Health and wellness

An increasingly discussed abandonment of the ever-delayed portion of the ACA would not eliminate your employer clients’ need to comply with the health law.

Employer action on the patient safety issue could include crafting health benefit plans that reward safety and penalize non-compliance, urging hospital boards to make safety a priority and distributing patient safety literature.

As insurance industry professionals, brokers are living with the ACA and tackling its compliance mandates and issues every day for clients. But what’s to come for the law after the next presidential election?

Insurer groups this week shared ACA reform ideas with Congress, including the creation of a copper plan.

A lesser known fact about outcome-based wellness programs can help advisers bring their clients’ programs into HIPAA compliance.

Knowing how many companies your client owns is critical to meeting ACA compliance. Here’s what you need to know about your clients that own more than one company under a controlled group.

Two plan sponsors, the Government Employees Health Association and Orlando Health, share their approaches to weight loss and engaging employees in sustained behavior change.

Members of Congress came out swinging Wednesday at a committee hearing with top insurers called as witnesses to determine whom of the more than 8 million Obamacare enrollees have paid their first month’s premium.

Three large health insurers including WellPoint Inc. and Aetna Inc. say that a high percentage of their new Obamacare customers are paying their first premiums, undermining a Republican criticism of enrollment in the program.

A new app has hit the streets of New York, looking to maximize the gym reimbursements that are available but underutilized on many insurance plans.

Obamacare reduced the percentage of U.S. adults without health insurance to its lowest point since 2008 even as the law remains unpopular with the public, separate surveys showed.

Though mobile health apps have the potential for greater patient engagement, researchers found only two major methods of engagement in their sample population of apps.

While many in the industry think voluntary sales is a no-brainer for benefit advisers and employees alike, there's one type of product that hasn't seen a boost thanks to the ACA.

The self-insurance option for small businesses doesn’t seem to be as popular for managing ACA costs and mandates as some in the industry once thought.

There’s a glimmer of good news for employer-sponsored healthcare programs. Near-site and on-site clinics offering primary care, often referred to as “employee health centers,” are bringing overall plan-cost reductions along with measurable member-health improvements

This insurance rule, referring to the grouping of companies owned by the same person, hasn’t applied to medical coverage until now. One broker is concerned that benefit advisers and small business owners alike aren’t up to speed on this requirement and could be vulnerable to liabilities via penalties and lawsuits.

Many employers have yet to update their work policies to reflect the 90-day waiting period rule, a possible landmine for employee confusion and lawsuits.

Higher consumer spending on health services, increased prescriptions for costly medications and more elective surgeries suggests Americans are using the insurance they gained under Obamacare.

How many individuals and families that selected a health plan in the federally facilitated health insurance marketplace have paid their first month’s premium? Depends on whom you ask.

Now that tax season is over, Uncle Sam will be turning his attention to another pressing matter.