Healthcare

It's long been said that what you don't know won't hurt you. Whoever said that clearly had no knowledge of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. Since its enactment in March 2010, PPACA and its impact on health plans, wellness programs,long-term care and even adoption benefits can definitely harm benefits pros who aren't on top of its provisions.

CHICAGO — There is a need for an “extreme makeover” in the house of benefits with a delivery system built on partnership, collaboration, accountability and engagement — rather than competitiveness, says Larry Boress of the Midwest Business Group on Health. Read more from Associate Editor Brian Kalish as he reports from Employee Benefit Adviser’s Workplace Benefits Mania Conference at the Fairmont Chicago Millennium Park.

Running a small business well requires the ability to gather and manage a vast array of data, from sales leads to customer complaints and employee vacation time. Because this information is so critical, business automation companies, such as Basecamp, LiquidPlanner and Salesforce.com, charge good money to organize it.

For many employees faced with the prospect of having to save for rising healthcare costs and for retirement, it's important to understand that it doesn't necessarily have to be an either/or decision.

Government and industry experts say recent guidance from the federal government will hasten development of state purchasing exchanges, which will in turn affect employers’ long-range benefit sponsorship decisions.

Unum has partnered with United Concordia and will soon offer dental benefits.

A Fidelity Investments survey released on July 28 found that a majority of Americans do not understand how their pensions work.

State officials developing health insurance purchasing exchanges have voiced growing appreciation for the roles that can be played by benefit advisers.

From January to April 15, Steve Lerner rarely saw his spouse while working at an accounting firm. When he started his new role at consultancy Accenture nearly 10 years ago, all that changed, and he got the work-life flexibility he badly wanted

While most companies go through their annual renewal process in the fall, at Ambrose we are wrapping it up and heading into open enrollment for an Aug. 1 effective date. For us, as well as other employers with renewals that fall in the middle of the year, health care reform regulations haven't kicked in until now