Employer Strategies

Voter support for President Barack Obama's health care overhaul has increased following the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling upholding it, although majorities still oppose it, a Reuters/Ipsos poll released on Sunday showed.

While things were a bit murky at first, what emerged from the Supreme Court was some much-needed clarity on how providers can move forward with accountable care initiatives and other efforts fueled by health reform, according to two hospital CIOs asked for their first impressions on the ruling.

Despite the differing reactions among business sectors in the U.S. to last week’s Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act Supreme Court ruling, 77% of surveyed organizations are very likely to provide health coverage in 2014, according to a recent survey by the International Foundation of Employee Benefits Plans.

Mindful of the way mobile technology has revolutionized the way people live and work, most global employers don’t mind when employees show up late for work and are more supportive of a flexible workforce than most employees realize.

As employee medical benefit costs escalate at double-digit levels worldwide, a new survey finds that wellness programs and health promotion strategies are gaining traction.

Life combination products grew 56% in 2011, according to LIMRA's "2011 Individual Life Combination Products Annual Review." This was the third consecutive year of double-digit growth.

The growing trend among employers to enforce companywide social media policies has sparked the birth of the Password Protection Act of 2012. The new legislation prevents companies from requiring employees to provide access to their personal social networking accounts. While many companies may create a social media policy to protect their corporate reputation, a new Workplace Options and Public Policy Polling survey of American workers shows that companies who scrutinize their employees' personal accounts and social media activity may be doing more harm than good.

With the movement from traditional paid leave plans to paid time-off banks, many employers may wonder if the switch is effective in managing employee absences. Nearly one in five employees in the United States receive leave in the form of a PTO bank, but the contours of such policies are often little understood - especially outside of the human resources community, according to a new study out by the Institute for Women's Policy Research and CLASP, a nonprofit that works to improve the economic security of low-income families.

In April, the Internal Revenue Service issued proposed regulations on collecting fees from health insurance issuers and self-insured group health plan sponsors for establishing the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Trust Fund, as required under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. The fund provides funding for a new Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute. PPACA requires the Institute to conduct research to evaluate and compare health outcomes and the clinical effectiveness, risks, and benefits of medical treatments, services, procedures, drugs and other strategies or items that treat, manage, diagnose or prevent illness or injury.

Although premenstrual syndrome is a well-known - if not well-understood - women's health condition, premenstrual dysphoric disorder is an even lesser-known related illness. PMDD is marked by many of the same symptoms as PMS - bloating, trouble sleeping and concentrating, irritability, headaches, backaches and food cravings - but to a more intense degree.