Healthcare plans

I find Walmart to be a wholly disconcerting place. I just find it very strange that it sells tires, toothpaste, turkeys, tinsel and t-shirts all under the same gigantic roof — and markets this as a good thing. One-stop shopping is one thing, but sheesh. Anyway, Walmart has confused me once more, with two recent developments. Last month, the nation’s largest retailer and private employer announced it would stop providing health benefits to its part-time workforce.…

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has issued its first rebuke to an insurer under the federal rate review provision of the Affordable Care Act.

With an eye on both their employees’ health and their bottom line, multiemployer and public employer plans are rapidly embracing value-based health care — an outcome-driven, consumer-centered approach that focuses not on the dollars being spent, but on how those dollars can improve employees’ health.

The report, “Prolonged Low Interest Rates Take Longer-Term Toll,” says depending on the amount of annuities and other interest-sensitive products in their product, U.S. life insurers may face a considerable amount of interest rate risk. “Despite a moderate uptick in rates through October 2011, the Federal Reserve’s unprecedented announcement of its intention to maintain record low rates through 2013 will further challenge insurers selling interest-sensitive life and annuity products,” the report states. “In addition, the latest Fed stimulus program (Operation Twist) has the potential to lower Treasury yields at the longer end of the yield curve.”

Bereaved spouses who have a relationship with a financial adviser can find the support invaluable in recovering their family’s financial bearings, according to a new survey. The poll, conducted by the New York Life Foundation and the National Alliance for Grieving Children, surveyed 548 parents who lost a spouse or partner and who still had children under the age of 19 at home. …

The House Ways and Means Oversight Subcommittee held a hearing to discuss the relative unpopularity of the Small Business Health Tax Credit that is part of the health care reform law.

The nonprofit Center for Health Value Innovation released the initial results of employers completing the Health Value Accelerator finding that over 20 cents out of every dollar of revenue are going toward health care costs that are under-managed.

The percentage of Americans who have health insurance through their employer slipped to a new low of 44.5% in the third quarter, a drop of over 5 percentage points in three years, according to a poll released last week.

The percentage of Americans who have health insurance through their employer slipped to a new low of 44.5% in the third quarter, a drop of over 5 percentage points in three years, according to a poll released on Friday.

Employers and employees alike have found a more affordable health care option in health savings accounts, according to two national surveys released last week.

Millennials are by far the most confident about their ability to make the right benefit decisions, with 96% feeling “highly confident” versus 66% of Gen Xers and 64% of baby boomers, according to a recent survey conducted by The Guardian Life Insurance Company of America. However, nearly 80% of employees spend less than two hours evaluating their group medical, dental, life and disability insurance options and those same Millennials are in danger of being uninsured, according to the survey.

More than 30% of respondents say overweight or obese individuals should have to fork out more for health insurance, according to the most recent Thomas Reuters-NPR Health Poll.

Why do these plans offer tremendous value to both employers and employees? In today’s BeAdvised Samuel Fleet explains why these plans can also act as a strong recruitment tool for top executives.

Advisers take note: It’s not a company’s size but rather the demographic makeup of its workforce that influences whether or not it sponsors a retirement plan.

Some of the federal health care law's requirements related to insurance exchanges threaten the autonomy of U.S. states, which need more support in establishing the marketplaces, state governors said in a letter released last week.

I love how quickly technology propels us all forward. Ten years ago, talk of the cloud was confined to weather reports, or when you played that game where you point at clouds and name what objects they look like. Now, cloud technology is helping us with everything from increased data security to managing and delivering benefits. …

Open enrollment for benefits ends today at the University of Illinois at Chicago, and Jason Rothstein, 40, has just finished all the needed paperwork. Once again, his health insurance premiums will go up - about 5 to 6% in 2012. And, as an employee with earnings in the $61,000 to $76,000 range, he'll pay more for his insurance than colleagues at a lower salary level.

The long term care market continues to be in turmoil for group benefits and voluntary producers. You probably noticed the federal government couldn’t figure it out and has punted as of a recent announcement by HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius. “Health officials said that after 19 months of analysis, they could not come up with a model for the so-called CLASS Act that keeps it voluntary and budget-neutral.” …

Nationwide Better Health, part of Nationwide Mutual Insurance Company, closed its doors Sept. 1 after five years in the wellness and productivity business. The company announced on May 25 that Nationwide would sell its productivity services to Sedgwick Claims Management Services Inc. and wind down disease management and wellness programs.

Like a lot of companies, Veridian Credit Union wants its employees to be healthier. In January, the Waterloo, Iowa-company rolled out a wellness program and voluntary screenings.