Benefit plan design

In a first look at pharmacy trends in public health insurance exchange plans, use of specialty medications was greater among exchange enrollees versus patients enrolled in a commercial health plan, according to new research released by Express Scripts.

The U.S. House of Representatives on Thursday passed legislation that would modify the Affordable Care Act’s definition of a full-time employee from one who works 30-hours a week to one who works 40-hours a week.

While it’s not surprising that in 2013 the trend of employers shifting rising health care costs to employees continued to grow, it also appears employers have begun to design health care plans with looming Affordable Care Act provisions in mind.

Employers have always been concerned about the potential for worker reclassification, but health care reform and a recent National Labor Relations Board decision take this issue to an entirely new level.

The latest ACA enrollment extension could mean big losses for insurers and higher premiums for everyone in 2015, Moody’s predicts.

The first phase of Obamacare ended yesterday much the same way it began: The federal website drew millions of visitors and crashed at least twice.

With Monday’s looming Affordable Care Act open enrollment deadline, a new analysis of Americans in all 50 states and the District of Columbia finds that health care costs are still a top concern.

The agency tasked with ACA execution would not say Wednesday whether they had a process to verify when consumers began their insurance applications on the exchanges. This comes a day after the group said there may be more time for certain individuals to finish enrolling after a March 31 deadline.

Voluntary benefit sales are enjoying rapid growth as employers prepare for the impact of the Affordable Care Act by revamping their medical plan designs to include more products such as accident and critical illness benefits.

A divided U.S. Supreme Court Tuesday debated whether companies can assert religious rights, hearing arguments in an ideological clash over the Affordable Care Act and rules that promote contraceptive coverage.

Access to prescription drugs is more challenging for consumers buying insurance through the exchanges than those covered by employer-sponsored insurance plans, an analysis by Avalere Health finds.

With just days to go in open enrollment on the ACA’s public exchanges, brokers say the biggest problem is getting a hold of certain carriers, and one in particular rose to the top of the list of complaints.

Employers are making creative changes to employee benefit offerings to stem the tide of rising health care costs, but many are taking a wait-and-see approach to private exchanges, according to presenters at MetLife’s 10th National Benefits Symposium Monday.

Employers tend not to change their benefits programs quickly, and the Cadillac Tax is only three more open enrollments away. It might be tempting to wait, but those who evolve their plan designs now have more time to educate and engage their employees on these programs.

Investment committee, benefit committee, annual meetings … Do your clients know what their plan documents promise? Here’s why they should.

Opposing the ACA's contraceptive coverage rule, Hobby Lobby is asking the Supreme Court to give for-profit corporations the same religious freedoms as individuals, with potentially sweeping rights to opt out of laws they say are immoral.

Forty-five percent of employers have implemented or plan to consider using a private exchange for their full-time active employees before 2018, according to a new employer survey conducted by the Private Exchange Evaluation Collaborative

A snapshot of Obamacare enrollment in seven states suggests the law hasn’t significantly increased competition in health insurance markets, the Kaiser Family Foundation reported. Meanwhile, HHS said Monday enrollment has reached 5 million as the March 31 deadline is just two weeks away.

The number of employers contributing to health savings accounts or health reimbursement arrangements continues to grow, with 71% of employees reporting contributions from their employers in 2013, according to a new report by the Employee Benefit Research Institute.

New research from the Commonwealth Fund suggests that small business owners should consider the Small Business Health Options Program as a means to navigate the choppy waters in this post-Affordable Care Act world through competitive choice.