Health and wellness

Governors who refuse to expand their Medicaid programs for the poor may cost employers in their states as much as $1.3 billion in federal fines, according to a new study.

Most brokers who plan to stay in the industry in 2014 are learning to embrace the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. But as two health policy minds from opposite sides of the political spectrum discussed Wednesday at America’s Health Insurance Plans conference in Washington, unknown effects of PPACA and rising costs of health care should still be on the minds of carriers and brokers alike.

The MLR regulations under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act are misguided, according to AHIP attendees. An engaged crowd at Wednesday’s America’s Health Insurance Plans conference in Washington listened to a panel dissect this issue from what the speakers said were unfounded claims of carrier profitability by the government, to the restrictions placed on innovation as a result of high ratio requirements.

The number of employers offering a sponsored retirement plan slightly increased in 2012 from four years prior, while matches and employer contributions remained near constant, according to a survey released today by WorldatWork and the American Benefits Institute.

Older U.S. adults may get too many colonoscopies, costing Medicare an estimated $500 million a year and putting patients at an increased risk of side effects such as bleeding, researchers found.

Two employers shared how they’ve gotten creative with the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act at Thursday’s National Business Group on Health conference in Washington. One chose to move to a new consumer-driven health plan and the other chose a private exchange through Aon Hewitt.

Health care consultants from Mercer, Aon Hewitt and Towers Watson offered advice at a recent National Business Group on Health event in Washington, D.C.

If a new potential therapy for slowing the onset of Alzheimer’s disease is successful, the use of PET scans — which cost $1,500 to $3,500 apiece — “will explode,” says one scientist involved in the research.

Nearly half of all health plan members in the group and individual markets nationwide say they are interested in using a state exchange to purchase health insurance, according to a new survey by J.D. Power and Associates.

We’re starting your week with three important facts, developments or conversations from recent and upcoming events. This week, we’ll look at why uninsured Americans’ hospital bills are so high, more official steps forward by HHS on public exchanges and HHS goals for tech improvements in 2013.

Although Millennials have been called everything from "innovative" to "entitled," the recent "Stress in America" study from the American Psychological Association has different label for them: Stressed.

Probably you. The Securities & Exchange Commission (SEC) is moving forward in its quest to define who is a fiduciary for various client/adviser transactions.

Bacteria — including E. coli resistant to all or nearly all antibiotics — are being seen in increasing numbers, according to news this week from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Worse, the most dangerous kind of bacteria are growing in proportion.

People who suffer from insomnia may have an increased risk of heart failure, according to the largest study ever to investigate the link.

We’re starting your week with three important facts, developments or conversations from recent and upcoming events. This week, we look at the new IRS guidelines, final ruling from CMS on MLR ratio and what’s going on in Europe with retirement taxes.

Agency principals and wellness directors share how their firms found success with a self-branded wellness program.

Nelson Griswold on what insurance brokerages need to keep up with health reform.

Lifestyle laws in 29 states may hamper employer efforts to maintain a strict smoke-free workplace.

Company also launches comprehensive measurement platform and succeeds in lowering its health care claims costs.

Health-contingent wellness programs can increase incentives for quitting tobacco use.