Benefits Think

Commentary: As the EEOC’s proposed regulations for wellness programs remain under review for public comment until mid-June, employers should not feel paralyzed in designing new wellness programs nor compelled to throw out existing ones.

Commentary: Do loans and hardships really help solve what the plan was designed to do? Columnist John Ludwig doesn’t think so. In the end, they are a detriment to most participants’ retirement dreams, he says.

The benchmark for demonstrating return on investment of population health management programs has been medical cost savings. But that's notion is changing as employers are discovering that several other measures of program success are also in their grasp.

Commentary: There’s no worse way to set your business up in the eyes of your clients than to call yourself a free service, says columnist Wendy Keneipp.

Commentary: By reframing and renaming these benefits, you can avoid any knee-jerk reaction to or bias against “voluntary benefits,” says columnist Nelson Griswold.

Commentary: Having watched the physicians obtain 17 legislative delays on SGR, adviser Craig Hasday is less than optimistic that the federal government will be successful in their laudable efforts at payment reform.

Commentary: Small things get big in a customer’s mind, and the next thing you know, the customer is gone — for good.

Commentary: Many benefit brokers live by the idea that face-to-face onsite service is the only way to provide quality service. Certainly that is one of the advantages a local broker has, being local. But times change, says HR Technology Advisors’ Joe Markland.

Commentary: There are certain areas of an asset allocation where there is real danger to blindly investing in passive investments.

Commentary: Many workers prefer to access financial products, including insurance, in the workplace. This intersection of employer awareness and employee preference has created an opportunity for employee benefit advisers, says Prudential’s Lori Fouché.