Exchanges

Aetna Inc. agrees to buy Humana Inc., in a deal poised to be the biggest ever in the health-insurance industry.

Employer clients and their employees expect innovative technology solutions to meet their needs, even when it comes to health care — and especially when it comes to private exchanges.

As small employers shift from group to individual coverage, private exchanges can be a useful tool to keep brokers competitive and maximize profits during the transition.

As Towers Watson & Co. and Willis Group Holdings Plc head to the altar for an all-stock merger valued at $18 billion, their respective private exchanges could command the roles of best man and bridesmaid.

Employee Benefit News and Employee Benefit Adviser have created the Private Benefit Exchange Index to track the growth of online benefit marketplaces

It turns out that two of the most common consumer complaints about HIX plans mirror longstanding gripes about traditional health insurance, but there’s a movement afoot to ensure provider network directories are accurate and help patients better calculate and budget for out-of-pocket costs in the nascent online marketplace.

Simply making more employees eligible for overtime pay may not mean more workers will necessarily earn those benefits, benefits analysts suggest.

The DOL’s proposed definition of fiduciary advice remains worrisomely broad, according to financial and legal experts who are calling upon the industry to flood the DOL with letters of concern about the rule’s possible implications.

Employers in the 51-100 employee size bracket are anxious about the prospect of being added to the “small group” market that under the Affordable Care Act currently cuts off at 50 employees (unless states opt to raise it).

Although the Supreme Court upheld subsidies on the exchanges, there remain key aspects of the ACA that broker and employer lobbyist organizations continue to seek to amend and/or repeal.