Employee benefits

The statistics on type 2 diabetes are staggering but the condition that precedes it presents a window of opportunity for employers to have a real, positive impact on employee health.

The status of payments to brokers for their work signing up consumers across the nation varies from state to state and broker to broker, with some missing nearly 50% of commissions and others reporting no problems whatsoever.

Like other industries, health care employers and benefit plan managers in the health care sector are struggling mightily with their ability to address the retirement preparedness of their evolving workforces.

Commentary: This fall will be a time for plan sponsors to take on additional decisions, as many prototypes sponsors are going through the process of getting their documents updated for the upcoming restatement process. While columnist John Ludwig says this is a necessary process for everyone, he shares decisions that plan sponsors should think about as they go through this process.

When it comes to retirement savings, no family structure is apparently better prepared than same-sex couples without kids, who reported having $276,200 tucked away – the very model of successful workplace savers.

An increase in the offering of consumer-driven health care products has not translated into increased understanding on the part of consumers — exposing a need for more assistance from benefit professionals and educational tools.

For the first time, the Supreme Court has ruled that the Religious Freedom Restoration Act covers corporations. But, employers will still have to review the possible application of any state laws that might require contraception coverage despite the holding in Hobby Lobby.

For most employers, the Hobby Lobby decision will have little impact, meaning they will have to comply with the ACA as written. Looking for loopholes can be risky, not just for ACA compliance but also for ERISA compliance, generally.

Despite an improving economy, American employers continue to be cautious with pay increases for employees.

As media interest in health insurance exchanges decreases over time, the insurance industry may need to develop more effective communications to reach the uninsured.

Road to Workplace Benefits Mania: Ahead of the July conference, speaker Donald Rowe discusses why you need something new to talk about with clients and how there's a product that no one is too old, too sick, too tall, too short or too anything to be eligible for.

Millions more Americans have gained coverage as a result of the health reform law, increasing the workload for benefit advisers, but not necessarily the compensation they receive.

Many job seekers view seasonal retail positions as “commodity jobs” – they don’t necessarily care where they work because it’s short-term and the pay is similar wherever they go. For employers, that means they can encounter difficulty finding the best talent.

Funding for Social Security Disability Insurance is set to run out by 2016, and if no further action from Congress is taken, SSDI recipients could see a 20% reduction in benefits.

The six most popular insurance plans on the New York state health insurance exchange are seeking double-digit increases in their premium rates for next year, with an average request of a 14.6% rate hike.

Road to Workplace Benefits Mania: Ahead of the July conference, speaker Phyllis Falotico discusses why it’s important for brokers and carriers alike to help employers evolve the experience of voluntary benefits from just providing access to products to driving awareness of the need to their employees.

The DOL’s ERISA Advisory Council plans to identify current industry practices and trends regarding the types of employee benefit plan services being outsourced and the market for delivery of those services as part of its 2014 issue agenda.

Better investment returns have given more support to America's once-faltering DB plans, but benefits executives still stay they need to cut costs to deal with health care expenditures.

More than two-thirds of state and local public employees feel confident that they will have enough money to live comfortably in retirement.

Over the next decade, the number of cancer survivors is expected to increase by 30%, and improvements in both detection and treatment have led cancer to become, in some cases, more of a chronic condition than a terminal illness.