Health and wellness

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.

The Senate has begun debate on a controversial effort to redefine a full-time employee under the Affordable Care Act from one who works 30 hours per week to one who works 40 hours per week — a move that could release many employers from having to offer health care coverage to their employees.

The tool, designed to help covered employees find doctors, understand health care finance, and meet health goals. is being piloted JPMorgan Chase and will expand to a select number of U.S. employers in 2015.

As the Affordable Care Act’s Cadillac tax looms, a majority of organizations in the U.S. are looking ahead to ways they can cut down on the costs of providing health care.

Employers are concerned multiemployer plans won’t count toward providing employees with health coverage, and may subject them to penalties. Here’s what they can do.

The Electronic Frontier Foundation, a technology policy advocacy group, says it has confirmed that the federal government's Healthcare.gov is sharing personal data, including ZIP code, income level, smoking status, pregnancy status, and more, with at least 14 third parties.

Researchers are starting to monitor physical activity through FitBit trackers to better predict recovery times following spinal surgeries.

North American employers may take some – but not much – comfort in the knowledge that medical trend rates are a lot worse in other parts of the world.

Several of the proposals outlined in the President’s State of the Union address may change how employers plan their strategies on wages, sick leave and child care, as well as how employees prepare for retirement.

The Department of Homeland Security has issued a warning that cybercriminals are using phishing e-mails that appear to come from Healthcare.gov ahead of the upcoming final deadline to apply for coverage under the Affordable Care Act.

In State of the Union, the president says he won’t ‘refight past battles’ on the ACA

Altering the health care law is one priority for Sen. Hatch this year, the committee chairman said in a speech outlining his 2015 agenda.