Healthcare plans

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.

The highest-priced hospitals in 13 cities studied are typically paid 60% more for inpatient services and almost double for outpatient care than the lowest-priced hospitals in the same communities.

A recent delay on out-of-pocket spending could be complicated for those who think they have a single-vendor system, should their health care provider and pharmacy be considered separate internally.

Guest blogger Linda K. Riddell warns employers not to be wowed by vendors' "whiz-bang" options and the quantity of their reporting.

A recent delay on out-of-pocket spending could be complicated for those who think they have a single-vendor system, should their health care provider and pharmacy be considered separate internally.

Despite the modest increase “rising health care costs remain a serious concern for U.S. employers,” said Helen Darling, the group’s president and CEO.

The number of Fortune 500 companies offering health care benefits to same-sex partners has surged in a decade, to about 62% last year from 34% in 2002, according to the Washington-based Human Rights Campaign.

The bill passed Monday would require pharmacies to notify doctors and sometimes patients when a cheaper biosimilar drug is substituted for a brand-name medicine. It also would forbid a pharmacist from substituting the biosimilar drug if the physician says no.

Only 9% of companies, meanwhile, indicate they are very prepared to implement required changes to their business based on the health care reform law at this time.

Employer mandate delay puts pressure on Congress.

But health plans need to improve in other areas if they want to keep group business.