Healthcare

A survey found U.S. employers are increasingly looking at this option, following the lead of companies like Walgreen Co. seeking to reduce costs..

The president of the NBGH, who is retiring this spring, shares her thoughts about health reform and the future of employer-sponsored health coverage.

If the last few years were an age of reform, then we’ve definitely entered a new era — a time of compliance.

Employees with ready access to mobile devices, such as smart phones and tablets, prefer accessing employee benefit and pay information using mobile apps rather than using their desktops and laptop computers, an ADP Research Institute Study shows.

Employer-sponsored defined contribution plans – the fundamental core of retirement funds for about 80% of the full-time workers in the nation – need some alterations that will help boost plan participation among the part-time workforce and smaller employers, as well as offer better ways for workers and employers to contribute, according to a white paper released last week.

Contrary to expectations, the latest findings from healthcare researcher Decision Resources Group reveal that several of the state-based health insurance exchanges that were expected to perform the best are performing quite poorly, while some of the exchanges in Republican-dominated states openly hostile to the Affordable Care Act have fared surprisingly well to date.

Limitations with how the federally-run health insurance exchanges present information misleads consumers and induces them to spend many thousands of dollars a year more than necessary on health coverage, according to Consumers’ Checkbook, a non-profit consumer advocacy organization and web site.

The dissatisfaction, disappointment and frustration with launch of the federal health insurance exchange could be expected, especially with the constantly elevating level of consumer expectations for e-commerce and other online systems. Meanwhile, the number of private exchanges continues to grow and are in a very good position to succeed.

While the intent of DOL fee disclosure regulations was to benefit retirement plan participants, results indicate there is much left to be desired. Employees have no idea what to look for or what their 401(k) fees even mean.

For millions of low-income Americans, the road to health care reform in 2014 could prove to be a jagged line as they bounce between public exchanges and Medicaid as their income fluctuates over the year.