Employee benefits

Many are asking about retirement readiness self-analyses.

Humana Inc. led medical insurers higher in trading today after the U.S. government reversed a decision to cut a key Medicare payment rate, offering them an increase instead.

“Every company lives and dies by the talent it has access to,” says SendHub co-founder Garrett Johnson, who claims he could lose “invaluable” workers once the national supply of H-1B visas runs out.

The program, available to self-insured employers, offers some diabetes supplies and diabetes-related prescription drugs at no charge, as well as no copays for related doctor visits, at an estimated savings of up to $500 a year for participants.

Starting in 2014, workers at companies with fewer than 100 employees were supposed to have been able to choose from a variety of health plans through new small-business insurance marketplaces. They’ll instead wait until at least 2015.

Most participants are not contributing near enough to their 401(k) plans to adequately fund retirement.

A new study shows strong employer objections to state-run plans such as those recently proposed by legislatures in California and Massachusetts.

Freestanding ERs are among the fastest-growing areas of medical care, but many say the facility fees charged by them aren’t justified and lack transparency. Hospitals contend the facilities drain away the privately insured, high-paying patients they need to survive.

Consumers and some health insurers, led by Aetna, Inc., say the facility fees charged by many of the new ERs aren’t justified and lack transparency.

The largest exchange-traded fund tracking the $3.7 trillion U.S. municipal-bond market is selling at a discount to its underlying assets for the longest stretch since 2011.

If you’re an adviser who works with business owners, you know that the “retirement plan season” is the end of the year. It’s that time when many business owners decide to set up a retirement plan before the year end deadline.

A brokers’ role with end of life products is to know their clients and give them choices.

The burden of saving and investing has shifted to the plan participant

Consolidating multi-vendor retirement plans, a how-to guide

EBA Financial Fitness Challenge helps remake retirement benefits for six Indiana school districts

Craig Davidson on three good reasons to think about selling voluntary.

New EBA retirement columnist John Ludwig on deferral rates for auto enrollment

NBC Universal’s medical director voices concern about the lack of education for high-deductible health plans, particularly as exchanges come online.

Representatives from private health insurance exchanges assert that exchanges are hitting the ground running and that they are well-equipped to help employers meet the diverse health needs of employees.

One study yields mixed results on telemedicine, finding that physician e-visits are cheaper but result in more prescriptions.