Employee benefits

An abundance of veterans in the U.S. - and the litany of disabilities experienced by so many of them - makes it especially important to work to utilize their skills and experiences.

Millions of dollars have been spent to make sure consumers have an immediate, even emotional response to the logos of global brands such as Nike, Coca-Cola and Apple. So can individual employers use the same strategies to build strong “identity loyalty” among their own employees?

Road to Workplace Benefits Mania: Ahead of the July conference, speaker Scott Snow says that most employers have a large health care cost problem and aren’t aware that many employees have working spouses who can be covered by their own plan.

Although some employers are considering and even implementing a private exchange option for their employees, many remain skeptical of the immaturity of the marketplace and employee readiness.

The president of the ESOP Association calls the Supreme Court’s decision in Fifth Third Bancorp v. Dudenhoeffer a “mish-mash” and says he doesn’t consider it to be a big victory for employers.

Wondering if your wellness program is delivering the goods or just delivering good profits to your vendor? Intel and GE’s joint venture Validation Institute will tell you. Think of it as a new sheriff in the wild west of wellness ROI, armed with science and a calculator.

In a final rule published today, the U.S. Departments of Labor, Treasury and Health and Human Services say employers can require employee orientation periods to become eligible for health benefits, but say they cannot last longer than one month.

Road to Workplace Benefits Mania: Ahead of the July conference, keynote speaker Ben Geyerhahn previews his strategy for brokers to mitigate health costs — Medicaid migration.

A nearly 7% spike in health care costs in 2015 can be attributed to a revitalized economy, the modernization of health care technology and the drastic increase in specialty drug use.

At SHRM's annual conference, leaders from Disney and Western Union address creating a better company culture through better recruiting, and how to boost employee learning and development through technology.

The ACA has increased incentives for employees to quit smoking, but employers are wondering where e-cigarettes fit into the equation.

Many employees who change jobs choose to roll their 401(k) accounts into IRAs rather than leaving them in place or rolling them into their new employers 401(k) plan. Rolling a 401(k) account into an IRA is generally a really bad idea, for the following reasons.

More than four years before the Affordable Care Act was signed into law, a county government in the state of Washington took action on its skyrocketing health care costs, becoming one of the first counties in the country to tie out-of-pocket health care expenses to participation in wellness activities.

As the Affordable Care Act continues to necessitate the evolution of the benefit adviser’s role with individual and employer clients, knowing about the tax ramifications of the health law is a must.

The UnitedHealth Group Inc. executive whose Optum division helped states and the federal government fix Obamacare health exchanges will become second-in- command at the agency that runs the U.S. program.

Recently, the Internal Revenue Service has focused enforcement activity on examining the implementation of a strong internal control system. The IRS has publicly stated that if a plan is selected for audit the agent will use their evaluation of the plan’s internal controls to determine whether the scope of the examination will be focused or expanded.

Early health plan rate filings for 2015 signal premium rate hikes that could force individuals to consider switching plans. Confused consumers will be looking for help from benefit brokers and agents well-versed in plan options.

In contradictory fashion, paying off debt was cited as the top reason for taking out a loan from retirement plan savings (46%), yet only 26% of respondents said paying off debt was a good reason to take out a loan.

Despite a surge in sign-ups through public exchanges, the newly insured have many of the same fears about explosive health care costs as those who have dealt with the issues of coverage in previous years.

How the ACA has drawn attention to vision care coverage and prompted employers to ask advisers about this voluntary benefit.