Benefits Think

The annual “State of Health Care Quality” report from the National Committee for Quality Assurance reveals that plans that let members glut on physicians visits, tests and inpatient care, totaling thousands of dollars, aren’t necessarily the best in terms of quality.

As employers work to comply with the various components of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, President Obama has given a pass to McDonald’s, other employers and several health insurers from complying with the coverage standards required under reform, the New York Times reports.

Communication beats out critical thinking (73%), collaboration/team building (72%), and creativity and innovation (66%) as competencies that are the top priorities for employee development, talent management, and succession planning in the next one to three years, according to a new survey from the American Management Association.

Although the blog isn’t personally mine, the views presented in DD posts are mine alone (except for guest bloggers, obviously), and shouldn’t be mistaken for those of the EBN staff or EBN's parent company.

Every company has a few Negative Nellies or Nelsons who, no matter what you do, would never be happy. Generally, we sigh at these full-time frowners and let their complaints roll off our backs. However, research from Gallup estimates that these workers — and the disengagement and decreased morale they can foster — actually are costing your company money.

To help you make the case for 401(k) enrollment and keep plan participants from falling flat due to financial tripwires, the folks at FinancialPlanners.net offer their list of five common mistakes that people make when retirement planning that can greatly affect their golden years. Copy, paste, print and distribute as you will.

The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act marked its half-birthday a couple weeks ago on Sept. 23, and the occasion was both absurd and awful. To my eye, six months after President Obama signed the landmark health care reform legislation, there is nothing to celebrate -- employers are unhappy, employees are unhappy and no one knows what they're doing.

The 2010 Benefits Forum & Expo, presented by Employee Benefit News, featured no shortage of quotable gems. Here are just a few that were uttered over the three-day event Sept. 26-28 in Boca Raton, Fla.

Famed pollster Frank Luntz offered up some quotable gems to attendees during his keynote presentation at EBN's Benefits Forum & Expo.

Benefits Forum & Expo keynote presenter Frank Luntz offered attendees his 10 commandments of communication and 21 health care words for the 21st century. Here they are for you to refer to as you put the final touches on those open enrollment materials.