Healthcare plans

The private and public exchanges offer employers an opportunity to help manage costs and provide personalized benefits, but there is no one-size-fits-all solution, industry experts say.

By bundling all costs for the surgery under one negotiated price and offering expertise that lowers the odds of complications, the Cleveland Clinic can give employers a better deal than some hospitals closer to employees' homes.

On Feb. 26, Rep. Dave Camp (R-Mich.), chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, released a discussion draft of the Tax Reform Act of 2014 that more completely spells out the tradeoffs for tax reform. Camp’s draft legislation reduces and simplifies the current income tax rate structure, but may modify or eliminate provisions relating to employee benefit plans.

Looking toward the end of 2014 open enrollment in the Affordable Care Act’s health exchanges, Gary Cohen, director of the Center for Consumer Information and Insurance Oversight, said Thursday at an AHIP conference that the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services is expecting a “fairly significant spike in enrollments."

Despite a reported 4.4% increase in employer health care costs in 2014, the majority of large U.S. employers say they are more inclined to maintain benefits to active employees, but will modify plans and continue to shift over costs to their employees.

A new study from PricewaterhouseCoopers finds consumers are a lot less focused on the price of their plan than insurance executives believe them to be.

Fortune 500 employers gathered Wednesday for a panel at the America’s Health Insurance Plans annual policy conference in Washington to deliver an up-to-date perspective on private exchanges.

Commentary: The Catalyst for Payment Reform scored each state on its level of health care cost transparency — 29 received an F, only two scored an A. Transparency of health care cost and quality must be the founding principle of sustainable change, says Borislow Insurance’s Mark Gaunya.

Much has been made about how the exchanges are playing in Peoria, but what about Portugal, Poland or Peru?

President Barack Obama’s fiscal 2015 budget proposal includes nearly $14 million for the Department of Labor to combat the misclassification of workers as independent contractors, which renders them ineligible for certain benefits and protections under the law.

The Affordable Care Act’s ongoing rollout is likely to spark many employers to take action within their benefit plans. Whether it is utilization of a high-deductible health plan or emphasizing voluntary options, employers say that a change is imminent, according to a new study’s findings.

The Obama administration last week said it will offer relief to consumers unable to purchase health insurance through state-run exchanges that have been hampered by technical difficulties.

The operator of a private HIX platform for small and large employers has teamed up with a global leader in entertainment payroll, residuals and other integrated production management solutions to fill health care coverage gaps in an industry known more for who is appearing in front of the camera.

As Affordable Care Act health plans continue their rollout, a new nationwide analysis finds that public health exchanges continue to exclude the same medical services, across the board.

The benefits industry is pushing back against a campaign by some policy-makers to increase federal oversight of self-insured health plans, particularly in regards to the purchasing of stop-loss insurance.

Employers are begging for information on compliance with the Affordable Care Act, and as their benefit adviser you can and should offer them guidance — or risk losing them to an adviser who will. Attorney Peter Marathas of Proskauer Rose LLP has outlined four ACA issues you should already be discussing with your clients.

Moody’s Investors Service issued a credit negative rating to health insurers that offer Medicare Advantage plans as 2015 Medicare rates are expected to be detrimental to enrollment and earnings.

For a plan unlikely to become law anytime soon, Representative Dave Camp’s proposal to revamp the tax code is causing a lot of agitation among U.S. companies.

The top Republican tax-writer in Congress proposed restructuring the U.S. tax code to eliminate dozens of breaks to pay for reductions in the corporate and individual rates.

The University of Michigan has been fine-tuning its wellness champion network for over 20 years. Over that time, wellness champs have morphed in number and organizational role, but have always played “an important role for helping to develop our culture of health across the University," explains Karen Schmidt, associate director of wellness and health culture at the University of Michigan.