Employer Strategies

UnitedHealth Group Inc., the biggest U.S. health insurer, reported a first-quarter profit decline that was less than analysts’ estimates as higher enrollment helped blunt the effect of increased medical costs.

Reducing surgical complications could cost hospitals money, according to a study that researchers say may help explain why the medical providers haven’t fully embraced quality improvement efforts.

The case raised the issue of whether a benefit plan administrator is entitled to full reimbursement for payments made to a plan participant injured in an accident where the participant sues and recovers damages from a third party.

About 232,000 women will be diagnosed with breast cancer this year and an estimated 40,000 will die of the disease, according to the National Cancer Institute.

Left unchecked, Republicans say, Obama’s “entitlement society” will bankrupt the nation. “’Entitlement used to be a fairly positive thing,” says one historian. Until ACA, that is, and other more recent events.

Mercer has announced an initial group of insurance carriers that will offer benefits through Mercer Marketplace, the company’s private benefits exchange for employers’ active employees and their families.

A cap that President Barack Obama has proposed on the size of tax-advantaged retirement accounts is seen as potentially pushing savers to another product that limits payments to the government: life insurance.

So last week, the President’s budget was released, and in it were the expected restrictions and limitations on qualified retirement plan benefits.

The share of Americans who get health benefits through work dropped to 60% in 2011, continuing a decade-long slide that highlights the challenges facing President Barack Obama’s insurance overhaul.

The delay of the feature of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act intended to help small businesses was because of concerns raised by insurers, Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said Friday.