Benefit plan design

The Obama administration is pulling the plug on a long-term, home-care program included in the 2010 health care reform law that Republicans have derided as a budget trick.

An advisory group urged U.S. officials to formulate a set of essential health benefits under President Barack Obama's health care overhaul that is in line with cost of insurance in a typical small employer plan.

After several years of relatively modest premium increases, annual premiums for employer-sponsored family health coverage increased to $15,073 this year, up 9% from last year. On average, workers pay $4,129 and employers pay $10,944 toward those annual premiums.

Do you have a personal physician? How did you choose your doctor?

Let me begin with a two-part confession: First, I do not claim to be a health reform expert. I have not read through the massive regulation and rely heavily on the interpretation of other, smarter people. Second, I am fairly apolitical. I don't find politics at the local, national and state levels particularly engaging.

A key recommendation for medical coverage standards under president Barack Obama's health care overhaul will be released on October 7, according to the organization preparing the report.

The Obama administration on Wednesday asked the U.S. Supreme Court to back the centerpiece of Barack Obama's sweeping healthcare overhaul —the requirement that all Americans have health insurance.

The Department of Health and Human Services has extended public comment on two proposed rules published on July 15 to establish state insurance exchanges and implement standards related to reinsurance and risk adjustment.

Of the endlessly debated provisions in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, the requirements for Medical Loss Ratios stand out for insurance companies because the requirements are designed to dictate how those companies pay their bills. A new study sheds light on the MLR rule; read as experts weigh in.

If you’re a customer of WellPoint, Inc., your employees’ records soon will come under the guidance of a computer. Granted, a very smart computer, but a computer nonetheless.

Well, it’s been quite an interesting renewal/marketing season already, hasn’t it? Trend factors are lower than they’ve been in years. Some carriers are out there offering premium holidays for new clients who sign up before January 1. And when’s the last time you saw a carrier offer a double-digit rate decrease right out of the chute? …

One of the first (and most popular) changes brought on by health care reform was the mandatory extension of health plan eligibility to adult children up to age 26 regardless of student status or dependence upon the employee. Most people predicted that the rate of ineligible dependents would decrease after this provision took effect. Based upon a study my firm recently completed, comparing similar populations before and after the implementation of this provision, we can…

The clock is ticking. The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act's health insurance exchanges are targeted to come online in 2014, which means open enrollment must begin in the fall of 2013. Every state is determining its approach, and everyone in the industry is strategizing on how to tap into a projected market of 25 million enrollees by 2016. The states will take different approaches, but the common denominator is technology. This month we'll look at how technology will be utilized in exchanges and identify other corresponding services that will be necessary to make the exchanges a success.

For all the discussion about lowering the cost of health care and providing health benefits, is there a more important arbiter of employer satisfaction with a health plan than holding down cost trends? Maybe so, according to the results of the latest survey from J.D. Power and Associates.

Senator Mike Enzi (R-Wyo.), ranking member on the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions committee, released a report recently showing access to child-only health insurance plans has declined significantly since passage of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.

(Reuters) Wed., Aug. 24, 2011 WASHINGTON — Almost three-quarters of medium to big companies will keep offering health care benefits to employees once state-based insurance exchanges kick off in 2014, according to a survey by Towers Watson.

According to Wikipedia, the word transparency implies openness, communication and accountability . . . performing in such a way that it is easy to see what’s wrong. Sounds like our health care system, doesn’t it? Not really and that’s where enormous opportunity exists to “fix” healthcare.

Communities known for paying the most on health care may not be spending as much as once thought, according to new data released on Wednesday.

Health care reform in Massachusetts hasn't lessened the pressure on providers that care for the poor, a new study shows.

It's long been said that what you don't know won't hurt you. Whoever said that clearly had no knowledge of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. Since its enactment in March 2010, PPACA and its impact on health plans, wellness programs,long-term care and even adoption benefits can definitely harm benefits pros who aren't on top of its provisions.