Employee benefits

Looking for hospital ratings on the Internet or in magazines may not serve patients' best interests, with so-called "50 Best Hospitals" not necessarily any better than other medical institutions, a study said.

Health information exchange -- a process that aims to simplify and improve patient care by connecting doctors and hospitals -- hasn't been catching on as fast as policymakers hoped, a new survey finds.

Despite the known benefits of flexible work schedules, employers are reluctant to grant the flexibility to employees, and the employees are afraid to take advantage of it, according to a new study from WorldatWork and WFD Consulting.

U.S. health insurers will have to justify big premium rate hikes under new rules issued by the U.S. Health and Human Service Department on Thursday.

Willis Re created a new group to provide those in the life insurance and annuity market with advice on risk mitigation and financial leverage, the reinsurance unit of the London insurance brokerage Willis Group Holdings P.L.C.

Allstate Corp., already the second-largest U.S. auto insurer, said on Wednesday it would expand into online sales by buying Esurance from White Mountains Insurance Group for about $1 billion.

Many investors are unaware of the options available for their 401(k) account left with a previous employer, Fidelity Investments found. Nearly one-third (30%) who made a job transition are unsure of what to do with their workplace retirement savings.

Expensive new cancer drugs, treating increasing numbers of patients, could drive up cancer drug spending by as much as 15% a year through 2013, according to the newly released 2011 Medco Drug Trend Report, which tracks drug utilization and spending.

As employers shift to an employee-driven benefits model, plan participants’ perceived value and satisfaction in their benefits are declining, according to Prudential’s fifth annual “Study of Employee Benefits: Today & Beyond.”

Health care is a highly regulated industry, but medical imaging isn't as regulated as one might expect. Most of the regulations center around breast imaging, which was recognized nearly two decades ago as an area that needed to be standardized and regulated at the federal level.

Electronic prescriptions among U.S. office-based prescribers increased 71% to 326 million in 2010, compared with 190 million the previous year, according to an annual progress report from e-prescribing network vendor Surescripts.

American Westbrook Insurance Services, LLC, a subsidiary of Hendricks Holding Company, Inc., has acquired substantially all of the assets of The American Worker Plans, Inc., expanding the services available through its benefit wholesale division.

GreenWood International Insurance Services, Inc., a Massachusetts based managing general underwriter, announced they have been acquired by Pan-American Life Insurance Group, a leading provider of life and health insurance in Latin America and the U.S. Hispanic market.

Most states likely will run their own medical insurance marketplaces or partner with neighbors to help expand coverage under the federal health overhaul, U.S. Health Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said on Wednesday.

The annual Milliman Medical Index (MMI) contains some grim tidings for health insurers and others concerned by the rising cost of health care, as for the fourth straight year, costs rose by at least 7%.

AXA Equitable Life Insurance Company has introduced a structured investment option for its EQUI-VEST® series of variable deferred annuities available to employer-sponsored retirement savings plans.

The future of the investment advisory industry depends on reducing the cost of doing business, said Mark Casady, Chairman and CEO of LPL Financial, in the opening keynote at the Money Management Institute’s 2011 annual convention, held last week in Boston.

Ternian Insurance Group has introduced HealthBasic, a limited medical plan for small employers with as few as five lives. The plan features different levels of coverage for different classes of employees: a mid-level plan for owners and two affordable limited medical plans for salaried and hourly employees.

A coalition of 27 health, aging, labor and consumer organizations has released a report, the "Consumer Platform for Health IT," which they call a vision for a patient-centered health care system.

Several group benefits providers, including Sun Life Financial, Aetna, UnitedHealthcare and Cigna, have won plain language awards from the Center for Plain Language.