Employee benefits

More employers are offering products like roadside assistance and telemedicine to their employees, as well as new voluntary offerings not seen before.

Delaying health plan renewals appears to be the new normal under the Affordable Care Act, especially for small businesses.

The employer mandate will be in effect for many employers in a matter of weeks. And one thing is certain; the most detrimental compliance strategy is to deny the need to comply. Here’s how to help your clients avoid some of the more common ACA compliance mistakes.

The Supreme Court is slated to hear the Tibble v. Edison case in 2015, which promises to be a landmark ruling for the corporate retirement space.

Following the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling in United States v. Windsor, and subsequent guidance from the federal government, legal advisers recommend that employers sift through their benefit plans and employee policies to ensure compliance for 2015.

Take a look around the benefits discussion table at many employers these days and you’ll see a wide variety of faces. With clients increasingly tying their benefits strategy to the other departments at their businesses, it’s no surprise that top brokers in the U.S. are taking a closer look at their own company structures in the process.

Voluntary benefits have experienced significant growth in recent years, a trend that brokers and carriers are hoping continues in the coming year.

Commentary: With so much happening at year’s end and again at the beginning of the New Year, columnist John Ludwig shares what plan sponsors be working on.

Low cost, no minimum investment and daily trading are reasons for their increased use over the past 10 years.

How can employers get more out of their wellness programs without also growing their budgets?

Historically, financial planners have advised that retirees could expect to derive their retirement income from three sources: Social Security, corporate retirement plans and personal savings. That might not be the case anymore.

Employers will devote more mind share to retirement programs in the coming year, in part because of increased confidence about compliance with the Affordable Care Act.

When evaluating the merits of a private exchange, one industry insider suggests pursuing an overall financial strategy built around achieving “true savings” rather than simply shifting costs onto employees – a warning that has been sounded for years in the traditional marketplace.

As health care reform continues to unfold, employers are re-examining the role of their benefit programs in their overall human capital strategy and coming around to the idea that attracting, retaining and engaging workers hinges on the total employee experience, not health care benefits alone.

Despite great investment returns recently, the nation’s largest corporate defined benefit pension funds have been defenseless against growing liabilities resulting from dropping discount rates.

Employers considering private health care exchanges should leave themselves plenty of time to make the switch, say two employers who’ve made the move in recent years.

Wellness programs are gaining popularity and the Cadillac tax is still a mystery for many employers, but no major changes to benefits are expected next year, study says.

Despite pressure from clients to provide an immediate solution for rising health care costs – brokers need to proceed slowly and cautiously when discussing solutions such as private exchanges, according to a speaker at Employee Benefit News’ Private Healthcare Exchanges conference.

Lawmakers in Springfield, Ill., decided this week to green light a new statewide private sector retirement program that will consist of individual retirement accounts to be funded by automatic employee payroll deductions.

Biometric screening offers value in identifying employees at risk for heart disease, diabetes, and other costly and debilitating chronic conditions. However, employers will probably not see a return on their investment if their employees don’t act on the results.