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It’s Earth Week! And regardless of your position on the reality and/or cause of climate change, this week is one set apart for being kinder and gentler to Mother Earth. Some companies best known for making green are taking bigger strides to go green — or, in the case of Kaiser Permanente, go greener.

The final ruling for the insurance exchange portion of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act is out. The 644-page rule mandates that all 50 states must be ready with an exchange by October 2013. “So far, there are only about 20 states making measurable progress toward the deadline,” says Bob Laszewiski of Health Policy Strategy Associates, LLC. “Most conservative states – 29 states have Republican governors – are sitting on the sidelines waiting to…

In a new report titled Opportunities in Reaching the Middle Market with Life Insurance: New Pathways to Growth, Conning estimates the middle- market life insurance protection gap to be $10.2 trillion - a 56% increase when compared to the firm's last study of the middle market in 2006. The total protection gap across all income brackets has more than doubled.

Not only is it painful for an employee to hear the news that their loved one has suffered a heart attack, but the unforeseen costs of health care will soon take a physical, emotional and financial toll if they are not prepared.

Face it: Your employees are distracted. According to IDC Research, 30% to 40% of employee Internet activity is non-work-related, and SexTracker reports that 70% of all Internet porn traffic occurs during the 9-to-5 workday. Such workplace Internet misuse costs U.S. companies $63 billion in lost productivity annually, according to Websense Inc.

Ironic as it may be, despite high unemployment and the perception of a surplus of talent, HR/benefits professionals and hiring managers may be forced to choose from limited quantities of high-skilled workers, a new Deloitte study shows.

Talk of annuities within 401(k) plans is becoming more common, but employers remain reluctant to move full steam ahead despite new guidance from the Internal Revenue Service and Department of Treasury issued in February.

In February, the Departments of Labor, Treasury, and Health and Human Services issued final regulations implementing the new summary of benefits and coverage requirement under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. The agencies also released a separate document providing additional guidance on the SBC requirement, which includes a template for the summary, instructions, sample language, a guide for coverage example calculations and the uniform glossary.

This article is the first in a two-part series examining the challenges in achieving true parity for mental health benefits. This article explores the history of mental health parity legislation, while the second installment - scheduled for EBN June 1 - will address barriers to care due to lack of access and provider shortages.

You've likely heard of best-selling author Stephen King and Academy Award-winning actress Judi Dench and could name several of his books or her films. And although you may have heard of age-related macular degeneration, it's significantly less likely that you could name the disease's warning signs, debilitative effects and resulting high costs.