Employee benefits

The push for accountable care organizations is driven in large part by the Affordable Care Act and its emphasis on quality care and downward pressure on overall health costs. But how viable are they, and should your organization consider using one?

If there was a most-improved public HIX award, Maryland Health Connection certainly would be in the running for such an honor. Nearly twice as many state residents enrolled for 2015 in half as much time compared to the previous year.

Numerous lawsuits have been filed against employer-sponsored retirement plans in the past few years because plan participants are getting more savvy about things like fees and fiduciary duty, thanks in part to the Department of Labor’s recent focus on both issues.

The “profoundly evil” impression the fastest growing small-group employee benefit brokerage in the country has made on some firms is wrong, says Zenefits’ Parker Conrad. The outspoken CEO shares where Zenefits is headed — and why he wants you to work for him.

Commentary: The loyalty and bonds of the fire department can translate well into a successful insurance culture, says retired fire fighter, Colonial's Brian Summers.

Commentary: From mournful reflection to birthday celebration, the bottom line is your attitude about health reform affects your clients, says David C. Smith

As American workers are increasingly looking to a new range of employer-sponsored retirement products to help guarantee some securely funded golden years, they may be missing out on the advantages of a system they’ve paid into their entire working lives.

Over the past eight years, 13 pending or settled cases have accused companies of failing to act in the best interests of employees participating in 401(k) retirement plans. In the midst of this, how can employers be sure their retirement funds are safe?

In recent years, a number of states have begun toying with the idea of creating their own retirement systems to help smaller employers provide workers rudimentary retirement savings opportunities.

Commentary: Critical considerations that make a stop-loss plan successful for clients of all sizes, according to Sun Life’s Brad Nieland.

The still-under-development federal fiduciary standard for retirement advisers has many in the industry genuinely concerned about their ability to continue to serve both employers and individual American savers.

A fiduciary’s decisions around the investment plan menus should be less about what other plans offer, and more about what is in plan participants’ best interests.

Fewer than one in five American workers are contributing to traditional individual retirement accounts, with many pointing to a lack in financial confidence to afford such contributions as one of the biggest reasons for not investing.

The fight over the Affordable Care Act in Washington is as fierce as ever, with a Republican budget plan that would repeal the health care law Democrats passed five years ago. In the rest of the country, opposition to the law appears to be easing.

An Affordable Care Act-fueled surge in self-insurance for medical benefits among smaller employers appears to have leveled off somewhat, but not due to any disenchantment with the cost-management strategy.

A lack of understanding about the benefits of having both an individual retirement account and a 401(k) or 403(b) may help explain why some Americans are not contributing or considering an IRA as part of their retirement strategy.

Commentary: Employers who start revising their FMLA policies to address this change should also use it as an opportunity to review their benefit plan language to make sure it accurately reflects the updated definition.

Recent guidance from the National Labor Relations Board includes details about the types of employer policies and rules likely to be considered to unlawfully interfere with employees’ rights.

California's struggling to pay for health care for retired state employees, with an estimated $72 billion in medical costs coming in the next 30 years. Gov. Jerry Brown's solution: Make workers start contributing money to pay for the health care they'll need after retiring.

Aflac says it will now pay out certain voluntary benefit claims in one business day, an announcement that industry experts say will likely force competitors to follow suit.