Benefit plan design

Over the next three to five years, the Affordable Care Act will likely have little impact on the health of the employed population as employers report they will continue to offer health care benefits. However, a large share will find ways to reduce costs through new approaches for the retiree population, according to a new survey from Aon Hewitt.

The president of the NBGH, who is retiring this spring, shares her thoughts about health reform and the future of employer-sponsored health coverage.

The dissatisfaction, disappointment and frustration with launch of the federal health insurance exchange could be expected, especially with the constantly elevating level of consumer expectations for e-commerce and other online systems. Meanwhile, the number of private exchanges continues to grow and are in a very good position to succeed.

A group of Republican representatives on the House Energy and Commerce Committee are demanding answers from the U.S. Treasury about the decision-making process behind the latest delay to the Affordable Care Act’s employer mandate.

From ignoring chronic disease to failing to align vendor and employer goals, defined-contribution health strategies through private exchanges are not right for every employer.

Fewer people are getting their primary health insurance coverage through their employers, according to a Gallup Poll released Wednesday, which also reported the number of uninsured Americans has reached a five-year low.

President Barack Obama said a delay until 2016 in his health care mandate for mid-sized employers is an adjustment that doesn’t undermine the law.

The Bright Choices Exchange is designed to offer ancillary benefits and access to mid-sized and large employers nationwide.

Brokers from Arkansas to Florida to New York lament that the Affordable Care Act’s SHOP exchanges are undesirable targets to steer their clients to, leaving some independent agents who focused their businesses on individual public exchange enrollment in the lurch come March 31.

As the dust settles over the Affordable Care Act and employees get used to operating in the post-ACA world, plan sponsors find themselves in somewhat of a holding pattern with regards to their pharmacy benefits. But strategic decisions are still in play about whether or not employers are going to provide traditional benefit plans once the employer mandate goes into effect in 2015 or send workers to public or private exchanges.

Health plans allowed to continue in 2014 though they don’t comply with new Obamacare rules may be extended for as long as three years, Aetna Inc. Chief Executive Officer Mark Bertolini told investors.

As Cigna this week became one of the first insurers to announce its own online marketplace — amid countless others created by brokers, consultants and tech firms — some say the definition of this concept has become muddied.

Health insurers under pressure to keep premiums low are eliminating some hospitals from coverage in a cost-cutting strategy that threatens to freeze out centers that provide specialized care, limiting patient options.

A handful of recent guidance items that the Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and Treasury have issued make some important changes related to the regulation of “excepted benefits.” These changes are driven in large part by the insurance market reforms and other provisions of the Affordable Care Act (ACA). For the most part, these changes should be welcomed by both employers and employees as they endeavor to comply with the ACA.

Insurers participating in Obamacare may have to expand their plans to include more federally funded health clinics, safety-net hospitals and other medical providers used by low-income people, under a U.S. proposal.

A recent Federal Court decision turned back a potentially debilitating challenge to the Affordable Care Act’s rules governing premium subsidies. The decision, Halbig v. Sebelius, has consequences for large employers, i.e., those that are subject to the Act’s employer shared responsibility or “pay-or-play” rules.

Premiums for health plans on new state exchanges under the Affordable Care Act are comparable to – and in some cases lower than – those being offered by employers with similar levels of coverage, according to a study released Thursday by PricewaterhouseCooper’s Health Research Institute.

Google said Tuesday that it will work with VSP Global to offer its Google Glass prescription lenses and frames at a subsidized price.

Republican U.S. senators opposed to Obamacare said the best alternative would be a narrower system of tax credits for Americans to buy health insurance without any of the mandates for people or companies to participate.

The ACA has been roundly criticized for its lack of cost-containment provisions But one Princeton University academic maintains that cost-containment cannot be implemented simultaneously with universal-coverage measures.