Employee benefits

A divided U.S. Supreme Court Tuesday debated whether companies can assert religious rights, hearing arguments in an ideological clash over the Affordable Care Act and rules that promote contraceptive coverage.

A community with high well-being is one where citizens and employees are satisfied with their lifestyle and overall health. In this year’s Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index, top honors go to Provo-Orem, Utah.

Access to prescription drugs is more challenging for consumers buying insurance through the exchanges than those covered by employer-sponsored insurance plans, an analysis by Avalere Health finds.

With just days to go in open enrollment on the ACA’s public exchanges, brokers say the biggest problem is getting a hold of certain carriers, and one in particular rose to the top of the list of complaints.

Employers are making creative changes to employee benefit offerings to stem the tide of rising health care costs, but many are taking a wait-and-see approach to private exchanges, according to presenters at MetLife’s 10th National Benefits Symposium Monday.

Commentary: Employer group waiver plans provide a solution for the struggling public sector

Through a new group annuity program, Towers Watson may have found a solution to retiree medical costs – a burgeoning problem for employers. The option eliminates the financial risk from the table and limits the administrative burdens linked to the benefit.

Employers tend not to change their benefits programs quickly, and the Cadillac Tax is only three more open enrollments away. It might be tempting to wait, but those who evolve their plan designs now have more time to educate and engage their employees on these programs.

While a flurry of recent, presidential-level focus on America’s retirement system might be a good opportunity for dialog on its shortfalls, those in the retirement industry fear that a new era of potential tax grabs is on the horizon.

Employers across the country may be expecting to offset higher health care costs through private health exchanges and boosting wellness offerings. However, HR leaders interviewed in a new PricewaterhouseCoopers report say that the push to private exchanges is being fueled by C-suite executives and not benefits professionals.

Nearly four years after the enactment of the Affordable Care Act more than half (53%) of Americans disapprove of the law — but most of those opponents now say they want politicians to make the law work, according to a new Pew Research Center study.

Investment committee, benefit committee, annual meetings … Do your clients know what their plan documents promise? Here’s why they should.

The number of Americans using medication to treat attention deficit hyperactivity disorder rose 36% in five years, totaling more than 4.8 million privately insured individuals in 2012, according to a recent report from pharmacy benefit manager Express Scripts.

A new analysis of the 100 largest corporate pension plans finds that retirement coffers bounced back in 2013, reaching record funded-status levels and cutting away at pension deficits that have plagued them since 2008’s financial collapse.

Opposing the ACA's contraceptive coverage rule, Hobby Lobby is asking the Supreme Court to give for-profit corporations the same religious freedoms as individuals, with potentially sweeping rights to opt out of laws they say are immoral.

Commentary: Ever-changing interpretations of government regulations have resulted in employers being out of compliance with certain rules and not even knowing it.

Being a retirement plan fiduciary carries a heavy weight and lots of responsibility. Breaches of such responsibilities can result in both civil and criminal action, though the latter is rare and usually the result of egregious behavior. Fortunately, retirement plan sponsors have a growing menu of options to help them manage their fiduciary obligations and offset some of their legal liabilities.

Benefit brokers can better position themselves as a trusted adviser by helping clients maintain compliance with these ERISA requirements.

At any given time in the United States, an estimated 1 in 10 adults report symptoms that would qualify for a depression diagnosis. For benefits professionals, navigating employee mental health can be tricky. Not all symptoms are noticeable, but a few hidden indicators can hinder overall productivity.

Forty-five percent of employers have implemented or plan to consider using a private exchange for their full-time active employees before 2018, according to a new employer survey conducted by the Private Exchange Evaluation Collaborative