Banco Popular de Puerto Rico

Without an effective strategy or the right tools to reduce costs, brokers and employers continue to embrace cost shifting through payroll contributions and changes to deductibles and coinsurance to manage rising healthcare cost. However, there are resources that can help employers effectively measure the success of a wellness plan, while incorporating specific cost-saving strategies.

The Department of Labor recently announced a proposed set of regulations about retirement plan fiduciary responsibility. Here are the answers to nine frequently asked questions employers have about their fiduciary duties.

Commentary: As the EEOC’s proposed regulations for wellness programs remain under review for public comment until mid-June, employers should not feel paralyzed in designing new wellness programs nor compelled to throw out existing ones.

The benchmark for demonstrating return on investment of population health management programs has been medical cost savings. But that's notion is changing as employers are discovering that several other measures of program success are also in their grasp.

Forty percent of Americans aren’t receiving regular dental care – and it’s costing employers.

Commentary: Benefits professionals may understand concepts like self-insurance and network discounts, but how effectively are they communicating them to health plan participants?

Commentary: To better serve millennials, the financial services community and 401(k) plan sponsors need to better understand the motivations of the typical member of this generation.

It seems that everyone has a smart phone or a tablet and I can’t think of anyone I know who does not have internet access at home. Consequently, plan sponsors ask all the time if they can just e-mail plan documents to employees to satisfy the notice requirements, or maybe just post new plan documents on the company intranet. Recent legal actions serve as a reminder that the short answer to the question is no.

Commentary: The Department of Labor's new proposed fiduciary regulations have caused quite a stir in the retirement plan community. A frequently asked question is who, exactly, will be affected, and who won't be.

There are a number of reasons why employees leave their jobs — they’re bored and unchallenged, they don't get recognition for their work, they have a strained relationship with their manager — but they are all related to a single problem.