Employee benefits

While 401(k) plans may not be the perfect retirement plan vehicle, they do have a number of important attributes that most probably take for granted.

A randomized controlled trial found that users of the SmartQuit program, created by Seattle-based 2Morrow, Inc., were 2.5 to three times more likely to quit smoking than those who tried to quit on their own. The program will be offered through employers, health plans and states.

Perhaps the hottest trend in benefits right now is the exchange distribution model. In EBA’s ongoing series of discussions with heads of the country’s top brokerages, these leaders share their approach to the exchange system and how they see private exchanges impacting the future of benefits.

This Thanksgiving, before you enjoy a few days off with family, friends, and a mountain of turkey, make sure you show one group of people just how thankful you are for them: your employees.

What health, retirement, technology, voluntary, and wellness issues will benefit professionals be wrestling with next year? The editors of Employee Benefit Adviser and Employee Benefit News have put together a web seminar series with top benefit experts to offer insights on the biggest 2015 trends.

No short-term effects are expected from House GOP’s ACA subsidy lawsuit, but industry experts expect long-term implications on presidential authority and upcoming elections.

HHS is proposing to make some significant changes to the rules governing the Affordable Care Act, including a shortened time period for open enrollment and training requirements for brokers and agents.

Prenatal and postpartum care programs are not only a benefit for employees who are expecting, they can also help employers avoid unnecessary costs related to preterm births.

Wizened consumers who are able to analyze their entire out-of-pocket exposure. That’s the goal of ConnectedHealth’s private exchange, says Joe Donlan, the company’s president. However, he predicts that increased consumer engagement is just part of the wave toward more employers adopting private exchanges. Donlan shares his view on where the industry is headed and how brokers fit into the exchange system.

Smartphone-enabled transportation vendor Uber, in partnership with Vaccine Finder, has expanded its pilots of home-delivered flu prevention packets and free flu vaccinations, to Chicago after an "overwhelming" response to similar pilots in New York, Boston, and Washington, D.C.

U.S. House Republicans made good on a vote to sue the Obama administration over implementation of the 2010 health-care law with a lawsuit naming the Department of Health and Human Services and the Treasury as defendants in what they claim to be a case of constitutional overreach.

If brokers and human resources departments worked together, it would bring “peace and harmony” to a difficult process, says Trisha Zulic, of Efficient Edge. But with two strong personalities often unwilling to listen to each other, it creates conflict, she says. Watch as Zulic explains why brokers need to reach out first and listen to their clients – and what that can lead to.

This week, EBN dove into the current trends and future of what benefit managers need to do their jobs. Many are budgeting a boost in spending to get the latest and greatest tools to increase engagement and streamline functionality. Here you can find a detailed recap, highlighting key findings from our tech week coverage.

Tailoring a voluntary benefits plan to better suit the very different needs of workers with entirely different generational goals and objectives can be challenging, but the payoff is better participation.

The IRS plans to close a major loophole in the ACA by banning employers who offer ‘skinny’ medical plans without hospitalization coverage from qualifying as minimum value plans under the health reform law.

Depending on plan design, some employers may need to adopt year-end amendments to comply with recent federal changes that recognize same-sex marriages as a legal union for benefit purposes.

The Obama administration said it erroneously calculated the number of people with health coverage under the Affordable Care Act, incorrectly adding 380,000 dental subscribers to raise the total above 7 million.

A majority of employers – regardless of workforce size – are planning to keep their health plan coverage going into next year as the Affordable Care Act’s employer mandate takes effect.

Health insurance industry has lowest satisfaction rating in nearly a decade, report says.

Sound investment advice is hard to come by. Here are four ways to tell if you and your investment committee are getting good investment advice from your adviser.