Benefit plan design

Chiropractors and other ancillary health care providers are breathing a sigh of relief following an about-face by federal regulators with respect to Affordable Care Act’s coverage of their services.

HR technology company Namely has launched an internal benefits brokerage as part of its goal to be an end to end HR solution for growing startups. But the company wants to work with other brokers, not in competition with them.

Although the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2014 ruling in the Burwell v Hobby Lobby Stores case addressed in broad terms how exceptions to the Affordable Care Act’s mandate for contraceptive benefits coverage can be granted in the private sector, it left some unresolved questions both in the for-profit and in the nonprofit world.

Commentary: When executed efficiently, this strategy can bring a variety of benefits, says AmWINS’s Sam Fleet.

Brokers need to change the conversations they are having with clients away from the Affordable Care Act and toward other topics, including voluntary, since little will change with the law until the next presidential inauguration, a carrier rep says.

Commentary: Providing accommodations for workers will disabilities can help reduce employee absenteeism and presenteeism, the type of productivity loss associated with employees working through medical conditions.

Commentary: This is due in large part to improvements in health care, more ways to accommodate people with disabilities and changes in the workplace itself — especially the growing acceptance of telework, says Aetna’s Liz Incze.

Multiple signs point to growth in voluntary benefits sales, but employers would like to see a change in how their employees sign up for the benefit, according to new LIMRA data, released Tuesday.

Commentary: Many executives find themselves having to choose to either pay salary continuation or administer seasonal layoffs. What’s needed in this scenario is an alternative benefit that supports both the interest of the employee and the organization.

For many benefits professionals, the different private exchange offerings and the varied value propositions they present can be overwhelming. So let’s take a step back and examine the issues one at a time.

Commentary: Such tools stimulate enhanced benefits administration for corporate clients, particularly within these four aspects of coverage.

Commentary: Countless conversations with brokers struggling with 6055 and 6056 concerns show many find their applicable large employer clients are challenged to find practical solution for this reporting, says EmployeeTech’s Michael Weiskirch.

Does giving employees multiple choices of health plans drive competition and empower them pick plans offering the greatest value and highest quality care –the theory underlying the Affordable Care Act and many employers’ benefit plan designs?

Whatever employers have spent to comply with the Affordable Care Act so far, some feel the costliest years are yet to come.

Multi-employers that continue to offer health care benefits to retirees are embracing retiree-only plans as a cost-saving measure. While retiree-only plans are not subject to all of the rules of the ACA, there are still requirements employers and advisers should be aware of.

Employers may need to redouble their efforts to help employees understand the opportunity presented by a high deductible health plan with an accompanying health savings account.

When looking to attract and retain employees – and when benefit programs are mostly comprised of standard health plans and standard 401(k) programs – employers should consider workplace culture as a key differentiator.

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.

Remote access to care is expected to soar as telehealth offerings prove to be major time and money saver for employers.

Smaller companies and non-profits are among the organizations that are contemplating a switch in how they manage employee benefits.