Healthcare benefits

With the Affordable Care Act hitting its five year birthday and the second open enrollment period nearly finished, Americans are turning their attention and wishes for Congress and the Obama administration to a focus on prescription drugs.

In human resources and insurance circles, we’ve been talking about wellness for quite some time. And most employers have dived in and now offer a wellness program. So, how are these wellness programs performing? Too often, the answer is “not well.”

Employers are bracing for double-digit pharmacy cost increases in the next year, but advisers can help them to take steps now to mitigate those cost increases for both their active and pre-retiree populations.

Commentary: All Americans are concerned about escalation of health care expenditures. But, does anyone really want the government in the middle of how we access care? Legislation in New York could make that happen.

Commentary: Employees can make the transition to high-deductible health plans and be successful when provided some key education and support from the financial services marketplace.

If I had a dollar for every time an industry professional reacted to my choice of college major with, “Risk Management and Insurance?  I didn’t know you could major in that,” I would be a rich man. From what I see, many people who make up the industry did not set out with the intention of working in insurance or employee benefits. So why would a young professional just entering the job market choose employee…

Gibson Insurance and its CEO Tim Leman are known in industry circles for their trailblazing social media presence, but many brokerages still wonder, what is the real return on investment from online marketing?

Commentary: Despite all the media coverage of the Affordable Care Act, there is still a fair amount of confusion and misunderstanding about the law, even among employees whose job it is to administer benefits.

Medical tourism is gaining traction among Americans, and it can be a tool for brokers seeking to keep their self-funded clients’ health care costs down.

While debate continues about the long-term effects of the Affordable Care Act, many employers report minimal changes in their health care premiums as a result.

When prompted with direct financial incentives, including contributions to their HSAs, employees tend to show much stronger involvement in workplace wellness offerings.

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission released a proposed rule today on wellness programs, removing what at least one business group calls a “big cloud” that has been hovering over employers as they struggle to ensure their wellness incentive programs don’t run afoul of the EEOC.

Ownership of life insurance has been on a steady decline, and the reason many experts point to are other more pressing financial priorities — particularly with retirement income becoming such a hot priority.

Technical difficulties may have marred public exchanges' first year of operation, but at least providers were able to breathe a collective sigh of relief about not being inundated with a sharp increase in new or sick patients scheduling appointments.

The Affordable Care Act has increased the burden for benefit professionals and forced employers to alter their business practices to comply with the health care reform law, industry experts told Congress.

It’s not often a company finds itself in a market position where it has the flexibility and agility of a newcomer, along with a storied history that provides name recognition and a solid base of existing expertise. Global financial services giant AXA is in this sweet spot as it enters the U.S. employee benefit business for the first time.

Seattle-based Array Health says it has formed a partnership with HealthEquity providing personal health accounts on Array’s e-commerce platform – Array Spectrum.

Consumer expectations demand advisers establish an online presence, LIMRA research shows. Financial advisory firms are stepping up to meet the demand, and following 3 critical steps to achieve social media success.

While several reasons have been suggested for a plateau effect in public exchange enrollment, it may all come down to dollars and cents, as well as carrots and sticks.

As one of the nation’s largest producers and transporters of energy and with thousands of employees spread out across the country, there is a lot riding on the health of the employees at Dominion Resources.