Benefits Think

Although we're just a few days into '09, you know how fast time flies -- March will be here before you know it. Keeping that in mind, I -- and the folks at Buck Consultants -- want to remind you that group health plan sponsors that provide prescription drug coverage to Medicare Part D eligible individuals...

U.S. employers will be required to contribute more than $108 billion into their defined benefit plans this year, according to an analysis by Watson Wyatt. Although that´s roughly $16 billion less than employers would have had to contribute without the passage of a new pension funding relief law late...

WAKE UP PEOPLE!who do you think the "government" is? It's US! quit calling on the government to cure all of our ills. unless you 'want' a personal income tax rate of 53% like that of the Canadians. enough is enough...people who take COBRA have medical conditions, should other Americans pay their premiums...

If 2008's figures on ERISA and FLSA lawsuits are any indication, employers can expect even more legal filings this year, as employees continue to lose their jobs in the economic recession, predicts international law firm Seyfarth Shaw.

As the recession deepens, a benefit that allows workers to sell their vacation days could prove popular among workers, although may raise challenges for benefit pros.

There are many selfish bloggers on this topic. I have a friend who is currently uninsured because he can't afford COBRA and can't take out a private policy and actually use it because of pre-exisiting condition clauses that would follow him into his next job's group insurance. The government created COBRA,...

If government is going to get involved, I would like to know where the money will come from to subsidize, AND see more emphasis placed on how to help employers avoid lay-offs in the first place.

Healthcare issues always create a stimulating conversation, sometimes quite intense. What strikes me is how each viewpoint appears to not be able to understand where another viewpoint is coming from.

I think the employer should be made to subsidize the coverage.

For a typical family in my neck of the woods COBRA insurance would cost approximately $1,000 per month. The income for the same family would be a bit over $2000 per month if only 1 parent received unemployment benefits. With rents averaging $1000 per mo. there's no way that this typical family is going...