeal or significantly hamper existing health care reform legislation.

A new study concludes that online health improvement programs are scalable to an entire workforce but should account for gender differences to get the best results.