Employee benefits

Based on 30+ years of plan sponsor experience, I believe negative press about 401(k) loans are aimed at the wrong target. Rather, hardship withdrawals should be in the crosshairs, not loans.

It may seem like science fiction, but telehealth technology is making real-life strides in curbing consumer health care costs while ensuring convenience and efficiency for patients.

Thirty-three percent of major employers offer transgender-inclusive benefits. This is five times more companies than last year, and a big part of the push came from the Corporate Equality Index, a series of guidelines from the Human Rights Campaign that measured employers on five criteria regarding benefits for transgendered workers: short-term leave, counseling by a mental health professional, hormone therapy, medical visits to monitor hormone therapy and surgical procedures, without any exclusions.

Increasing employee engagement with benefits enrollment is difficult at best - and even more so when attempting to communicate concepts such as high-deductible health plans and health savings accounts. As more employers make the switch to full replacement HDHPs, it's more important than ever that employees fully engage with open enrollment materials so that they understand how to use the plans.

Economic pressures have pushed third-party administrators to proactively market to potential employer-clients. With an increasingly complicated regulatory environment, TPAs are demonstrating their worth with enhanced marketing techniques.

Oncotype-DX is a genetic test for breast cancer that predicts the risk of recurrence. It costs about $3,500 and is covered by the majority of U.S. health plans. The test determines, based on the patient's genes and the genes of the cancer, the likelihood of the cancer coming back within 10 years. It can help the patient and oncologist figure out if they should treat the cancer with chemotherapy

It is becoming increasingly common to offer nontraditional benefits, or benefit "perks," to employees. As companies struggle with the cost of traditional benefits such as medical and dental plans, offering additional perk-type benefits are intended to boost employee morale.

Statistics show 96% of Americans use Facebook, and 46 million check their social media profiles daily. According to the Society for Human Resource Management, more than one-half (56%) of organizations currently use social networking websites when recruiting potential job candidates, a significant increase from 2008, when 34% did so. However, when it comes to in-house communications, most companies still use face-to-face or email to convey key HR/benefits messages and information.

At Children's Creative Learning Centers child care centers, we think quite a lot about company culture, our own and those of our clients. When discussing the ways our centers can reflect the values of the companies they reside within, we help clients uncover and distill the elements that define them as an organization and discover those they want to pass along to their children. In the larger world of work-life and family-friendly programs, we have found that company culture is one of the main factors that determines the success of these programs and that, in turn, work-life programs can be a tool for a real cultural revolution.

Not only is it painful for an employee to hear the news that their loved one has suffered a heart attack, but the unforeseen costs of health care will soon take a physical, emotional and financial toll if they are not prepared.

While working for a benefits enrollment firm, I managed to get a coveted appointment with the senior vice president for voluntary benefits at a major regional brokerage. He started the meeting with an invitation to pitch: "We already work with several enrollment firms. Why should we work with you?"

Offering a retirement plan can be one of the most challenging - yet rewarding - decisions an employer can make. The employees participating in the plan, their beneficiaries, and the employer all may benefit when a retirement plan is in place. Administering a plan and managing its assets, however, requires certain actions and involves specific responsibilities governed by the Employee Retirement Income Security Act.

Though the 401(k) and defined contribution market gets lots of attention from all sectors of society and has a significant amount of assets, there are only about 110 national providers and advisory firms focused on this market.

Employees do not save enough for their eventual retirement needs, research shows. But, with tools, help and education from financial advisers that paradigm may shift - benefiting not only the employee but the employer and adviser.

The health care system is "so screwed up in where we invest our money," and that needs to change for costs to become manageable, said a health researcher in late January.

What's the first thing that comes to mind when you hear the word 'social?' In today's connected world, you probably answered social media. Chances are, so did your clients' human resource professionals. Social media is definitely on everyone's radar, but when it comes to a corporate wellness program, you need to tune into another kind of frequency - social culture.

A pharmacist takes a 30-day prescription and inputs it as four weekly prescriptions - quadrupling the Medicaid dispensing fee.

Employees around the country are in need of direct, simple guidance to help them reach their retirement goals, according to a survey released by State Street Global Advisors.

U.S. Catholic bishops and priests across the country read out letters at Mass on Sunday protesting plans by President Barack Obama's administration to force religiously-affiliated nonprofit groups to offer birth-control coverage to women employees.

The ongoing shift from defined benefit (DB) to defined contribution (DC) plans has prompted the financial services industry to rapidly develop products that deliver a steady stream of retirement income, one of the biggest shortcomings with DC plans. While numerous retirement income products are hitting the marketplace, employers and regulators are grappling with how they fit within qualified retirement plans.