Lisa V. Gillespie

Lisa V. Gillespie

Writer

Lisa V. Gillespie is a freelance writer in Washington, DC.

New Affordable Care Act insurance rate review rules start September 1

Starting Sept. 1, health insurance rates for the individual and small group markets will face stricter scrutiny to determine whether they are reasonable under new rules required by the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services will review rates in nine states that lack the authority to adequately do so. The remaining 41 states will conduct their own reviews.

Child-only plans decline

Senator Mike Enzi (R-Wyo.), ranking member on the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions committee, released a report recently showing access to child-only health insurance plans has declined significantly since passage of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.

401(k) participants who use TDFs stick with them

401(k) participants who invested in target-date funds overwhelmingly tend to stick with these investments over time, according to new research by the nonpartisan Employee Benefit Research Institute. Just over 90% of 401(k) participants investing in TDFs in 2007 stuck with them through 2009, EBRI finds. Using a proxy for the auto-enrollment status of participants, those identified as auto-enrollees are even more likely to have stayed with TDFs, at a rate over 95%. …

The big three: Employment, training & the economy

At a briefing Monday, Secretary of Labor Hilda Solis spoke about the need for more employment opportunities for the 9.1% of Americans out of work and the role government can play in facilitating job creation. “The priority is to connect with the businesses, so that we’re not training people for jobs that don’t exist, but for jobs that are open,” Solis said, highlighting the green industry, information technology and battery-operated cars companies as examples of industries…

Organizations strive to increase worker health, decrease health care costs

Creating a culture of health in the workplace isn’t easy, but the results that can be obtained — both a personal benefit to the individual and a cost and productivity benefit to the organization — are making value-based health care an appealing initiative for employers across the country. VBHC is a holistic, consumer-centered approach that focuses not on the dollars being spent but on how the dollars being spent work to improve employees’ health. Recent focus…

Employers can play critical role in battling childhood obesity

With the prevalence of childhood obesity in the United States nearly tripling over the past 30 years, now is the time for employers to take the lead in the battle against the growing problem of overweight and obese children, according to the National Business Group on Health. Obesity is a growing epidemic affecting children, their families and the nation. The United States currently has the highest percentage of overweight youth in its history. More than one-third…

Moderate pay raises on tap for U.S. workers

Reflecting uncertain economic conditions and a conservative cost-management environment, U.S. employers are projecting moderate pay raises for employees in 2012. Employers expect to fully fund their annual bonuses for workers this year, as corporate profits have increased, according to new survey data by global professional services company Towers Watson of 773 employers.

Employers look to consumer-driven plans to lower health costs

The rising cost of health care will soon be reflected even more substantially in employee cost-sharing. A new National Business Group on Health survey shows that large employers anticipate their health care benefit costs to climb 7.2% in 2012. To help control those increases ahead of health care reform’s Cadillac tax in 2018, the survey shows employers are planning to use a wide variety of cost-sharing strategies including CDHP premium boosts.

Severance plans weathered the recession

While companies have been slashing payrolls in recent years, a new study finds that at least they haven't been trimming their severance packages. Severance and change-in-control plans have survived the recession fairly intact, according to a study released this week by WorldatWork and Innovative Compensation and Benefits Concepts LLC (ICBC), an HR consulting firm.

Leveraging legal plans to employees’ benefit

More employers are slashing budgets, which often equals cutting benefits. No more 401(k) matching, a high-deductible health plan becomes the only option, and money gets tight and employees see it and feel it. Enter the group legal plan. It doesn’t cancel out employees’ sticker shock over an HDHP, but it does mean that at a relatively low cost, an employee can see an attorney at, say, $15.95 a month.

Access to child-only health plans declined under new health care law

Senator Mike Enzi (R-Wyo.), ranking member on the senate health, education, labor and pensions (HELP) committee, released a report Tuesday showing access to child-only health insurance plans has declined significantly since passage of the new health care law. Enzi says the Department of Health and Human Services has failed to take action to address problems created by the new regulations.

Study shows small employers negative on impact of the law on business

One year after the passage of sweeping health-insurance reform legislation, the lasting impact of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act on the small business community remains to be seen. A new study by the National Federation of Independent Business Research Foundation indicates that the overwhelming majority of small business owners do not expect the law to reduce cost or regulatory burdens and nearly two-thirds agree that the law will result in premium increases but not in better care.

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