Healthcare plans

After a sharp increase of 6.9% from 2010 to 2011, health plan premiums rose at a rate of 1.7% between 2013 and 2014, according to data from ADP.

Employers have always been concerned about the potential for worker reclassification, but health care reform and a recent National Labor Relations Board decision take this issue to an entirely new level.

Yes, the ACA open-enrollment deadline has passed. No, that doesn’t mean employers cannot terminate or change their health plan — because employees can still enroll on the exchange.

A majority of Americans remain uninsured and many based the decision to stay uninsured on the cost of coverage, with many not even visiting an exchange to see a price estimate, a new study from consultancy Market Strategies International finds.

Going uninsured is about to get very expensive. New estimates by NerdWallet show the minimum amount of lifetime penalties for someone who is uninsured is more than $36,000.

Most Hispanics have a favorable view of the Affordable Care Act, but need more information about it to understand the law and how to enroll in the health insurance exchanges, HolaDoctor, a leading health website for Hispanics, says.

Americans are becoming less divided about the Affordable Care Act, as the gap between favorable and unfavorable views of the law has narrowed among both the general public and the uninsured, a new survey finds.

A new report card tracking health care price transparency finds that 45 states failed to offer essential information to consumers shopping in the U.S. health system, a significant step back since easier-to-understand public health solutions were to have become the norm in this post-Affordable Care Act world.

Voluntary benefit sales are enjoying rapid growth as employers prepare for the impact of the Affordable Care Act by revamping their medical plan designs to include more products such as accident and critical illness benefits.

A divided U.S. Supreme Court Tuesday debated whether companies can assert religious rights, hearing arguments in an ideological clash over the Affordable Care Act and rules that promote contraceptive coverage.

Through a new group annuity program, Towers Watson may have found a solution to retiree medical costs – a burgeoning problem for employers. The option eliminates the financial risk from the table and limits the administrative burdens linked to the benefit.

Employers across the country may be expecting to offset higher health care costs through private health exchanges and boosting wellness offerings. However, HR leaders interviewed in a new PricewaterhouseCoopers report say that the push to private exchanges is being fueled by C-suite executives and not benefits professionals.

Nearly four years after the enactment of the Affordable Care Act more than half (53%) of Americans disapprove of the law — but most of those opponents now say they want politicians to make the law work, according to a new Pew Research Center study.

Investment committee, benefit committee, annual meetings … Do your clients know what their plan documents promise? Here’s why they should.

The number of Americans using medication to treat attention deficit hyperactivity disorder rose 36% in five years, totaling more than 4.8 million privately insured individuals in 2012, according to a recent report from pharmacy benefit manager Express Scripts.

Benefit brokers can better position themselves as a trusted adviser by helping clients maintain compliance with these ERISA requirements.

Despite one-third of respondents not having health insurance, a new Gallup poll finds that approximately 66% of Americans are satisfied with the current health system as more expected changes from the Affordable Care Act’s individual and employer mandate continue their rollout.

The number of employers contributing to health savings accounts or health reimbursement arrangements continues to grow, with 71% of employees reporting contributions from their employers in 2013, according to a new report by the Employee Benefit Research Institute.

New research from the Commonwealth Fund suggests that small business owners should consider the Small Business Health Options Program as a means to navigate the choppy waters in this post-Affordable Care Act world through competitive choice.

Insurers offering family policies to a person with an opposite-sex spouse must also sell to someone whose spouse is of the same sex, regardless of whether the marriage is recognized by their state government, the Department of Health and Human Services said.