Health and wellness

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?

Insurers are projecting significant jumps in pharmacy expenses this year, driven primarily by specialty drugs.

Despite the regulatory uncertainty about how the Affordable Care Act’s excise tax will apply to employer-sponsored care offered through onsite clinics, employers appear committed to the concept.

The IRS says employers can now do a trial run of their electronic form filing for reporting requirements under the ACA, giving nervous employers and their benefit advisers a way to test for readiness in advance of the reporting deadlines.

About 9.9 million people got health insurance coverage through the marketplaces set up by the ACA as of June 30, a decline from earlier in the year though still higher than the White House administration’s target.

Commentary: A broker whose perception of wellness is limited to seasonal flu shots and employee assistance policies is at a competitive disadvantage compared to a broker who understands the power of connecting health risk assessment and biometric data with claims data.

Transgender individuals would gain new health care protections in rules proposed Thursday by U.S. regulators.