Health and wellness

The impending post-retirement health costs of America’s baby boomers may still seem remote, but benefits managers would do well to help their older workers by working together to consider those potentially explosive concerns – and include them in a comprehensive employee health plan.

A majority of employers, large and small, are embracing wellness programs as a means to improve employee health and, hopefully, cut rising health care costs.

EBN’s annual i-COMM Awards recognize the best in internal communication of benefits. In this four-part series, we highlight this year’s winners, including the Federal Retirement Thrift Investment Board, winner of Best Use of Social Media.

Heather Vertrees tunes up benefits at Fender Musical Instruments Corp. Her active role in a specialized wellness program for the company’s factory workers has earned her the Benefits Professional of the Year honor.

EBN's annual i-COMM Awards recognize the best in internal communication of benefits. In this four-part series, we highlight this year’s winners, including Robins & Morton, winner of Best Intranet/Employee Portal.

Two major trends in employer-sponsored health care continue: a slower rate of premium increases and greater use of high-deductible health plans, especially among small employers, Kaiser study finds.

With the release of its new Apple Watch and Apple HealthKit app, the tech giant is literally putting health care in the hands of the consumer. What does this mean for employer-based health care management?

EBN's annual i-COMM Awards recognize the best in internal communication of benefits. In this four-part series, we highlight this year’s winners, including Takeda Pharmaceuticals U.S.A., winner of Best Print or Online Newsletter.

Wellness vendors are excited about Apple’s potential foray into smartwatches. Today, the Cupertino, Calif.-based technology company is expected to announce its next generation of the iPhone. But for those in the employer health care market, their sights are set on the reported “iWatch” because of its potential use as a wearable fitness and health tracking device.

Apple's announcement of wearable wellness features in its new Apple Watch, plus health monitoring software, could revolutionize the health care market.

As private exchange providers introduce voluntary benefit offerings, how will broker commissions be affected?

EBN’s annual i-COMM Awards recognize the best in internal communication of benefits, and are awarded in four categories: Best Overall Communications Campaign, Best Print or Online Employee Newsletter, Best Employee Intranet or Portal and Best Use of Social Media. In this four-part series, we highlight this year’s winners, starting with AECOM, i-COMM winner for Best Overall Communications Campaign.

CMS says small employers and their benefit advisers in select states will have early access to the ACA’s Small Business Health Options Program to test-drive the system, but not all are interested.

Ever since final rules under the Affordable Care Act dictated that outcomes-based wellness programs must offer reasonable alternatives to employees unable to achieve the program’s health benchmarks, employers have continued to worry over the effectiveness of their health improvement efforts.

Commentary: Under the ACA, clinical trials offer an expanding frontier for plan sponsors and insurers, says Symetra’s Marien Diaz.

The IRS has released long-awaited draft instructions for the forms employers will use to comply with the ACA’s employer mandate, giving benefit advisers and their clients a glimpse of the work ahead for 2015 and how to begin preparing now.

The full U.S. Court of Appeals in Washington will rehear a recent court decision that found the ACA's premium subsidies invalid in more than two dozen states due to the law’s specific language. A rehearing may reduce the chances of a new Supreme Court showdown over a central element of the health reform law.

Most Americans value life insurance as a means to financial wellbeing. Life insurance month reminds brokers to make that connection.

Fed up over unpaid enrollment commissions, benefit advisers are suing the Nevada state exchange and its website contractor Xerox.

The case, EEOC v. Orion Energy Systems, serves as a reminder for advisers and their employer clients, when putting together a wellness plan, to pay careful attention to how the EEOC defines liability.