Benefit plan design

A Senate bill introduced Friday as a companion to legislation in the House that would exclude agent compensation from the Medical Loss Ratio formula has industry organizations optimistic about a permanent fix.

The House of Representatives voted Wednesday to officially repeal the CLASS Act, the long-term care provision of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.

U.S. Catholic bishops and priests across the country read out letters at Mass on Sunday protesting plans by President Barack Obama's administration to force religiously-affiliated nonprofit groups to offer birth-control coverage to women employees.

On the last day of the National Association of Health Underwriters’ 2012 Capitol Conference hundreds of attendees received exciting industry news that made the ballroom erupt with a roar of applause and cheers.

Policy Studies Inc. has a new business process outsourcing service to help address the requirements — and deadlines — for implementing health insurance exchanges and marketplaces, the company reports.

Insurance agents play a “big role” in making sure Congressional legislation comes out the way it does, two members of the House told the National Association of Health Underwriters Capitol Conference Tuesday.

The Obama administration said last week that 28 states have taken steps to establish insurance exchanges under the 2010 health care law, despite the legal and political uncertainties threatening the overhaul.

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.

When it comes to health care, small business owners aren't making any fast moves. Faced with higher premiums again in the year ahead, many business owners have found themselves in a holding pattern. They're concerned about the rising costs and the possible impact of health reform, but unsure about making any changes until they have more clarity or options.

Chief Justice John Roberts expressed confidence on Saturday in the decisions by his Supreme Court colleagues on when to recuse themselves, an issue that has emerged in the legal battle over President Barack Obama's health care overhaul law.

The trio of federal agencies charged with interpreting and enforcing the Affordable Care Act and the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act have addressed some of the most significant questions arising from these laws. In a set of Answers to Frequently Asked Questions, the U.S. Departments of Treasury, Labor, and Health and Human Services have intimated that the looming ACA deadline for the production and distribution of summaries of benefits and coverage will be extended.…

Most U.S. health insurers last year would have satisfied the much-disputed spending rules under President Obama's health care reform, according to a new report by a congressional watchdog agency.

Anticipating the increase in age of covered dependents to 26 starting in 2011, as required by the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, the benefits team at Dick's Sporting Goods decided to clean the company's benefit rolls data with a dependent eligibility audit before this provision went into effect and before annual enrollment in the fall of 2010.

As the U.S. Supreme Court prepares to review President Obama's health care reform, more Americans want to it repealed than want to keep it, a poll released on Wednesday shows.

Are you providing a helpful owner’s manual with your CDHP plans? In today’s BeAdvised Helen Box-Farnen shares why ongoing education for participants just may increase the value of this plan.

For most employers, annual enrollment for this year is in the rear-view mirror. That means that you’re done with the emails, the newsletter, the guide, the meetings, the reminder postcard, the online enrollment system, and other communications, right? Not if you’ve implemented a new Consumer Driven Health Plan. Not if you want to avoid disruption from confused employees who are using a CDHP for the first time. Not if you want your employees to get the…

Employers and employees alike have found a more affordable health care option in health savings accounts, according to two national surveys released last week.

States and territories seeking to establish a health insurance exchange, funded under the Affordable Care Act, will be required to submit an application for approval during the fall of 2012, the Department of Health and Human Services has announced.

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.

Wal-Mart Stores Inc will no longer offer health insurance to new part-time U.S. employees who work fewer than 24 hours a week and will charge workers who use tobacco more for coverage as health care costs rise, the company said on Friday.