Cash balance plans are becoming increasingly popular with small businesses as well as Fortune 500 companies, says Dan Kravitz, president and CEO of Kravitz, Inc., an independent firm of retirement consultants headquartered in Southern California.

Ordering fewer tests and prescribing fewer antibiotics will not only curb health care spending, but also improve the quality of primary care, a large group of U.S. doctors said Monday.

Despite the widely held belief that younger investors have become tremendously risk-averse due to the economic crisis, Vanguard is finding that younger investors have increased their equity exposure considerably.

This summer, health improvement company Healthways plans to launch premium software that will help employees take many daily steps toward a healthier lifestyle.

Looking for hospital ratings on the Internet or in magazines may not serve patients' best interests, with so-called "50 Best Hospitals" not necessarily any better than other medical institutions, a study said.

Health information exchange -- a process that aims to simplify and improve patient care by connecting doctors and hospitals -- hasn't been catching on as fast as policymakers hoped, a new survey finds.

Despite the known benefits of flexible work schedules, employers are reluctant to grant the flexibility to employees, and the employees are afraid to take advantage of it, according to a new study from WorldatWork and WFD Consulting.

U.S. health insurers will have to justify big premium rate hikes under new rules issued by the U.S. Health and Human Service Department on Thursday.

Willis Re created a new group to provide those in the life insurance and annuity market with advice on risk mitigation and financial leverage, the reinsurance unit of the London insurance brokerage Willis Group Holdings P.L.C.

Allstate Corp., already the second-largest U.S. auto insurer, said on Wednesday it would expand into online sales by buying Esurance from White Mountains Insurance Group for about $1 billion.

Many investors are unaware of the options available for their 401(k) account left with a previous employer, Fidelity Investments found. Nearly one-third (30%) who made a job transition are unsure of what to do with their workplace retirement savings.

Expensive new cancer drugs, treating increasing numbers of patients, could drive up cancer drug spending by as much as 15% a year through 2013, according to the newly released 2011 Medco Drug Trend Report, which tracks drug utilization and spending.

As employers shift to an employee-driven benefits model, plan participants’ perceived value and satisfaction in their benefits are declining, according to Prudential’s fifth annual “Study of Employee Benefits: Today & Beyond.”

Health care is a highly regulated industry, but medical imaging isn't as regulated as one might expect. Most of the regulations center around breast imaging, which was recognized nearly two decades ago as an area that needed to be standardized and regulated at the federal level.

Electronic prescriptions among U.S. office-based prescribers increased 71% to 326 million in 2010, compared with 190 million the previous year, according to an annual progress report from e-prescribing network vendor Surescripts.

American Westbrook Insurance Services, LLC, a subsidiary of Hendricks Holding Company, Inc., has acquired substantially all of the assets of The American Worker Plans, Inc., expanding the services available through its benefit wholesale division.

GreenWood International Insurance Services, Inc., a Massachusetts based managing general underwriter, announced they have been acquired by Pan-American Life Insurance Group, a leading provider of life and health insurance in Latin America and the U.S. Hispanic market.

Most states likely will run their own medical insurance marketplaces or partner with neighbors to help expand coverage under the federal health overhaul, U.S. Health Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said on Wednesday.

The annual Milliman Medical Index (MMI) contains some grim tidings for health insurers and others concerned by the rising cost of health care, as for the fourth straight year, costs rose by at least 7%.

AXA Equitable Life Insurance Company has introduced a structured investment option for its EQUI-VEST® series of variable deferred annuities available to employer-sponsored retirement savings plans.