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Medical tourism is the practice of traveling abroad for health care. Globally, it’s a $120 billion business, according to a report from the Economist Intelligence Unit. “The reason an employer might offer medical tourism benefits would be for cost savings or for medical care that’s not available in their region,” says Rudy Rupak, CEO of Planet Hospital, a division of Global Health Voyager, a Web-based medical tourism facilitator. Rupak shares the top five countries outside of the U.S. where employees travel and the most common procedures they have done there.

Although many companies continue to tighten their financial belts, when it comes to voluntary benefits, employers are much more employee focused, as opposed to cost driven. Seventy-five percent of employers say their top reason for offering voluntary benefits is to expand the benefits options available to their employees, with 42% offering voluntary benefits to fulfill an employee need, and 30% offering them at their employees’ request, according to a study released yesterday by Prudential.

American workers are more worried about keeping up with monthly expenses than saving for retirement, reveals a recent survey. Keeping up with monthly expenses was the biggest financial worry, cited by 21% of those surveyed, followed by saving enough for retirement, which was cited by 18% of employees as their biggest financial concern.

President Barack Obama's signature health care law got a boost on Tuesday when a U.S. appeals court agreed with a lower court that dismissed a challenge and found the law's minimum coverage requirement was constitutional.

Many of the nearly 1.6 million nonprofits and charities in the country are in need of advisory services. With assets growing at 8.5%, this group represents a healthy market for advisers looking to grow their client base, according to Gary Price, managing principal at Fund Evaluation Group.

Retirement plan administrators and advisers take note: It’s not a company’s size but rather the demographic makeup of its workforce that influences whether it sponsors a retirement plan.

When Javier Muchado joined Gentle Giant Moving Company in 2004, he thought he would be there for a few months and then move on. But Larry O'Toole and John "J.P." Pacocha, the Somerville, Mass.-based company's owners, had other ideas. They observed Muchado on a few jobs and recognized that he was physically strong and smart--a winning combo for a business that requires equal measures of muscle, troubleshooting ability and people skills.

Why do these plans offer tremendous value to both employers and employees? In today’s BeAdvised Samuel Fleet explains why these plans can also act as a strong recruitment tool for top executives.

Online expectations of insurers’ Web presences are higher than ever, according to a new report from Forrester Research, for a confluence of reasons; the economic instability has increased demand in certain sectors, insurance advertising is a billion-dollar venture, with most of it directing consumers to Web presences, etc. As a result, whether quote-seekers or self-serving policyholders, consumers expect sites to be available, easy to use and fast. And if a site doesn’t live up to these expectations, a competitor is only a click away.

Advisers take note: It’s not a company’s size but rather the demographic makeup of its workforce that influences whether or not it sponsors a retirement plan.