Employee benefits

Consumers cite complex language, lack of time as roadblocks to making a purchase, study finds.

Corporate spending on wellness programs is surging, but motivating employees to use them continues to be a rather expensive struggle. There are lots of reasons for this, but a really unfortunate one is bad timing.

One-on-one coaching, auto features are keys to saving for the future.

Anthem Inc., the second-biggest U.S. health insurer, said it’s going to take about 10 to 14 days to figure out who was affected by a data breach and begin notifying those people.

The most common vector of cyberattack is still poor habits by associates, says Joseph Smith, former CIO of Arkansas Blue Cross and Blue Shield.

Not all corporate data breaches are of the spectacular variety that health insurer Anthem recently announced, involving 80 million members. But any company that offers a wellness program needs to take special precautions to ensure employee health information doesn’t fall into the wrong hands.

For some employers the move to a private exchange is as much about the role of benefits as an attraction and retention strategy as it is about saving money over the long term.

Broker information was not compromised as part of a cyber-attack on Anthem’s IT system and the carrier says it is working with brokers to assist and inform their clients about the breach.

Commentary: Step up your game or your clients may choose to become your competitors, says the head of Pittsburgh Business Group on Health

The distribution model for employee benefits is changing, and adapting to the rapidly developing landscape presents new questions and challenges for all players.

Good recordkeeping is important to avoid paying for benefits for ineligible recipients.

The information compromised includes names, birthdates, Social Security numbers, street and e-mail addresses and employee data, including income, Anthem said.

As traditional defined benefit plans go the way of the dinosaur and 401(k) plans take their place, plan sponsors should keep an eye on the next 15 years as the first generation of workers who will rely most on their 401(k)s to fund their retirements begin to turn 65.

Benefit Advisors Network partners with exchange firm to help clients get coverage for benefit-ineligible employees.

Significant numbers of Americans, and therefore employees, are stressing about their financial situation at a level deemed “too high” by the American Psychological Association.

It may still be too soon to tell how widespread wearable fitness trackers will become in corporate wellness programs but for Phoenix Companies, a life insurance and annuity company based in Hartford, Conn., wearable wellness is anything but a fad.

Time Inc. joins the ranks of big-name companies using a private exchange for active employees. The company has selected Towers Watson’s OneExchange to deliver medical, prescription drug, dental and vision benefits to its full-time active employees and their dependents for the 2015 year.

The addition of a Roth in-plan conversion feature to a company's 401(k) plan may be viewed by executives as an important tax planning tool.

An emerging company policy known as “unlimited vacation” or “unlimited PTO” (paid time-off) is gaining headlines again. What is unlimited vacation? Why are companies implementing it? And what are its pros and cons?

Commentary: Bundled MEC plans insure workers while helping employers avoid new penalties, says Sam Fleet.