Employee benefits

How are breakthrough innovations created? What is the process and can it be replicated or facilitated? These are the fundamental questions tackled by Frans Johansson in his seminal book, "The Medici Effect."

As new retirement fee disclosures go into effect this summer, a coalition of 15 retirement industry groups are urging the Department of Labor to allow broader use of electronic communication for retirement plan participant disclosures, which are now mailed in paper form to plan participants.

Leading insurance carriers have withdrawn from the group long-term care insurance market, prompting employers to think twice about implementing new programs — are we witnessing the death throes of worksite LTC?

Now that the high court has upheld all Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act provisions pertaining to employers, the focus shifts to numerous compliance obligations and possible economic implications of fully implementing the health care reform law.

The wait is over as the Supreme Court today upheld the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, paving the way for employers to continue meeting the health care reform provisions that come into effect this year and beyond.

The U.S. Supreme Court has upheld the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act with the individual mandate being upheld under the Congressional power of taxation.

A sharply divided Supreme Court on Thursday upheld the centerpiece of President Barack Obama's signature health care overhaul law that requires that most Americans get insurance by 2014 or pay a financial penalty.

An impending showdown in Los Angeles pits Walmart against community activists who decry expansion plans by the world’s largest retailer in the nation’s second-largest city.

For more than a decade, AARP has recognized employers with progressive policies toward recruiting and retaining older employees. Now, the nonprofit has teamed up with the Society for Human Resource Management to cosponsor the AARP Best Employers for Workers Over 50 awards as applications are accepted for the 2013 search.

At 2 p.m. EST tomorrow experts will provide insight on the fate of the mandate for individuals to purchase health coverage, and the finding on the constitutionality of PPACA as a whole. Sign up for the web seminar which will be held hours after the decision is released.

There is no shortage of opinions when it comes to the future of health insurance in the United States. And, opinions were readily shared this week at America’s Health Insurance Plans Institute 2012 in Salt Lake City. Connecture Inc., a sales automation technology provider in the health insurance space, conducted a survey of the health insurance executives at the conference, and made a number of conclusions, including:

Nearly 60% of HR and recruiting executives, directors and managers in a nationwide survey consider social media networks like LinkedIn and Facebook the next big wave in reaching a greater number of qualified candidates.

Email, instant messaging, laptops, digital teleconferencing and flexible schedules have dramatically changed the way people live and work, as well as how their personal and professional lives intersect. But a recent national poll of 570 working Americans concludes that, despite breathtaking advances in technology and greater workplace flexibility, work-life balance is still very much a work in progress.

Over the last 20 years, the percentages of households that will not be ready for retirement at age 65 has nearly doubled to 50%, according to recent data from the National Retirement Risk Index.

Private and public health care exchanges can bring tremendous value to the marketplace if they follow certain examples, said a speaker at the NAHU annual convention in Las Vegas Monday.

Former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice brought the crowd to its feet in a standing ovation at the opening keynote session of this year’s Society for Human Resource Management conference being held in Atlanta this week.

While the nation’s attention remains focused on legal and political fights over health care reform, including an imminent ruling on the matter by the Supreme Court, a consumer advocacy organization notes that an invisible tragedy continues to play out nationwide for uninsured families who struggle to get the health care they need. A report released last week by Families USA reveals that more than 26,000 Americans between the ages of 25 and 64 died prematurely in 2010 because they did not have health coverage.

There is a lot riding on the Supreme Court’s health reform decision for all stakeholders. Brokers and consultants need to be prepared to advise their clients, says EBA Advisory Board member Mark Gaunya, who highlights what you should be thinking about while we wait for the decision.

As if the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act didn’t give employers enough to worry about, a PPACA-related regulatory headache may be taking hold for small firms.

Investors could be excused for avoiding health insurance and hospital stocks as a U.S. Supreme Court decision nears on President Barack Obama's health care overhaul law — an outcome that could send the companies' shares down 10% or more.