Banco Popular de Puerto Rico

With the cost of specialty drugs going up, guest blogger Karrie Andes suggests plan sponsors need to be more proactive about asking their health plans and pharmacy benefit managers about cost containment strategies.

The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act imposes a new tax on health insurance providers in 2014. While insurers are responsible for paying it, plan sponsors should care about it because it could be passed down to fully insured group plans in the form of higher premiums.

Defined benefit plan sponsors may believe that outsourcing their plan administration must be much more expensive or that it won’t allow them to maintain their current actuary or investment manager. Other times, they think that the DB systems won’t match up to their defined contribution counterparts. Neither are necessarily true.

What do you say to employees when they start asking you whether they should participate in your company's health insurance plan or enroll in the state exchange? Guest blogger Ed Bray shares his thoughts.

Or any money, for that matter. Guest blogger Karrie Andes shares details about a company that can help employers help employees understand the intricacies of the post-retirement health benefits landscape. The best part? It won't cost you anything!

If it’s okay to charge higher premiums on employer-provided health insurance to smokers or employees who refuse to take a health-risk appraisal, then why, asks guest blogger Bruce Shutan, is it wrong for the government to help us take better care of ourselves?

Guest blogger and benefits practitioner Ed Bray shares the lessons he learned from failing to understand his audience's needs before sending out vital 401(k) plan communications.

Guest blogger Ed Bray shares how he overcame his fear of public speaking and learned the importance of effectively communicating benefits information.

Evidence on using outcomes-based incentives is not yet adequate, and creating large premium differentials could discourage employees from enrolling in medical plans, says guest blogger Karrie Andes.

Guest blogger Karrie Andes embarks on a relationship with electronic data interchange. It's far from perfect, but she shares five relationship lessons — including commitment, honesty and money — that will make for a more successful partnership.