Employee benefits

The funded status of all U.S. multiemployer pension plans dropped from 81% at the end of 2013 to 80% at the end of last year.

Earning less money and a lack of financial knowledge make saving more difficult for women, who are turning to advisers for help, research shows.

Commentary: All retirement plan sponsors should be working with investment advisers who have signed on to their plan as fiduciaries.

It’s time to talk about something that most benefits professionals have left on the backburner for the last couple of years: the impending Cadillac tax.

Like the Obama administration, agency chair calls for a new regulation that would make brokers put the interests of their clients ahead of their own.

Although employee “well-being” programs remain highly popular, few employers actually have a strategy behind them.

The departments of Labor, Treasury and Health and Human Services today published final rules amending the definition of excepted benefits to include certain limited coverage that wraps around individual health insurance.

Premera Blue Cross, serving the Northwest and Alaska, was hacked beginning last May, and even more sensitive data was exposed than in the Anthem hack.

Like the recycling of paper, glass and plastic, the recycling of retirement savings through automated portability benefits everyone and is easy to implement.

Commentary: CMS has issued a special enrollment period for certain individuals to sign up for health care coverage on the exchanges. Blogger Craig Hasday wonders if the administration's leniency is also hurting its credibility.

Worksite clinics and private exchanges might appear to be mutually exclusive approaches to rising cost pressures, yet they can be integrated to achieve the same goal – improved health outcomes and lower health care cost trend.

Controlling rising health care costs is crucial for all employers, and conducting regular dependent eligibility audits can help.

Mid-year enrollment of voluntary benefits is gaining popularity, but benefit experts caution the strategy is not right for everyone.

The wide range of 401(k) plan fees paid by small plan sponsors and participants might be indicative of the opportunity many such sponsors have to trim those expenses.

Increased utilization of EAP and wellness services, the emergence of fatigue management programs and more demand for mobile health applications are a few of the predictions for this year, according to Chestnut Global Partners.

Novartis’ Zarxio is the first biosimilar product approved in the United States, ushering in a new era for the drug industry, consumers and third parties who manage medical and drug benefits.

Commentary: True employee engagement comes from understanding the decision-making process and the broker’s critical, proactive role, says columnist Nelson Griswold.

How many of your employees will be short of money in retirement if they ignore the prospect of requiring long-term care? Answer: All of them.

As many as 90,000 Sears employees are finding it easier to shop for health care, are savvier about their coverage choices and finally understand the meaning of value since the 129-year-old retailer switched to a private health insurance exchange three years ago.

Commentary: Follow these formulas to drive participant outcomes as employers look to help employees save for retirement by helping them get to a higher savings rate.