Employer Strategies

Objections to Express Scripts' $29 billion plan to buy rival pharmacy benefits manager Medco Health Solutions are accumulating as U.S. antitrust regulators weigh whether they have enough evidence to stop the megamerger.

Tuesday morning, the 2012 Employer Health and Human Capitol Congress kicked off in Washington, D.C., with Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) and Rep. Ron Kind (D-Wis.) emphasizing the role of employers in pushing for payment reform in the health care system and advancing health information technology, which could drastically change health care spending and costs to both employees and employees.

The Department of Health and Human Services expects soon to publish a final rule to govern establishment of state insurance exchanges to provide one-stop shopping for health coverage, and a proposed rule to establish the long-delayed unique identifier for health plans.

On January 24, 2012, the Acting General Counsel of the National Labor Relations Board issued a second report on social media cases, just six months after the GC’s last report on the subject. In this latest document, the Obama Board continues to refine its analysis of the two most common issues presented to it in social media cases: whether the employer’s policy itself is overbroad and thus violates employees’ right to engage in concerted and…

Paul Keckley, executive director at the Deloitte Center for Health Solutions, recently underwent knee surgery and things have not gone so well on the treatment and payment sides.

Almost all employees who participate in one-on-one benefits counseling sessions during enrollment say they have a greater understanding of their employer-sponsored benefits.

A Senate bill introduced Friday as a companion to legislation in the House that would exclude agent compensation from the Medical Loss Ratio formula has industry organizations optimistic about a permanent fix.

One-to-one benefits counseling during open enrollment significantly improves employees’ understanding of their benefits, according to a recent post-enrollment survey.

Walgreens is being hit by its withdrawal from the Express Scripts Inc pharmacy network and by a much-weaker-than-expected flu season, leading it to temper its expectations for the number of prescriptions it will fill this year.

Big shifts may be coming in how retirement plans are managed after the the Labor Department Thursday announced the final version of its rules under Section 408(b)(2) of ERISA, which require broker dealers disclose their services and fees to plan sponsors for individual plans.