Employee benefits

Commentary: Benefits professionals may understand concepts like self-insurance and network discounts, but how effectively are they communicating them to health plan participants?

For employers, retention is now the main objective of providing benefits, according to MetLife’s annual employee benefit trends study, which found that employees want more choice and education about the coverage that’s offered.

As technology and health care become more intertwined, a visit to the doctor can be as easy as a touch of an app. UnitedHealthcare Thursday announced an expansion of telehealth coverage options for virtual physician visits.

Prescription drug prices continue to rise in 2015, compelling employers and their advisers to take action through innovative plan designs.

More employers are moving to a holistic benefits education approach that addresses health care and retirement savings at the same time.

Generic pharmaceuticals have maintained their “laggard” status compared to branded and specialty drugs with respect to rising prices.

Commentary: To better serve millennials, the financial services community and 401(k) plan sponsors need to better understand the motivations of the typical member of this generation.

Democrats and Republicans support repealing the tax, which will affect a disproportionate number of Americans, and is likely to miss its revenue projections, experts say.

It seems that everyone has a smart phone or a tablet and I can’t think of anyone I know who does not have internet access at home. Consequently, plan sponsors ask all the time if they can just e-mail plan documents to employees to satisfy the notice requirements, or maybe just post new plan documents on the company intranet. Recent legal actions serve as a reminder that the short answer to the question is no.

A California-based startup is offering employers a new benefit program that enables workers to access low-cost credit and one-on-one financial coaching.

Commentary: The Department of Labor's new proposed fiduciary regulations have caused quite a stir in the retirement plan community. A frequently asked question is who, exactly, will be affected, and who won't be.

Employees report increased confidence in retirement readiness with lifetime income options, but few utilize such plans when offered by employers. Advisers can help match interest with engagement.

Big data is playing an increasingly larger role in benefits strategic planning and if a broker, health plan and employer work together, the opportunities for using such data to lower costs and increase well-being can be realized.

Assurant Health announced this week it will be sold or shut down by the end of 2016, a move the parent company attributes to million-dollar losses as a result of the ACA.

There are a number of reasons why employees leave their jobs — they’re bored and unchallenged, they don't get recognition for their work, they have a strained relationship with their manager — but they are all related to a single problem.

Retirement account balances reached a record high $91,800 in the first quarter of 2015, and more than 1 million people increased the rate at which they are putting money aside for the future.

The Internal Revenue Service needs to do better at ensuring that health insurance policy issuers and self-insured plan sponsors pay a fee required under the Affordable Care Act known as the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research fee, according to a new government report.

Three plan sponsors share their inventive – and sometimes controversial – strategies for getting employees more deeply involved in retirement savings.

The parent company of Assurant Health said Tuesday it will sell or shut down the Milwaukee health insurer by the end of next year.

Wellness programs have been at the forefront of employers’ minds, and in light of the recent Equal Employment Opportunity Commission’s aim to tackle the questions lingering on what plan sponsors can or cannot do, employees are voicing a disconnect in wellness program engagement.