Healthcare benefits

How can employers get more out of their wellness programs without also growing their budgets?

When evaluating the merits of a private exchange, one industry insider suggests pursuing an overall financial strategy built around achieving “true savings” rather than simply shifting costs onto employees – a warning that has been sounded for years in the traditional marketplace.

Employers considering private health care exchanges should leave themselves plenty of time to make the switch, say two employers who’ve made the move in recent years.

Wellness programs are gaining popularity and the Cadillac tax is still a mystery for many employers, but no major changes to benefits are expected next year, study says.

Biometric screening offers value in identifying employees at risk for heart disease, diabetes, and other costly and debilitating chronic conditions. However, employers will probably not see a return on their investment if their employees don’t act on the results.

Sam’s Club, the big-box members-only warehouse, decided to offer health insurance to its customers through a private health care exchange because those small business owner-members were asking for it. In October, the retail chain said it was partnering with Aetna to offer health insurance to members through a private exchange to small businesses.

With the help of predicative analytics, employers, and more importantly their HR and benefit departments, are now able to better administer health and benefit plans to their employee populations.

Does the rising use of HSAs pose a threat to the 401(k) as the deferral vehicle of choice? The two products can work hand-in-hand to position employees for a better future, if implemented effectively.

As the Affordable Care Act moves forward, benefits enrollment and management will increasingly be done online. While there hasn't been a major breach in the benefits world yet, the risk is very real.

Comparing prescription drug benefits offered on the Covered California state-run exchange is expected to be easier during the 2015 open enrollment.

There are several key areas where an employer can experience savings from a wellness program, says Retrofit's Jeff Hyman. The CEO shares several ideas on how to get started, including which data sets are most worth measuring.

Commentary: There are several key areas where an employer can experience savings from a wellness program, says Retrofit's Jeff Hyman. The CEO shares several ideas on how to get started, including which data sets are most worth measuring.

The Obama administration said it erroneously calculated the number of people with health coverage under the Affordable Care Act, incorrectly adding 380,000 dental subscribers to raise the total above 7 million.

The Affordable Care Act’s inclusion of pediatric dental coverage as an essential health benefit has small employers facing a dilemma: Whether to embed dental coverage within a medical plan or offer dental benefits as a stand-alone plan. Market confusion about what these plan options include and exactly what the health reform law requires highlights the need for expert benefit adviser help.

While pharmacy benefits utilization was roughly the same during the first half of 2014 for individuals enrolled in public health insurance exchanges and traditional insurance market plans, a new analysis shows the utilization of specialty drugs is much higher in the HIX marketplace.

Employing a proactive strategy to address the explosive costs of specialty medications can serve the patients who need those specialized meds, with an unbelievable 63% increase in costs expected in the next two years.

A new self-service tool for employers and brokers aims to make the RFP process for pharmacy benefit plans a little easier.

In an era when health care consumerism is being touted as a game-changer for employer-sponsored benefits, offering employees a variety of choices when it comes to how and where they fill their drug prescriptions is an important satisfaction driver.

Apple's new watch shows promise to improve medication adherence by tracking when medications should be taken and sending a reminder to an individual who is wearing the watch.

Saddled with the high cost of emerging specialty drugs, employers are looking to their benefit advisers for strategies to manage their medical plan’s drug spend.