Employer Strategies

It is certainly not news that most Americans are ill-prepared to retire with 70% income replacement. We can blame high fees, which the press and regulators seem to focus on, and a decade of low or negative returns, but the real problem is that most participants are not saving enough and are not actively engaged in the process of preparing for retirement. Then, some industry professionals are still implying that their services are free. But with sweeping disclosure regulations about to become law, that myth will be quickly debunked. It's time to debunk other myths and tell plan sponsors and participants the hard truth.

The top benefit advisers take their clients' needs very seriously. But Anthony (Tony) Madera, winner of this year's EBA Retirement Plan Adviser of the Year award, seems to take them personally.

The U.S. health care payments industry is undergoing changes as it grapples with inefficiencies in how patients, payers and providers exchange information and money. At the same time, it must respond to economic pressures, government reforms and other dynamics while it focuses on quality, value and cost reduction.

There's a lot of strategic talk in Big Sky Country these days about the power of biometric screenings, health care analytics, value-based pharmacy benefit management, captives insurance and state-run health cooperatives under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.

Speaking on the power of technology, Arianna Huffington, editor-in-chief of the Huffington Post quoted "wise sage" Black Eyed Peas front man will.i.am: "People used to consume media at home. Now, they consume media while riding on the back of a horse."

McKinsey & Co. caused quite a stir not only around the insurance world, but all the way to Washington, when it recently revealed that 30% of employers will "definitely or probably" drop their coverage when the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act takes effect in 2014.

September marks the observance of Life Insurance Awareness Month, coordinated by the nonprofit LIFE Foundation and supported by more than 100 of the nation's leading insurance companies and industry groups, to shine a spotlight on the growing crisis of too many Americans not having adequate life insurance protection. According to the industry research group LIMRA, 30% of U.S. households have no life insurance whatsoever. Today, there are 11 million fewer American households covered by life insurance compared with six years ago. The bottom line: A majority of families either have no life insurance or not enough, leaving them one accident or terminal illness away from a financial catastrophe for their loved ones. Help educate your employees this month on the value of this important benefit. Learn more at lifehappens.org/life-insurance-awareness-month.

An online cartoon is changing the way employees think about voluntary benefits.

Employees who work from home or other remote location are doing so more often than they have in the past but the overall number of teleworkers has declined, finds a recent survey. The teleworking population in 2010 was 26.2 million, down from 33.7 million in 2008. Teleworkers represented nearly 20% of the U.S. adult working population, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Imagine that your company was hiring for one of its most crucial positions.