Healthcare plans

The business response to the ACA, coupled with the growing health care consumerism movement, is rapidly changing the relationship between employer and employee.

Working in partnership with USI and GoHealth, the payroll firm’s platform will serve populations with employer-provided benefits as well as those who must purchase through public exchanges.

HSAs are growing in popularity as a health benefit offering and experts say they could save employers a lot in health care costs. But employees still need expert advice to understand how and when to use HSAs and how to maximize their full potential.

With the cost of pharmaceuticals consuming an ever-increasing proportion of health benefit expenditures, many employers are responding by adding pricing tiers to their drug plan designs.

Commentary: Who would argue that spending $10,000 is worth the trade-off of cardiac surgery? Or $90,000 for drugs which might avoid a costly liver failure incident? A lot of employers, that’s who.

Three Republican senators have sent a letter to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services expressing concern for the “lack of oversight for more than $1 billion in federal grants” given to state-based marketplaces.

Commentary: The health care cost crisis needs to be addressed now. Enter applied predictive analytics.

The IRS continues to seek industry input on the Affordable Care Act’s excise tax on high-cost employer-sponsored health plans.

Offering benefits and health programs is one thing, but ensuring your employees are using the right benefits at the right time is another.

As employers look to curb rising health care costs, new research connects on-site health care clinic usage and claims costs, with some surprising savings results.

Narrow networks are more prevalent in public exchanges than the commercial market, and while this trend helps keep costs more manageable, it also significantly restricts any movement for consumers and could undermine network adequacy standards.

Spousal exclusions are usually implemented as a cost-saving tactic but they can be a difficult sell to employees whose spouses may be affected.

Not according to employers, who are turning to brokers to help them navigate the ACA, explore technology capabilities and administer group plans, a new study finds.

As another insurer megamerger takes place, how will employer health plans fare with a shrinking field of providers?

After more than 50 votes in Congress and two attempts before the U.S. Supreme Court to mothball the ACA and public exchange marketplace, some Republicans now see the budget reconciliation process as yet another avenue for achieving this long-time goal.

Anthem Inc. struck a deal to buy rival Cigna Corp. for $48.4 billion, wrapping up almost a year of contentious negotiations and potentially creating the largest health insurer in the U.S.

As a value-added reseller, Apprize Technology sells and services to brokers three different benefit administration platforms, what many call a private exchange— bswift, benefitsCONNECT and Infiniti HR. Gary Wert, Apprize’s president, discusses why Apprize and other resellers may have to turn away business in the fourth quarter and why some brokers aren’t building their own exchange, but rather using a reseller.

Anthem Inc. is near an agreement to buy rival Cigna Corp. for about $48 billion, two people with knowledge of the matter said. A deal would create the largest health insurer in the U.S. after almost a year of talks.

Commentary: Employer interest in exchanges is high, but adoption rates have lagged behind projections for 2015.

Commentary: Brokers are strategically positioned to encourage employers to commit to a more productive workforce.