Health and wellness

An advisory group urged U.S. officials to formulate a set of essential health benefits under President Barack Obama's health care overhaul that is in line with cost of insurance in a typical small employer plan.

President Obama's sweeping health care overhaul will top the agenda in the new Supreme Court term that opened on Monday and could be the most momentous in decades.

After several years of relatively modest premium increases, annual premiums for employer-sponsored family health coverage increased to $15,073 this year, up 9% from last year. On average, workers pay $4,129 and employers pay $10,944 toward those annual premiums.

The meaning of success is different for each of us. Whether we are talking about business or personal achievement, we define success by what matters most to us. Is it any wonder that your clients have different ideas about what spells success for a corporate wellness program?

In his 20s, Randy Hall, a service engineer with Welch Allyn, a leading manufacturer of frontline medical diagnostic equipment, was a track athlete and looked it. "I was skinny during my teens and 20s - I had a 29-inch waist, was about 140 pounds and I'm six feet tall," he recalls.

When Peter Mongeau, vice president of human resources at financial services company John Hancock, was offered the opportunity to have his employees participate in a pilot wellness program focused on nutrition, he jumped at the chance.

We all say we want to live a healthy life. So why is it so hard to do what we say? It's the central question that every wellness program tries to address.

Let me begin with a two-part confession: First, I do not claim to be a health reform expert. I have not read through the massive regulation and rely heavily on the interpretation of other, smarter people. Second, I am fairly apolitical. I don't find politics at the local, national and state levels particularly engaging.

A key recommendation for medical coverage standards under president Barack Obama's health care overhaul will be released on October 7, according to the organization preparing the report.

The Obama administration on Wednesday asked the U.S. Supreme Court to back the centerpiece of Barack Obama's sweeping healthcare overhaul —the requirement that all Americans have health insurance.

The Department of Health and Human Services has extended public comment on two proposed rules published on July 15 to establish state insurance exchanges and implement standards related to reinsurance and risk adjustment.

Republican Representative Paul Ryan, an outspoken opponent of President Barack Obama's health care reform, proposed a plan on Tuesday that could effectively dismantle the way most Americans get health insurance by reducing incentives to join employer-sponsored plans.

The Department of Health and Human Services has awarded a total of $109 million in grants to 28 states and the District of Columbia to increase resources for conducting health insurance premium rate reviews.

All those reams of paper in your office — documents to enroll new hires in benefit plans, disenroll ineligible dependents and the like — are costing your company money. A lot of money.

The Kansas City Collaborative (KC2), a three-year long value based benefit project, succeeded in helping the 15 participating employers share best practices for overcoming health care challenges. Nine of these companies reported that they have saved almost $11 million in direct health care costs by implementing a value-based benefits initiative.

New data reflect an increase in the number of uninsured Americans, prompting some benefit industry representatives to question the impact of federal health care reform.

If you’re a customer of WellPoint, Inc., your employees’ records soon will come under the guidance of a computer. Granted, a very smart computer, but a computer nonetheless.

The Treasury Department and the Internal Revenue Service are asking for public input on a proposed health care reform rule that would make it easier for employers to determine whether the health insurance coverage they offer is considered “affordable” for employees.

Earlier this year, the Department of Health and Human Services issued proposed regulations under the privacy rule of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996. The proposed regulations address the changes to the accounting requirement under the HIPAA privacy rule, pursuant to the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act. The regulations also create a new requirement that covered entities - health plans, health care clearinghouses and health care providers - provide an access report to individuals upon request.

According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, prescription drug spending is expected to rise to $457.8 billion in 2019 from its current amount of $274.5 billion. With sobering numbers like these, it's no surprise why benefit plan sponsors and participants are continually seeking ways to cut medication costs.