Healthcare

There’s some good news for those who fear that putting health care financial decisions in the hands of employees might produce nothing but confusion. Instead, a new survey indicates that employees who actively contribute to their HSAs do indeed become more engaged and involved in managing their health.

Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius has asked the agency’s inspector general to review the development of Healthcare.gov, among other steps, in order to take “concrete action” and prevent future issues, she announced in a Wednesday blog post.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services told contractors not to cooperate with Congress’s efforts to investigate work related to the Obamacare website, a top Republican lawmaker said.

Looking for real engagement — and improved outcomes — for workplace weight-loss programs? A new range of electronic tools (and old-fashioned psychological incentives) can help get workers to shed the pounds, for life.

The best way to encourage healthy decisions is to make cultural changes that affect the entire workforce, as well as the broad environment. Here are nine suggestions for small changes that can have big results.

More than 250,000 Americans selected private health insurance plans through Obamacare enrollment systems last month, better than twice as many as in October when the exchanges opened amid technology errors and outages.

Industry leaders discuss brokers’ to-dos for 2014, including technology developments and pending, unexpected competitors during a panel at Workplace Benefits Transitions.

It’s not hard to make a compelling case for the value of income replacement products in the voluntary benefits suite, but they’re still a low priority for many HR decision makers. A new federal caucus – and some new employee-centered awareness – might give disability insurance the focus it needs.

As the year winds down, Contributing Editor Ed Bray outlines what's in store for benefits professionals in 2014. Benefit trends included in Part 2 range from Health Savings Accounts to same-sex marriage compliance.

President Barack Obama’s health agency said it has spent $319 million building an online health-insurance marketplace through October.