Healthcare plans

In a $600 million cash transaction, Optum, the IT and business services unit of UnitedHealth Group, is buying health management vendor Alere Health, which provides services to more than 200 regional and local health plans, 89 Fortune 500 employers and 29 states, covering about 22 million people in the U.S.

After multiple delays, early access to the federally-facilitated Small Business Health Options Program launched Monday in five states.

A controversial ballot measure in California is getting national attention from the benefits industry. Here’s what it is and why it matters.

Commentary: The industry is scrambling to keep pace with technology-fueled demands for speedy claims turnover. Aflac’s Laree Daniel explains how customer expectations are molding the industry response.

Although open enrollment for 2015 Obamacare plans opens in just over three weeks, the uninsured remain unclear about the dates and possible financial assistance available.

Employer clients acting as the fiduciary of a benefit plan may often seek the advice of their trusted adviser. ERISA recognizes that need but also disallows the misuse of an expert. So what qualifies as misuse?

Commentary: The migration of employers from defined benefit to defined contribution programs has been the subject of a lot of conversation in the employee benefits industry for the past seven or eight years. The Affordable Care Act has galvanized the industry’s move forward, and the availability of highly advanced technology is likely to accelerate this transition.

With more than one-third of U.S. adults being obese, employer-sponsored weight management programs can play an important role in the effort to get Americans to adopt healthier lifestyles.

The Validation Institute certifies individuals as competent to review, analyze, and produce health program measures. Given the high stakes – millions of dollars in savings – it’s comforting that not just any 11-year-old could pass.

One of the nation’s premier business groups whose mission is employee health promotion is embroiled in a controversy involving $184 million in contracts awarded by Covered California without competitive bidding.

Well-informed employees make smarter choices and providing the tools needed during open enrollment is essential.

With mental health and substance abuse disorder services deemed an essential health benefit under the Affordable Care Act, employee assistance program providers are taking on a new role – helping employers and health plans sniff out fraudulent health care activity among substance abuse and mental health treatment facilities.

Although the ACA’s excise tax doesn’t go into effect until 2018, employers are already fearful — benefit advisers should be offering ideas and solutions to calm their fears.

For employers fighting to maintain grandfathered status, consultants and benefit managers predict the Affordable Care Act’s ongoing implementation will mean the end of these health plan structures in the near future.

A large majority of workers prefer signing up for benefits online, a PlanSource survey finds.

Benefits firm WorkforceTactix and tech company Digital Health Innovations are using data analytics and an innovative health app to predict and prevent clients’ high-cost claims, increase transparency and rein in health care costs.

Several tech companies this week announced they would be adding egg freezing benefits to their health plan. While that may sound like a nice perk to some, making this and other benefit plan changes comes with risks that your employer clients, with your help, should consider.

On the heels of news about Aon Hewitt’s estimated more than 1.2 million HIX enrollees exceeding its expectations for 2015, Bright Choices Exchange operator Liazon is crowing about its own expansion plans.

A fix is in the works to ensure agents and brokers can identify themselves and therefore receive commissions for their work on the federally-facilitated marketplace, an agency official at The Center for Consumer Information and Insurance Oversight said Tuesday.

Initial numbers for 2015 open enrollment put participation in Mercer’s Marketplace exchange at nearly five times the size of 2014 rates. The consulting firm also added 40 additional clients to the exchange who were not previously with Mercer.