Health and wellness

The state health exchanges that are central to the U.S. Affordable Care Act are costing the federal government more than twice its initial budget to complete.

That “skin in the game,” HealthyWage officials say, is significantly more of a motivator than the traditional incentives that employers offer with weight-loss programs.

The substance is called carnitine, and as bacteria in the gut breaks it down, it turns into compound known to harden arteries, according to a study published Sunday in Nature Medicine.

Employers are still figuring out how to work with PPACA in the next nine months. That was the consensus during a panel at the 10th World Health Care Congress Monday in National Harbor, Md.

The emerging private HIX model for active employee populations will learn valuable lessons about how this approach has been applied to the retiree marketplace in recent years. One issue worth closer examination involves the prospect of hosting an off-cycle benefits enrollment.

Can’t decide which way to go on a public or private health insurance exchange, or how those two models even differ? Stumped by the merits of a single-carrier vs. multi-carrier exchange? Want to know which of the industry’s many players will turn out to be the right HIX partner?

From the Land of 10,000 Lakes to the Land of Enchantment, two more states have taken steps toward establishing their own health insurance exchanges.

A close observer of the health care consumerism movement was somewhat surprised by the reaction to his bold prediction that a proposed elimination of health reimbursement arrangements (HRAs) from private health exchanges for most active employees would sabotage this model.

It is estimated there are more than 100 private exchanges in existence, with each one promoting unique or distinguishing characteristics in a crowded marketplace. Given the enormity of services offered to employers of many shapes and sizes, there are bound to be some conflicting claims that require an asterisk to eliminate any confusion for prospective customers.

Transforming employees’ experience with their health care can pay big dividends, particularly as the benefits industry moves toward a more consumer-driven model, says one official with a health assistance and advocacy company.

The cost of caring for dementia patients has reached $109 billion annually, exceeding that for heart disease and cancer, and will double by the time the youngest Baby Boomers reach their 70s, according to a study.

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services confirmed yesterday, following the release of proposed rules on Navigators and what they’re calling non-Navigator assistance personnel, that the information is not necessarily intended for brokers

A projected cost increase across the more than $13 trillion in pension liabilities in North America and Europe would be about the same as everyone giving up smoking within a generation, a risk-modeling firm says.

The program, available to self-insured employers, offers some diabetes supplies and diabetes-related prescription drugs at no charge, as well as no copays for related doctor visits, at an estimated savings of up to $500 a year for participants.

Starting in 2014, workers at companies with fewer than 100 employees were supposed to have been able to choose from a variety of health plans through new small-business insurance marketplaces. They’ll instead wait until at least 2015.

Freestanding ERs are among the fastest-growing areas of medical care, but many say the facility fees charged by them aren’t justified and lack transparency. Hospitals contend the facilities drain away the privately insured, high-paying patients they need to survive.

The proposal in Arkansas and Ohio is a departure from the 2010 Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, but the Obama administration might be open to it.

PPACA CO-OPs have a trade organization, but funding cuts mean there isn't funding for future groups.

Beth Taylor on how to quantify a return on investment for advisers and companies with wellness programs

Mel Schlesinger on why advisers shouldn’t let health care reform control their future