Healthcare plans

Fidelity Investments reports the average projected cost of health care expenses for retirees has gone down but cautions it’s not a trend.

Aflac report reveals sobering gap in employee readiness to take on the shift toward consumer-driven health.

All of the benefit summaries, including the new Summary of Benefits and Coverage, do not adequately explain the full effects of balance billing.

The U.S. Senate bill that would take broker compensation out of the medical loss ratio equation hasn't moved in the more than two months since it was introduced. Not surprising given recesses and outings by top administration officials to discuss broader issues, like the budget, in front of Senate committees. But what are the chances of this bill gaining any ground in the 113th Congress?

Vermont is the first state to divulge rates for public health insurance exchanges. EBA spoke with Mark Larson, commissioner of the department of Vermont health access.

Slowed by health reform, medical tourism — the practice of seeking lower-cost health care elsewhere is back on track.

High-deductible health plans are one route on the path to health plan cost reduction.

With health care appeals, a plan administrator can simply grant the appeal .

The study from Truven Health Analytics examined insurance claims data for over 6.5 million emergency department visits in 2010 and found that just 29% of patients actually required immediate attention in the emergency room.

Using health care analytics — sometimes called business intelligence — researchers and consultants are mining clinical and claims data to discover gold standards and establish best practices for prevention, treatment and self care and, ideally, help reduce waste, abuse and fraud. The goals are simple but have remained elusive.

People from Maryland will have 13 insurance companies to choose from on their health insurance exchange, state officials announced this morning. The insurance options for California residents on the state’s exchange were also announced late last week amid reports that higher premiums may await those individuals.

Aflac Inc., the largest seller of supplemental health insurance, says President Paul Amos II will have expanded duties for Japan operations and investments as the company prepares for the eventual departure of his father, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Dan Amos, 61.

Willis North America announces the creation of its own private exchange and InsureXSolutions adds ancillary benefits to its existing product list.

Meanwhile, doctors are protesting new guidance for the diagnosis of some mental disorders, including autism, contained in the revised edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders.

Sixty-nine percent of employers tells the IFEBP that they definitely plan to provide employer-sponsored health care when exchanges begin in 2014; in 2012, only 46% of companies were willing to commit to that.

A 65-year-old couple exiting the workforce in 2013 is estimated to need $220,000 to cover health care costs throughout their retirement, an 8% decrease from last year’s $240,000.

With 15 U.S. states opting out of President Barack Obama’s Medicaid expansion, hospitals that treat poor and uninsured patients are asking the government to delay $64 billion in planned funding cuts.

Recent data released by consulting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers looks at how employers were impacted by the health law that took effect in Massachusetts seven years ago. While it’s no true indicator of what will happen in the future, it could nod to some overall trends.

Three of WellPoint Inc.’s 11 board members have stepped down, citing personal reasons for their decision to depart about six weeks after a new chief executive officer took over at the second-largest U.S. health insurer.

On average, employees with both 401(k)s and health savings accounts tend to save more of their annual salaries (8.5% average annual deferral rate) in their DC accounts than employees with just a DC plan (8.1%).