Employer Strategies

An agent explains the difficult steps that would need to be taken to renew canceled plans, while a health insurance trade group says the president’s announcement Thursday could “destabilize the market.”

America’s Health Insurance Plans issues a statement about President Obama's remarks today on the Affordable Care Act.

With the decision, state governors and insurance commissioners would have the authority to keep would-be canceled plans active until the end of 2014.

The decision, which helps live up to a promise Obama made when pushing for passage of health reform, is couched as an administrative fix that says following ACA will not require insurance companies to upgrade their plan for individuals who have been in these existing plans so far.

One HR source says the National Labor Relations Board is on a “crusade” against aggressive social media policies.

Brokers operating in the federally run exchange states remain frustrated with broker functions on the website, as the government announces lop-sided enrollment numbers for the state versus federal exchanges.

The lopsided enrollment between Medicaid, which is paid for with taxpayer money, and the private plans may boost criticism of the rising costs of the $1.4 trillion health law. High participation in the exchanges is critical to keeping the costs of medical coverage down.

The number of people who died in hospitals as a result of medical mistakes is approaching half a million, according to Patient Safety America. Medical mistakes not only cost lives and misery but billions of dollars in extra costs, most of which is paid by employers.

Twenty-nine of the nation’s 100 largest have revised estimates in past year.

Statins will be recommended for almost 33 million Americans, about twice the number under previous guidelines. Heart disease is the No. 1 killer worldwide, accounting for 1 in 4 U.S. deaths.