Health and wellness

Tax issues take center stage during broker organization’s legislative summit.

The Supreme Court briefs are in, and we can now say that big business backs the Affordable Care Act.

Would saving an extra $200 billion in health care costs a year sound nice? No, it’s not another ploy to get rid of the ACA … for once. Annually, between $100 billion and $289 billion is spent on hospital visits due to patients failing to adhere to their prescription medicines

Commentary: Americans must take the responsible course when it comes to health insurance coverage, says adviser David C. Smith.

A new bipartisan bill has been introduced on the House floor to separate broker commissions from a medical loss ratio formula many in the industry say threatens agent compensation.

In the next five years, when it comes to managing costs, wellness offerings and family coverage, C-level executives and benefit managers both cite four changes expected in the next five years, but executives and managers each weigh in differently on their importance.

Employers opting to drop or forgo health care coverage for employees are still eager for ways to help their staff manage health care needs. Benefit firm FirstPerson has unveiled a unique solution to do just that.

Brokers and agents say the state exchanges did little to engage them during the first enrollment period under the ACA, and many in the industry agree improving the partnership between the exchanges and brokers will be critical to the survival of the state marketplaces.

Corporate spending on wellness programs is surging, but motivating employees to use them continues to be a rather expensive struggle. There are lots of reasons for this, but a really unfortunate one is bad timing.

Commentary: Step up your game or your clients may choose to become your competitors, says the head of Pittsburgh Business Group on Health

Benefit Advisors Network partners with exchange firm to help clients get coverage for benefit-ineligible employees.

It may still be too soon to tell how widespread wearable fitness trackers will become in corporate wellness programs but for Phoenix Companies, a life insurance and annuity company based in Hartford, Conn., wearable wellness is anything but a fad.

Commentary: Bundled MEC plans insure workers while helping employers avoid new penalties, says Sam Fleet.

The introduction of new legislation to repeal the ACA’s employer mandate seeks to relieve employers of health care reform requirements Republicans say threaten job creation and growth. While many in the benefits industry applaud an effort widely considered futile, the employer mandate is only one of several ACA concerns employers say they have prioritized.

As calls for the EEOC to issue guidance on wellness programs continue, employees are on board with their employers’ involvement in health and wellness programs.

The University of Washington danced its way into the Guinness Book of World Records this week, also marking a year since the inception of the university’s revolutionary employee engagement program.

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission came under fire during a U.S. Senate committee hearing on employer-sponsored wellness programs Thursday, with one witness calling on Congress to end the “sorry state of affairs."

The Affordable Care Act has a lot of work to do to get Americans more employer-based health coverage, particularly those working for small companies.

The Affordable Care Act’s coverage provisions are now estimated to cost the government 20% less than originally estimated for the five-year period ending 2019, according to updated analysis from the Congressional Budget Office and Joint Committee on Taxation.

Brokers cite rate increases, increased complexity and poor plan quality as top concerns with the health care law.