Employer Strategies

Commentary: Voluntary benefits used to be nice-to-have, now they are must-have benefits, says columnist Nelson Griswold. To sell voluntary to the client, don’t ask, tell.

As interest increases in employers offering voluntary benefits, a particularly large number of employers are beginning to add a more robust range of voluntary benefits to improve morale of existing employees and attract new talent.

Commentary: Consider that employers nationwide spend billions of dollars to give their employees access to medical care and other important insurance coverage. While most businesses offer health and welfare benefits to remain competitive for talent, they end up creating a valuable by-product in the process.

The impending post-retirement health costs of America’s baby boomers may still seem remote, but benefits managers would do well to help their older workers by working together to consider those potentially explosive concerns – and include them in a comprehensive employee health plan.

A majority of employers, large and small, are embracing wellness programs as a means to improve employee health and, hopefully, cut rising health care costs.

A new Senate bill calling for an amendment to a controversial section of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act is expected to save employers and plan sponsors $15 million over the next decade, according to new estimates.

Turn to Barbara Delaney, founder and principal at StoneStreet Advisor Group, to know what’s next for retirement plans.

New research points to low-cost consumer-directed plans as being a key strategy in thwarting rising health benefit costs.

myEdGPS helps working parents of special needs children map out an education plan for their child and offers guidance on how to access certain services through school systems, leading to tangible savings on health care costs for employers and health plans.

A new analysis estimates even more employers will move active employees to private exchanges in part because brokers are taking on a bigger role in pushing them as a solution to rising health care costs.