Employer Strategies

Employers will devote more mind share to retirement programs in the coming year, in part because of increased confidence about compliance with the Affordable Care Act.

This year saw not only more implementations of President Barack Obama’s signature health care law, but already some changes to it – by both the legislative and judicial arms of government. Additionally, new technologies and outlooks are changing how benefit decision-makers are strategizing wellness programs.

When evaluating the merits of a private exchange, one industry insider suggests pursuing an overall financial strategy built around achieving “true savings” rather than simply shifting costs onto employees – a warning that has been sounded for years in the traditional marketplace.

As health care reform continues to unfold, employers are re-examining the role of their benefit programs in their overall human capital strategy and coming around to the idea that attracting, retaining and engaging workers hinges on the total employee experience, not health care benefits alone.

Commentary: Zenefits is definitely more open about what they are giving away, but industry technology adviser Joe Markland guarantees they aren’t the only benefit firm that may in some way be breaking the Utah rebating laws.

Despite great investment returns recently, the nation’s largest corporate defined benefit pension funds have been defenseless against growing liabilities resulting from dropping discount rates.

Employers considering private health care exchanges should leave themselves plenty of time to make the switch, say two employers who’ve made the move in recent years.

Wellness programs are gaining popularity and the Cadillac tax is still a mystery for many employers, but no major changes to benefits are expected next year, study says.

Despite pressure from clients to provide an immediate solution for rising health care costs – brokers need to proceed slowly and cautiously when discussing solutions such as private exchanges, according to a speaker at Employee Benefit News’ Private Healthcare Exchanges conference.

Lawmakers in Springfield, Ill., decided this week to green light a new statewide private sector retirement program that will consist of individual retirement accounts to be funded by automatic employee payroll deductions.