Benefits Think

The Summary of Benefits and Coverage (required to be distributed to employees under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act) is supposed to be an easy-to-understand summary about a health plan's benefits and coverage. But guest blogger Ed Bray maintains the SBC has the potential to confuse employees.

Having spent my entire career in the insurance industry, I’m not sure how much of an understanding I can claim for other industries. However, it’s hard for me to imagine an industry where the purchasing decision has historically been tied to the “relationship” as much as it is in ours. …

As self-insured employers start reviewing their annual agreements for 2013 benefits, guest blogger Karrie Andes shares her checklist of items to watch out for.

With the cost of specialty drugs going up, guest blogger Karrie Andes suggests plan sponsors need to be more proactive about asking their health plans and pharmacy benefit managers about cost containment strategies.

In the immortal words of Albert Einstein, “the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again, expecting a different result.” Are you trapped in this pattern? If so, embrace the guiding principle of evolve or perish to take your career to the next level. As I travel the country, speaking with my colleagues at state and local health underwriter association meetings about surviving and thriving in a post-health care reform world —…

The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act imposes a new tax on health insurance providers in 2014. While insurers are responsible for paying it, plan sponsors should care about it because it could be passed down to fully insured group plans in the form of higher premiums.

Defined benefit plan sponsors may believe that outsourcing their plan administration must be much more expensive or that it won’t allow them to maintain their current actuary or investment manager. Other times, they think that the DB systems won’t match up to their defined contribution counterparts. Neither are necessarily true.

The surprise vote by Chief Justice John Roberts to uphold the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act at the end of June really was a bold decision that redefined the Commerce Clause. In an era when ego, power and politics rule, Roberts made the brave decision not to use judicial power to overrule the democratic process. He actually gave us an early Independence Day gift by not letting the Supreme Court define the future of…

What do you say to employees when they start asking you whether they should participate in your company's health insurance plan or enroll in the state exchange? Guest blogger Ed Bray shares his thoughts.

Or any money, for that matter. Guest blogger Karrie Andes shares details about a company that can help employers help employees understand the intricacies of the post-retirement health benefits landscape. The best part? It won't cost you anything!