Healthcare plans

Real estate company Keller Williams is one of the latest big firms to announce it’s offering associates access to a private health care exchange. Keller Williams’ independently owned and operated offices employ about 89,000 real estate agents — many of whom don’t have health insurance — across the country.

While the public exchanges offer a good solution for early retirees and COBRA-eligible participants, at least one expert says the exchanges are not the best option for current employees. Employers are also showing little confidence in public exchanges.

Eager to meet client needs — and keep their business — brokers hunt for information on individual exchanges, but are cautioned not to ignore the SHOP market. HR managers should be aware of the trend.

Limit applies to nongrandfathered plans using separate vendors for medical, pharmacy benefits.

Industry insiders comment on the launch of the public health care exchanges.

HIPAA may have been overlooked in the past, but new rules are bringing stricter penalties for breaches of protected health information.

Authorities presenting during an EBN web seminar outline key areas that could hamper growth of the marketplaces.

Critics say technology glitches showed public exchanges were not ready for opening day. Proponents of health reform said server-crashing traffic to exchange sites were proof of strong interest. Here's a more objective rundown of learnings from the opening of public exchanges, offered by Kev Coleman, director of Data & Research for Healthpocket.

Creating a smart consumer takes more than health care reform and adopting a consumer-driven health plan.

Pharmacy benefit management specialists say that as prices skyrocket, more and more employers will narrow pharmacies and prescriptions for their employees.

In the not-so-distant future small employers may stop offering employer-sponsored health coverage because employees will demand it, said a speaker at the Workplace Benefits Summit in New Orleans Monday.

Answers to your clients’ questions before they ask them.

The biggest change will affect low income employees, who may receive affordable coverage through the workplace, but not for their dependents, said Rodger Bayne, president of Towson, Md.-based Benefit Indemnity Corp., at BFE, sponsored by EBN’s parent company, SourceMedia.

The four-year slowdown in U.S. health care spending will end next year, and there is no sign the Affordable Care Act will significantly curb the acceleration in costs, government actuaries said in a report.

Privacy practices and business associates agreements should, in most cases, be updated by Sept. 23.

As long as retirees enroll with the private insurance exchange, IBM will subsidize their health care premiums at a similar level, the company says.

Time Warner Inc. yesterday said it would steer retired workers toward a privately run exchange, days after a similar announcement by International Business Machines Corp.

EBN spoke to Jay Starkman, CEO of Engage PEO, about the AMA classification of obesity and how it might affect employer decisions.

Regulations outline the Affordable Care Act’s contraceptive mandate.

Benny winner Dianne Howard partners with unions, schools to launch wellness program.