Healthcare plans

Benefit broker and former lawyer David C. Smith breaks down this question that has been somewhat controversial in the past few months, yet he says has a very clear answer.

Millions of dollars have been spent to make sure consumers have an immediate, even emotional response to the logos of global brands such as Nike, Coca-Cola and Apple. So can individual employers use the same strategies to build strong “identity loyalty” among their own employees?

Road to Workplace Benefits Mania: Ahead of the July conference, speaker Scott Snow says that most employers have a large health care cost problem and aren’t aware that many employees have working spouses who can be covered by their own plan.

Although some employers are considering and even implementing a private exchange option for their employees, many remain skeptical of the immaturity of the marketplace and employee readiness.

Wondering if your wellness program is delivering the goods or just delivering good profits to your vendor? Intel and GE’s joint venture Validation Institute will tell you. Think of it as a new sheriff in the wild west of wellness ROI, armed with science and a calculator.

In a final rule published today, the U.S. Departments of Labor, Treasury and Health and Human Services say employers can require employee orientation periods to become eligible for health benefits, but say they cannot last longer than one month.

Road to Workplace Benefits Mania: Ahead of the July conference, keynote speaker Ben Geyerhahn previews his strategy for brokers to mitigate health costs — Medicaid migration.

A nearly 7% spike in health care costs in 2015 can be attributed to a revitalized economy, the modernization of health care technology and the drastic increase in specialty drug use.

More than four years before the Affordable Care Act was signed into law, a county government in the state of Washington took action on its skyrocketing health care costs, becoming one of the first counties in the country to tie out-of-pocket health care expenses to participation in wellness activities.

As the Affordable Care Act continues to necessitate the evolution of the benefit adviser’s role with individual and employer clients, knowing about the tax ramifications of the health law is a must.

The UnitedHealth Group Inc. executive whose Optum division helped states and the federal government fix Obamacare health exchanges will become second-in- command at the agency that runs the U.S. program.

Despite a surge in sign-ups through public exchanges, the newly insured have many of the same fears about explosive health care costs as those who have dealt with the issues of coverage in previous years.

How the ACA has drawn attention to vision care coverage and prompted employers to ask advisers about this voluntary benefit.

As business leaders and government officials cope with surging health care costs, one global think tank is estimating that up to $303 billion can be saved through a healthier workforce should chronic disease prevention efforts in the workplace become the norm.

Advisers working with employer clients on ACA compliance should pay close attention to the DOL’s recent updates on out-of-pocket limits and preventive service requirements.

Private exchanges increasingly will feature single-carrier rather than multicarrier networks as well as more expansive product lines.

Advisers can help employers boost employee benefit enrollment with better employee education and communication.

Former HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius and Kentucky Governor Steve Beshear discuss what key factors led to Obamacare’s 8 million enrollees

Employers focused on Obamacare may be missing one of today’s most important compliance issues: benefits for same-sex married couples. Since June 2013, when the United States Supreme Court ruled in U.S. v. Windsor that a federal statute limiting the terms “spouse” and “marriage” to couples of the opposite sex was unconstitutional, a sea-change has taken place in national attitudes about same-sex marriage.

Several benefit brokers share their experiences with using TV ads during open enrollment 2014.