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There is a dramatic difference in how employers tackle health cost trends. Some are doing "everything possible to control costs and improve workers' health, while others have not been willing or able to do it as aggressively," Helen Darling, president and CEO of the National Business Group on Health told attendees at the Health Benefits 9-1-1: Heightened Urgency to Control Cost and Improve Health conference.

A sluggish economy hasn't slowed the nation's health care consumerism movement, according to a recent analysis by the Employee Benefit Research Institute.

You may remember the two extremes depicted in the 2008 presidential election regarding health care. We heard health care proclaimed as an inalienable "right" of sorts. Politicians would ask their constituents polarizing questions like, "Is health care a right for all Americans?" or, "Is it a privilege to which only the wealthy minority are entitled?," as if these two extremes were the only positions that a health care stakeholder (consumer, provider or carrier) might have on such a complex topic.

Looking for a way to promote his latest venture, a website where consumers can select an agent at the same time they buy their policy online, Alan Katz decided to start his own blog both as a hobby and in hopes that linking to it would increase the search engine optimization of the insurance website.

It goes without saying that recession taught everyone some valuable lessons about making every penny count and that the employment and financial landscape likely are forever changed.

For this year's Preparing for Open Enrollment series, EBN asked you, our readers, to give us your advice for improving this perennial event. Here is the first of three articles featuring your responses, which deals with enrollment communications.

Having personally helped employees through the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, the earthquake in Haiti and now the disaster in Japan, I can see that while workers affected by each of these crises had different needs, eight core benefits needs consistently were raised:

The only things certain in life are death and taxes," Ben Franklin famously said. If you file a Form 5500 on behalf of your company's pension or health and welfare plans, the filing deadline for calendar-year plans is July 31. There are a number of changes in store for plan years 2010 (and any years prior that have not yet been filed) that might cause you to allow more than the usual preparation time.

I've been an avid watcher of "American Idol" since season one - no judgment, please - and although I mostly harken back for seasons past (I greatly miss ex-bully Brit judge Simon Cowell, and my favorite winner is original champ Kelly Clarkson), I'll be watching regardless when the show crowns its 10th winner later this month.

You've likely seen magazine ads, radio commercials and TV promoting miracle treatments for hair loss. Unfortunately, that is what's needed for those treatments to work - a miracle.