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Pharmacy benefits manager CVS Caremark has agreed to pay $5 million to settle an investigation by the Federal Trade Commission that it overcharged seniors and taxpayers in the Medicare prescription drug program. The FTC also announced it has concluded its investigation of the company.

Walgreens is on the offensive this month, informing both employers and employees that it’s no longer part of the Express Scripts network. Kermit Crawford, president of Walgreens’ pharmacy, health and wellness business, recently sat down with EBN to discuss how the company plans to move ahead.

Question: Amid all the changes the health insurance industry is undergoing, are there any trends in 2012 that brokers and agents can embrace to counter shrinking commissions and evaporating accounts? It’s been almost two years since the enactment of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and employers are still looking for solutions to their health benefits concerns. As a result, I see two major trends defining both the economic environment and the business opportunities that…

The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act requires employers to report the aggregate cost of employer-sponsored health coverage on the Forms W-2 of its employees. In March 2011, the Internal Revenue Service issued interim guidance on the Form W-2 informational reporting requirement in the form of 31 Q&As. Recently, the Internal Revenue Service revised this interim guidance by issuing Notice 2012-9, which clarifies several of the original Q&As and adds some Q&As. …

Now that presidential candidates are pledging to repeal the law and the Supreme Court is determining the law’s future, we may be back in the market for reform ideas.

Broker-dealers are up in arms over a little-known provision of the Department of Labor's 401(k) plan fee disclosure rules. Ready why some industry observers say the brokerage industry only has itself to blame.

Here's a recent roundup of industry accomplishments. Check to see if a colleague is mentioned this week.

Broker-dealers are up in arms over a little-known provision of the Department of Labor's 401(k) plan fee disclosure rules.

The New Year is a good time to communicate to employees that the maximum annual participant contribution to 401(k) plans has increased, says one retirement plan expert.

A majority of human resource executives at U.S. hospitals and health care systems expect health care reform to hasten the transformation of the industry’s traditional business model, according to a new survey by Towers Watson. The survey also found that workforce issues, including shortages of primary care physicians, the need for a wider array of staff skills and new leadership models, will rise in importance as the industry grapples with this transformation.