Health and wellness

After the partisan passions and heated rhetoric, the disruptions of a government shutdown and displays of dysfunction, Congress did what it could have done weeks ago: voted to fund the government and lift the debt limit.

Eleven days into the federal government shutdown, employee benefits attorneys assess the short-term and long-term potential implications for your business and benefits strategy.

Cigna has instructed brokers to halt selling insurance to individuals who are subsidy-eligible through its federal health care exchange broker portals.

Real estate company Keller Williams is one of the latest big firms to announce it’s offering associates access to a private health care exchange. Keller Williams’ independently owned and operated offices employ about 89,000 real estate agents — many of whom don’t have health insurance — across the country.

Recognizing the challenges (and headaches) involved in taking care of setting up their own benefits plans, a majority of small businesses say they recognize the need for an outside adviser to help.

No statistically detectable differences were evident between exercise and drug treatment for patients with coronary heart disease or prediabetes, and exercise was more effective among patients recovering from a stroke.

As many of you may have predicted – or secretly feared, or even hoped for – October has indeed been one incredibly wild ride for anyone connected in even an ancillary fashion to the ACA. Or those of you who happen to have anything to do with the daily operations of the federal government.

Staff at Walgreens stores will direct customers who ask about the exchanges to the GoHealth Marketplace, where they can shop and compare health insurance plans, enroll and find other tools and information.

Exchange prep, however, will go a long way to help employers prepare for the delayed employer mandate. Figure out whether you are an applicable large employer and if you are, start measuring. Otherwise, you could be left scrambling.

Eager to meet client needs — and keep their business — brokers hunt for information on individual exchanges, but are cautioned not to ignore the SHOP market. HR managers should be aware of the trend.

Eager to meet client needs — and keep their business — brokers hunt for information on individual exchanges, but are cautioned not to ignore the SHOP market.

On Facebook, brokers were quick to share their experiences of looking at and attempting to work with the exchanges.

At issue is the need for updated guidance on the employer mandate. While the mandate has been delayed until 2015, employers need to start preparing for it now.

Questions arise about phone enrollment on the East Coast, while the West Coast deals with a backlog that’s left brokers without necessary certification.

Technical difficulties leave advisers in the dark as they scramble to answer client questions on the launch of the ACA’s health insurance exchanges

Limit applies to nongrandfathered plans using separate vendors for medical, pharmacy benefits.

Industry insiders comment on the launch of the public health care exchanges.

Implementation of the Affordable Care Act and turning 50 are both inevitable so employers best prepare.

The strategies of insurers like UnitedHealth Group and WellPoint are under the microscope as data from four of the five largest U.S. states is collected by SNL Financial Group.

Broker specializing in the market predicts widespread adverse impact.