Client strategies

Rising health care costs are driving employers to audit their covered dependents to eliminate working spouses.

Benefits and risk management consulting firm Laurus Strategies launches a private exchange consulting practice to help employers identify vendors and determine the feasibility of moving to a private exchange.

Commentary: The Catalyst for Payment Reform scored each state on its level of health care cost transparency — 29 received an F, only two scored an A. Transparency of health care cost and quality must be the founding principle of sustainable change, says Borislow Insurance’s Mark Gaunya.

At a Republican think tank-sponsored forum on Thursday, congressmen from the right touted a patient and doctor-focused fix to health reform, but remain split on whether to repeal or make piecemeal changes to the Affordable Care Act. They also voiced concerns about employees’ ability to make ends meet as a consequence of the law.

As Healthcare.gov procrastinators gear up for the nail-biting final weeks of 2014 enrollment, some lucky part-time or seasonal workers will be able to ride the coattails of their employer’s customized portal for assistance.

A potential loophole in the Affordable Care Act could spell trouble for the HIX marketplace if enough group health plans are able to steer sicker employee populations to public exchanges while holding onto healthier lives.

Republicans' alternative to the ACA, the Patient Choice, Affordability, Responsibility and Empowerment Act, would do away with exchanges and include a cap on employer-provided health insurance that working Americans could exclude from their taxable income.

More than 820,000 people have selected a Covered California health insurance plan through the Golden State’s public marketplace through the first two weeks of February, exceeding the state’s open enrollment goal through March 31 of 700,000 enrollees for 2014, officials said Wednesday.

Commentary: A recap of the compliance issues that lie ahead for brokers and plan sponsors in 2014, which EBA Advisory Board member George Lane of Mercer says are making things a lot more complicated.

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.

Monday's IRS decision to allow some smaller employers even more time to comply with the ACA's employer mandate has some in the industry applauding, others frustrated.

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

AOL Inc. blamed President Barack Obama’s health care law for its plan to reduce spending on contributions to employees’ 401(k) retirement plans.

Humana Inc. said it has received 202,000 applications for health insurance through the Obamacare exchanges and reaffirmed its 2014 forecast citing better-than-expected Medicare membership growth.

Commentary: The other shoe dropped on Tuesday and columnist Craig Davidson isn't shocked.

Obamacare will reduce the total number of hours Americans work by the equivalent of 2 million full-time jobs in 2017, mostly among low-wage earners, the Congressional Budget Office said.

A Kaiser Family Foundation poll released Thursday shows Americans’ bad perception of the ACA is near an all-time high. Meanwhile, brokers’ negativity about their ability to do their jobs on the exchanges has subsided.

Employers and human resource professionals looking to get ahead of the benefits and health care reform game should take a note of a new free survey in the works by McGraw Wentworth.

From actual call center data glitches to hard-to-define input, brokers across the country on both the state and federal exchanges expect to be shorted for their work enrolling participants during the Affordable Care Act’s first open enrollment period.

Keeping employees satisfied is ‘about to get significantly more difficult’ for your employer clients. Here’s how to make it easier for them.