Employee benefits

While most employers believe they're somewhat responsible for employees' financial wellness, according to a new survey, less than half of large companies (48%) has a financial wellness strategy in place or plan to add one in the next two years.

Pop singer Adam Levine is among the celebrities who'll be promoting enrollment in online health insurance exchanges as part of a social media campaign kicking off this week.

There’s some good news for those who fear that putting health care financial decisions in the hands of employees might produce nothing but confusion. Instead, a new survey indicates that employees who actively contribute to their HSAs do indeed become more engaged and involved in managing their health.

Looking for real engagement — and improved outcomes — for workplace weight-loss programs? A new range of electronic tools (and old-fashioned psychological incentives) can help get workers to shed the pounds, for life.

The best way to encourage healthy decisions is to make cultural changes that affect the entire workforce, as well as the broad environment. Here are nine suggestions for small changes that can have big results.

It’s not hard to make a compelling case for the value of income replacement products in the voluntary benefits suite, but they’re still a low priority for many HR decision makers. A new federal caucus – and some new employee-centered awareness – might give disability insurance the focus it needs.

As the year winds down, Contributing Editor Ed Bray outlines what's in store for benefits professionals in 2014. Benefit trends included in Part 2 range from Health Savings Accounts to same-sex marriage compliance.

Lou Faiola takes relationships to a new level. From carriers to brokers to beneficiaries, his commitment to benefits is apparent to all whose lives he touches.

Dr. Rafael Bengoa, the Basque region's former minister of health, is currently serving as an adviser to President Obama on ACA implementation.

After speaking with the leader of Towers Watson's Exchange Solutions segment and Liazon’s CEO to understand how small and larger employers should strategically approach the private exchanges, here are the key thoughts employers of any size should consider when deciding whether to shift to a defined contribution approach to health care benefits.

At the crux of the issue are two constitutional distinctions: whether the “corporations are people” rights of for-profit companies extend to religious rights for the corporation, as opposed to just their owners, and what kind of accommodations for different views are required.

The health care website’s improved performance has both U.S. political parties shifting strategies, with President Barack Obama’s team preparing a January advertising blitz and a wave of celebrity promotions to boost enrollment, allies said.

There is a big difference between price and cost when it comes to disability insurance, writes The Standard's Steve Brady.

Some 45% of workers in the new survey who found retirement income estimates less than “very helpful” say they did not understand the calculations behind the projections or were not confident in their accuracy, according to LIMRA.

The federal agency in charge of exchanges is communicating with brokers about technology improvements, but brokers say they haven’t heard much of anything, yet.

Employers, on the whole, report seeing their health care costs continuing to rise – most suggest that costs will jump 19% between 2013 and 2014 alone.

Employers continue to see a rise in health insurance costs. Annual premiums for employer-sponsored family health coverage reached $16,351 in 2013, up 4% from last year, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation/Health Research & Educational Trust (HRET) 2013 Employer Health Benefits Survey. So how can employers work to control these costs? A key success factor in reducing health insurance costs is the leadership’s commitment to this strategy. Can you find top-down leadership commitment to a long-term program…

The 2013 Deloitte Employer Survey finds that many employers see the entire health care system as being expensive and wasteful, and indicate that they don’t believe the ACA will do much to help to change the situation.

The move comes in response to Republican lawmakers’ criticism of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act over the healthcare.gov website troubles and the cancellation notices sent to hundreds of thousands of current policy holders as a result of the law.

Time may not be on the side of carriers in their quest to set appropriate rates for 2015 if the 2014 enrollments take longer than expected because of further online technical delays, public apathy or both.