Employee benefits

Not only are older American workers (age 50 and over) expecting to work longer, but many now say they expect to never retire, according to the nonpartisan Employee Benefit Research Institute. Data suggest the trend may be tied to the recent economic recession.

While employers have increasingly adopted CDHPs as a lower cost option, employees have been slower to embrace them. A recent study reveals one stat likely to increase participation, writes BeAdvised contributor Doug Mantz.

Mayo Clinic researchers have amassed additional evidence that secondhand smoke kills and smoke-free workplace laws save lives.

After decades in relative obscurity, a legal doctrine that holds corporate officers liable for company wrongdoing is finding its way back into some high-profile health care prosecutions.

The chief executive officers of Medco Health Solutions Inc and Express Scripts Inc will tell a U.S. Senate subcommittee that merging the pharmacy benefit managers will wring out wasteful spending and lower the cost of medicine, according to a government filing.

Consumers, facing worries over being able to afford adequate health care, want their employers to do more to help them improve their health and get the most from their employer-provided health and wellness plans, according to a new survey.

As another open enrollment season comes to a close, millions of consumers are finalizing their benefits packages for 2012. Unfortunately, more than half of insured adults are confused with several important aspects related to choosing a health insurance plan, reveals a survey released Monday.

Obese adults in the United States use a number of prescription drug types more frequently than normal-weight adults, says a new study from researchers at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The Pension Protection Act of 2006 is having a positive effect on 401(k) plans, according to Fidelity Investments.

Question: What options are available these days for employers who need to cut back on retiree health spending, but still want to provide health care to their former workers? Long after employees retire with the proverbial gold watch, a company may still be carrying them on the books. Through collective bargaining, contractual obligations, or simply a commitment to doing what is right, the employer often arranges for group retiree coverage. …

The trio of federal agencies charged with interpreting and enforcing the Affordable Care Act and the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act have addressed some of the most significant questions arising from these laws. In a set of Answers to Frequently Asked Questions, the U.S. Departments of Treasury, Labor, and Health and Human Services have intimated that the looming ACA deadline for the production and distribution of summaries of benefits and coverage will be extended.…

Most U.S. health insurers last year would have satisfied the much-disputed spending rules under President Obama's health care reform, according to a new report by a congressional watchdog agency.

CVS has told some doctors in Florida, the nation's pill mill capital, that its retail pharmacies will no longer fill prescriptions they write for some potent and addictive drugs, a company spokesman said on Tuesday.

Nearly two-thirds (63.8%) of plan sponsors have changed the investment lineup in their 401(k) plan in the past year, up markedly from a mere 20% in 2008, according to the Profit Sharing/401(k) Council of America.

Last month, a statement from McKinsey Consulting declared that "social innovators are bringing bold new approaches to the difficult problems that plague the world. The next disruptive force in social innovation will involve a new, more rigorous approach that funnels resources to where they can do the most good."

In 2009, the Civil Service Employees Association Employee Benefit Fund was at a crossroads. The benefit fund, which provides dental and vision benefits for more than 300,000 public employee union members and their dependents in New York State, was facing a double-digit spike in its health insurance costs and seemed resigned to renewing a policy with an insurer that was not meeting the needs of the fund's 60 employees.

Anticipating the increase in age of covered dependents to 26 starting in 2011, as required by the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, the benefits team at Dick's Sporting Goods decided to clean the company's benefit rolls data with a dependent eligibility audit before this provision went into effect and before annual enrollment in the fall of 2010.

Athletic trainers may have had their roots on the playing field, but the profession has branched out. Large employers such as Toyota, General Motors, Delta Airlines and Boeing have used athletic trainers for years to prevent and treat injuries on the production line and manufacturing floor. While athletic trainers traditionally have worked in an athletic environment, a sprained ankle on an pro athlete is no different than a sprained ankle on a baggage handler at an airport, says Tom Bair, an athletic trainer with ProgressiveHealth Aviation Services in Atlanta.

EBN's annual Benefits Barometer is a comprehensive and convenient benchmarking guide to everything from average annual premiums for health coverage to the number of investment options in 401(k) plans.

Electronic medical records are being hailed as a way to save money, but they're also making it easier to commit fraud; text analytics and sophisticated data mining software can help stop it.