Employer Strategies

On the last day of the National Association of Health Underwriters’ 2012 Capitol Conference hundreds of attendees received exciting industry news that made the ballroom erupt with a roar of applause and cheers.

Wage laws are tricky. But it is an area of law all employers need to familiarize themselves with. It's necessary to compensate employees —sometimes even when you least expect it. In fact, there are times when employees need to be paid for...not working.

Policy Studies Inc. has a new business process outsourcing service to help address the requirements — and deadlines — for implementing health insurance exchanges and marketplaces, the company reports.

The health care system is “so screwed up in where we invest our money,” and that needs to change for costs to become manageable, said a health researcher Tuesday.

Insurance agents play a “big role” in making sure Congressional legislation comes out the way it does, two members of the House told the National Association of Health Underwriters Capitol Conference Tuesday.

[IMGCAP(1)] NEW YORK | Mon Jan 23, 2012 9:42am EST (Reuters) - When your health insurance provider denies an experimental treatment or a high-cost drug, how much are you willing to pay for the care you believe you need? Barby Ingle, a former cheerleading and dance coach at Washington University who now lives in a Phoenix suburb, has been forced to face this question. …

As 2012 ushers in an improving, but still highly competitive job market, more workers may be looking beyond their own backyard for employment options. Forty-four percent of workers said they would be willing to relocate for a career opportunity, according to a nationwide study by CareerBuilder. Of workers who were laid off in the last year and found new jobs, 20% relocated to a new city or state.

The fourth annual study identifying the top U.S. health systems based was released yesterday by Thomson Reuters, which culled data from more than 300 organizations and singled out 15 hospital systems that achieved superior clinical outcomes based on a composite score of eight measures of quality, patient perception of care and efficiency.

The Obama administration said last week that 28 states have taken steps to establish insurance exchanges under the 2010 health care law, despite the legal and political uncertainties threatening the overhaul.

I recently read an article about a company wellness program that consisted primarily of a company health fair. At the health fair, an employee who thought he was otherwise healthy took a Prostate-Specific Antigen test and discovered he had elevated PSA levels. He was encouraged to follow up with his doctor, who discovered he had prostate cancer. He was ultimately cured and his doctor said he probably would have died had it not been for…