Employee benefits

Although the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2014 ruling in the Burwell v Hobby Lobby Stores case addressed in broad terms how exceptions to the Affordable Care Act’s mandate for contraceptive benefits coverage can be granted in the private sector, it left some unresolved questions both in the for-profit and in the nonprofit world.

A win for King would have economic benefits for both individuals and employers, according to one think tank.

Commentary: The midpoint of the tax year is almost upon us, and many still have work to do to prepare for the new IRS 1094-C and 1095-C filings.

For 22 years, she has ‘worked tirelessly on our behalf with acumen that is unmatched.’

Commentary: When executed efficiently, this strategy can bring a variety of benefits, says AmWINS’s Sam Fleet.

The surge of small 401(k) account balances is the result of a perfect storm — increasing rates of adoption for automatic enrollment combined with the high frequency of job changes observed in today’s mobile workforce.

Is your PBM contract up for renewal? Here’s what you need to know.

Brokers need to change the conversations they are having with clients away from the Affordable Care Act and toward other topics, including voluntary, since little will change with the law until the next presidential inauguration, a carrier rep says.

Health care consumers in some parts of the U.S. may face higher premiums next year if some insurers struggle to cover their costs and Congress continues to require that the risk-corridors program established under the ACA be self-sustaining.

DC plan sponsors that take pains to secure competitive institutional pricing for their retirement plans’ investment services to maximize retirement savings for active employees may also have an incentive to do so for retirees.

CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield first learned in May 2014 of malware on an information system that was hacked a month later, according to two health information security consultants. But the Blues plan apparently did not realize the malware was not completely eradicated and the system was hacked a month later.

Commentary: Expatriate health plans are — here are key definitions and relief as well as the recent IRS guidance on calculations for the 2014 and 2015 fee years.

Commentary: Providing accommodations for workers will disabilities can help reduce employee absenteeism and presenteeism, the type of productivity loss associated with employees working through medical conditions.

The recent Supreme Court decision in Tibble v. Edison, though largely favorable to plaintiffs, does contain one silver lining for plan sponsors.

They're more common than ever, but some company initiatives don’t have the intended effect.

CVS Health Corp., the biggest U.S. retailer of prescription drugs, agreed to acquire nursing-home pharmacy Omnicare Inc. for a total enterprise value of $12.7 billion.

Most disabilities, on average, can keep an employee out of work for roughly three months, and yet, only about a quarter of employees say they currently have disability insurance.

It’s not enough to simply post a summary plan description on an employer’s intranet to satisfy the ERISA requirement that such information be “furnished” to plan participants.

Covered California’s Small Employer Health Options Program (SHOP) is growing, but a private-sector competitor to the state-run HIX is growing even faster.

Commentary: While an employee assistance program may be promoted to employees when it’s launched, it quickly becomes lost in the collection of employee benefits and is rarely utilized. To maximize its value, ask whether your prospective vendor includes some of the following services.