Commentary: EBA columnist Nelson Griswold says benefits RFPs are universally awful and HR should abandon them. Advisers, he says, should also be wary of them.

Public health insurance exchange decision support tools improved somewhat in year two open enrollment compared to year one, but still have a way to go, research shows.

Proposed rate increases for 2016 health insurance coverage that a dozen carriers will sell on Covered California’s state-run exchange will be just 4% compared to the 4.2% rise approved for 2015.

While the HR tech platform Zenefits offers a solution that addresses certain employer pain points, it also asks employers to dump their current broker. A new tech solution promises the same benefits without asking employers to sever their current broker relationship.

Some have compared the changes in health care to the changes that occurred in the retirement industry 30 years ago when companies switched from pension plans to 401(k) plans and put the responsibility on consumers to pick investments. But George Tzinas, chief experience officer at BenefitAlign, says it is not the same.

Republican presidential candidate Scott Walker stitched together a series of popular conservative health care ideas in his newly unveiled ACA replacement plan Tuesday.

Warnings of billions in crippling costs and TV attack ads are the latest salvos from opponents of the Labor Department's fiduciary rule after hearings closed last week. The industry's newest claim is that independent firms could get hit with a bill tallying up to $3.9 billion in startup costs alone should the rule go into effect.

Class action lawsuits claim the professional services firm breached its fiduciary duty by agreeing to the $18 billion deal.

The uninsured rate in the United States is at one of the lowest points since tracking began, and in states with state-based exchanges the uninsured rate is lower than those using the federal marketplace. But is there enough incentive for brokers to continue to play a vital role in exchange enrollment?

Commentary: Reinforcing a simple three-step approach can help your clients connect employees working through a mental health condition with the assistance they need.

For a private exchange to be successful, it needs to offer a full service solution in a box, says David Holton, vice president of private exchange business development at HealthPlan Services. His Tampa, Fla.-based company’s My Consumer Link is an individual exchanges for group brokers to offer. These brokers, Holton says, don’t want to walk away from the money of the individual sales, but don’t have the time to commit to it.

Commentary: Specific innovations in benefits administration software are paving the way and supplying the technological framework to a future primarily based in cyberspace rather than buildings filled with people.

Commentary: Employee leave is right in the middle of policy and business management discussions. Benefit managers would be wise to get ahead of the curve.

Commentary: Many employers feel that the Americans with Disabilities Act is burdensome, but that burden is the reality, and employers have to accept their responsibility to meet it. Here are five tips to help employers with ADA compliance.

As private exchange technology providers are acquired, some brokers question what happens downstream to firms they partnered with. Along with the acquisitions, some brokers are not yet seeing a return on investment from their exchange, so what are their long-term plans?

After four days of public hearings, in which dozens of participants weighed in, the Labor Department is one step closer to implementing a new fiduciary standard, the scope of which heartens supporters and troubles critics.

Employers have some decisions to make regarding coverage for spouses and domestic partners following the Obergefell ruling. If there are any modifications to a policy, it’s crucial they’re reflected in the plan document and that employees and TPAs are informed about such changes.

Public exchange plan participants spent less money on medications in the first quarter of 2015 than the first quarter of 2014 amid changes in the demographic mix of enrollees, according to newly released data from Express Scripts Holding Company.

Commentary: As you grow and hone your craft, you should feel the privilege and obligation to limit those who get your attention, for your own benefit as well as the clients’, says columnist Wendy Keneipp.

The federal health insurance marketplace may have issued subsides to persons not eligible to receive them during the first open enrollment period, a new report from the Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of the Inspector General has found.