Critical illness insurance covers more diseases than in the past and is increasingly marketed as a financial protection product.

LIMRA reports that 47% of employers with 2-99 employees offer benefits, the lowest level in 20 years.

Ignorance will not be bliss come October when state and federal exchanges begin enrolling individuals and small-employer groups.

Opioid abuse and physician dispensing of repackaged drugs top the list of concerns for PBMs that handle workers’ compensation claims.

Two new FDA-approved weight loss drugs help patients lose weight but only in conjunction with diet and exercise.

Some 29 states have so-called lifestyle laws that protect smokers’ rights.

Most pharmacy benefit managers don’t use warning systems to flag high use or potential abuse of narcotics. But you can, with a good eye and simple calculator.

Enlist your broker as a partner toe help you stay on top of health care reform rules and regulations, writes Contributing Editor Laurie Miller.

Behavioral psychology plays a key role in crafting meaningful and effective employee recognition programs.

A recent study finds wide variety between the lowest and highest charges for 10 common conditions, highlighting the unpredictability of health care costs.

Only 6% of those surveyed by Aon Hewitt plan to exit employer-sponsored health care entirely, but around 28% are eyeing the next three to five years for a move to a private health care exchange.

A glass-half-full crowd of benefits brokers and agents – that could be the theme of this year’s National Association of Health Underwriters Capitol Conference. The organization concluded its three day lobbying stint Wednesday with a morning of discussion panels on health reform, remarks from a Republican congresswoman, a talk with a representative from Centers for Medicare and Medicaid and an address from NAHU’s president.

Buck Consultants announced this week that it would be starting a private health care exchange while Liazon unveiled a new web partnership to support its own.

MetLife polled hundreds of human resource and benefits professionals about legal services in a voluntary package, and the top reason given among those who make the offering is improving employee satisfaction (69%).

Many employer plan sponsors are expressing a high level of interest in adding Roth 401(k) in-plan conversions as an option to their 401(k) plans in 2013. The recently passed Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012 made it possible for retirement plan participants to convert existing 401(k) plan balances to Roth 401(k) balances, whether or not the participant is distribution eligible.

Lawmakers, nonprofit groups address gathering of benefit advisers to discuss brokers’ role in health care reform.

The answer to that question is still fuzzy. That’s because while the Department of Health and Human Services has confirmed to Employee Benefit News that health reimbursement arrangements and health savings accounts will be offered on the public exchanges, the organization still hasn’t released the details and regulations surrounding these accounts.

“Those with an income shortfall are far more likely to be low-income, low-asset households, and they spend down their liquid assets at a far faster rate than households that do not have an income shortfall,” says one expert with the Employee Benefit Research Institute.

Mercer is one of the latest companies to enter the private exchange game, and the consulting giant gave employers an opportunity to check out the service during a conference call Thursday. Company executives revealed some of those specifics during the call, especially during the Q&A period for the audience.

Even companies who have no interest in getting involved with a public health care exchange for active employees might help steer their pre-65 retirees toward the marketplace, experts with Fidelity Investments said Thursday.