Employee benefits

President Obama’s plan, outlined in his State of the Union address, makes an enormous impact on a declining middle-class as well as the working poor.

In State of the Union, the president says he won’t ‘refight past battles’ on the ACA

Lack of transparency and confusion for plan participants are just two reasons white-labeling 401(k) plan investments is a bad idea.

Altering the health care law is one priority for Sen. Hatch this year, the committee chairman said in a speech outlining his 2015 agenda.

President Obama will use tonight’s State of the Union address to revive previously announced proposals intended both to spur greater retirement savings and to limit retirement plan tax benefits for higher income earners.

Regulatory changes continue to challenge health and life insurance carriers to meet new market demands and stay competitive. Benefit advisers also looking to remain relevant should watch closely carrier reaction to these key issues in 2015.

It was just a year ago that VSP Global and Google, Inc. teamed up to offer Google Glass prescription lenses and frames at a subsidized price. But Google Glass’s announcement last week that it was halting sales of the product raises questions about VSP’s future role.

This relatively inexpensive voluntary benefit is not only highly-appreciated by employees, it can act as a differentiator in a benefit adviser’s sales portfolio.

Growth of high-deductible health plans continues to outpace other medical plan types – even in the face of lower employer contributions to health savings accounts.

Commentary: Boomers are redefining what it means to be aging in the workforce, and redefining senior benefits in the process.

Potential fixes to Affordable Care Act exchange enrollment and tweaks to the law itself are recommended by industry insiders at Washington panel.

Commentary: Research shows that three quarters of health care costs are related to the lifestyle choices of human beings. Adviser Joseph Appelbaum shares his D.C. firm’s cost-cutting success story.

Employer-sponsored health insurance premiums grew more slowly in 31 states and the District of Columbia between 2010 and 2013, following passage of the Affordable Care Act, but they still grew more quickly than household incomes.

Marilyn Tavenner, head of the U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services — the agency largely behind the rollout of the Affordable Care Act —plans to step down at the end of February, she told her staff in an email Friday.

Mid-sized and larger organizations are still struggling with at least three key ACA compliance requirements: exchange notice management, annual health care reporting and penalty management.

President Barack Obama Thursday pushed for programs that would help states develop paid leave programs for childbirth and adoption, as well as fund Labor Department feasibility studies on paid leave.

In a defined contribution world, cash balance plans continue to gain popularity, study says.

Stay current with this checklist of 2015 contribution limits for retirement and health care benefit plans.

Commentary: Post-Affordable Care Act increases should be setting off fiscal alarms, says Frenkel Benefits’ Craig Hasday, who predicts more expansion to come.

Commentary: Half of HR managers don’t know how to help employees return to work from a disability, according to research from The Standard.