Health and wellness

Virtually all large employers are committed to conventional wellness programs. Because of this market saturation, wellness vendors and their commercial partners, benefits consultants, are now setting their sights on smaller employers. These groups would do well to learn what hasn’t worked in wellness and avoid wellness programs built around health risk appraisals, biometrics, and preventive medical care.

CMS has granted 18 states a delay in enacting employee choice on the SHOP exchange, which some advisers feel is the only incentive for employers to enroll on the exchange at all.

Benefit brokers should be prepared to communicate ACA updates and answer questions both in-person and via new technology to reach employees.

The emergence of public and private health insurance exchanges, as well as the ongoing shift toward placing more responsibility on workers for health plan decisions, is creating a new normal for employers and employees alike.

Potentially a result of complaints from consumers and increased competition on the ACA exchanges, benefit brokers may be pleased to find more options on the 2015 plans.

With some state-run exchanges struggling, brokers and agents contemplate whether a national Healthcare.gov is possible and whether that would be a good or a bad thing for the insurance community.

Employees living paycheck to paycheck need solutions from their employers to meet financial emergencies, yet most employers aren’t aware financial wellness programs and lending solutions exist or that they’re credible.

Benefit brokers should be turning their sights to the capabilities of health care data to improve employer clients’ employees’ health. There are doctors asking for even more potential from computer algorithms to interpret such data and could provide a glimpse into the future.

Despite all the technical glitches with Healthcare.gov and state-run exchanges during open enrollment, a large majority of Americans researching health plan options relied on websites for information, but supplemented their research with other outlets for answers, including brokers and advisers.

Commentary: One of America’s most enduring mysteries is why the organizations that pay for most health care don’t work together to force better value from the health care industry.

Most people wouldn't buy a car without shopping around and doing some online research first. You’d think that people would show similar interest when shopping for health insurance.

This figure is about one-third less than previously estimated, after the Obama administration created exemptions from the fine.

As employers face growing challenges with employee disengagement, many are looking toward wellness programs as the surest route to improve morale and workplace culture. And while the Affordable Care Act offers improved incentives to support workplace wellness programs, employers aren’t rushing to take advantage of them.

Millions of ACA application inconsistencies come as no surprise to benefit advisers and could trigger an influx of business to brokers from confused 2015 ACA enrollees.

Advisers looking to protect themselves and their clients from professional negligence or malpractice suits need to enter into an engagement letter, according to an ERISA attorney.

Sylvia Mathews Burwell was confirmed Thursday by the U.S. Senate as the secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services, replacing Kathleen Sebelius and signaling a new stage for Obamacare.

Commentary: Blogger Rob Lieblein offers insight as to why private exchanges really are the future of benefits and where benefit brokers and advisers should be in the process of hopping on the exchange train.

With the impact of health care reform still evolving, employers are taking a fresh look at their strategies for keeping employees healthy and productive.

Industry experts say that while unlikely, the historically stable product line may have the potential for price changes as its sales continue to rise.

With specialty drugs expected to reach as much as half of total drug expenditures within the next few years, pharmacy benefit manager CVS Caremark has launched a new program designed to make the process of filling specialty medication prescriptions easier for plan members.