Employer Strategies

The flowers are blooming. The mad rush of lost ID cards and questions about new benefits has faded into distant memory. That means that it's time to start planning for next year! Your insurance carriers are calling you to schedule a lengthy meeting to review your annual data from the prior year and attempting sell you additional products and offerings.

Last October, President Obama signed into law the Plain Writing Act, which calls for communications from the federal government that are clear, concise and well-organized. An associate professor of English recently talked to EBN about how employers can incorporate plain language principles into their benefits communications.

Health insurance exchanges under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act may pose a threat to COBRA.

Recently, Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials audited the popular burrito chain, Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc., which fired hundreds of illegal workers as a result. Using Chipotle as a cautionary tale, employers cannot turn a blind eye to illegal workers, as Chipotle allegedly did - one woman claims she gave the company two false social security numbers when applying for positions within the company.

Nebraska lawmakers unanimously approved changes to collective bargaining for public workers on May 25 but the debate was not as divisive as in some other states, and the outcome was a compromise.

The adoption of guaranteed living benefits fell in the first quarter of 2011 to their lowest rate since the third quarter of 2008—and improved confidence in the stock market may be the reason.

Medco Health Solutions Inc. will lose a major pharmacy benefit contract to CVS Caremark Corp. starting next year, sending Medco shares down almost 11% and CVS up nearly 4% Friday.

Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal (R) has signed into law a bill that allows state residents to purchase individual health insurance policies across state lines.

Vermont became the first state to lay the groundwork for single-payer health care on Thursday when its governor signed an ambitious bill aimed at establishing universal insurance coverage for all residents.

Attention to unclaimed property issues affecting life insurance companies – including issues relating to unpaid life insurance and annuity benefits – has significantly escalated in recent weeks, due to regulatory actions, media coverage, and public expressions of interest by the plaintiffs’ bar. This Legal Alert discusses those developments and puts them into perspective.