Health and wellness

The House has agreed to pass legislation that makes possible a repeal of the ACA’s controversial expansion of the definition of a small employer — a bill hailed by the benefits industry for protecting the small and mid-size businesses they feel the expansion threatens to harm.

Health Republic Insurance of New York, the Affordable Care Act insurer that got $265 million in U.S. loans, will stop selling policies and eventually cease operations under orders from New York and federal regulators.

EY, formerly Ernst & Young, takes an integrated approach with its comprehensive employee assistance program, EY Assist.

When it comes to benefits management, the most important number for any small to mid-sized business to know is how many full-time employees plus full-time equivalent employees it averaged in calendar year 2014.

Questions over program effectiveness, legality and data storage have employers hesitating to implement such plans.

Asking questions is a vital first step for helping an employee with a medical condition at work, but how do you start that conversation and stay in compliance with ADA regulations?

The IRS has posted a webpage, dubbed the ACA Information Center for Applicable Large Employers, which features information and resources for employers on how the health care law may affect them.

Health insurance carriers have not poached healthier customers from the exchanges for plans sold outside the exchanges, which some feared would lead to adverse selection in the public exchange market, concludes a recent issue brief.

Commentary: A well-executed and outcomes-based HRA keeps a wellness program running smoothly and effectively because all other elements depend upon its accurate assessment and ongoing data.

If an employer says they don’t have concerns about the Affordable Care Act’s looming excise tax set to go into effect in 2018, they’re probably fibbing.

Zenefits announced today it is offering small and mid-sized employers an ACA compliance tool for free. Some industry experts say the offering raises the bar again for competing benefit brokers, but others claim it is too little, too late.

Commentary: The employer community has made its voice clear on the Affordable Care Act’s excise tax. Legislators seem to have heard. Will it make a difference?

U.S. Sens. Dean Heller (R-Nev.) and Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) introduced legislation Thursday seeking to repeal the Affordable Care Act’s excise tax on high-cost group plans.

Fitness device maker Fitbit now will enter into HIPAA business associate agreements with corporations, health plans and self-insured employers that want to offer its wellness platform to employees.

The share of people without health insurance in the U.S. fell to 10.4 percent last year as the Affordable Care Act’s expansion of public and private coverage programs took effect.

The public employees responsible for overseeing $600 million in contracts to build Healthcare.gov were inadequately trained, kept sloppy records, and failed to identify delays and problems that contributed to millions in cost overruns, a new government report finds.

Despite eligibility for cost-sharing reductions, more than 2 million public exchange enrollees did not select eligible plans.

Is the U.S. health care system overrated and overpriced?

Measuring wellness results with credible data is a laudable goal, but it’s an incredibly tricky endeavor.

Open enrollment season. Your plans are in check. Your benefits fair is squared away. Your communications strategy is set. It’s game time, right?