Healthcare plans

Benefits and benchmarking go hand in hand, particularly for health and retirement plans. The National Compensation Survey on Health and Retirement Plan Provisions in Private Industry report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics provides benchmarking data for workplace health and retirement benefits.

Half of America’s households (about 58 million) claim to be underinsured when it comes to life insurance, according to a new study from LIMRA. The study, “Trillion Dollar Baby Growing Up,” revealed as much as $17.5 trillion in untapped sales potential for the life insurance market.

In 2012 the rate of medical inflation will continue to rise, PricewaterhouseCoopers reports. Employers are frustrated - not so much by the high cost of the medical as by the apparently intractable upward cost trend that is making benefits plans unsustainable.

The U.S. health care payments industry is undergoing changes as it grapples with inefficiencies in how patients, payers and providers exchange information and money. At the same time, it must respond to economic pressures, government reforms and other dynamics while it focuses on quality, value and cost reduction.

There's a lot of strategic talk in Big Sky Country these days about the power of biometric screenings, health care analytics, value-based pharmacy benefit management, captives insurance and state-run health cooperatives under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.

Not since TV's "Dallas" asked, "Who killed JR?" has our nation faced such an important mystery: Who killed consumer-directed health care? After all, a few years ago, many of us thought that the long struggle to control health care cost inflation was about to end happily.

LIMRA released its “U.S. Individual Life Insurance Sales” report, which indicates total individual life insurance new annualized premium increased 4% in the first half of 2011.

With the prevalence of childhood obesity in the United States nearly tripling over the past 30 years, now is the time for employers to take the lead in the battle against the growing problem of overweight and obese children, according to the National Business Group on Health. Obesity is a growing epidemic affecting children, their families and the nation. The United States currently has the highest percentage of overweight youth in its history. More than one-third…

Since 2008, Mass Metal in Lawrence, Kan., has helped individuals buy, hold and sell gold and silver through its online service, SilverSaver. Now the company is offering SilverSaver as a voluntary benefit program.

For workers' compensation insurers, costs are going up as the market shrinks, according to a recent report released by the National Academy of Social Insurance, observing they are fighting to pay more for smaller slices of the pie.

Consumer driven health plans continue to grow in popularity despite a waning impact on cost control, according to preliminary results in a recent United Benefits Advisors survey.

Although concerned about challenges in the business environment, brokers and consultants are confident they will find a variety of ways to prosper, according to MetLife’s Broker and Consultant Study released last week.

One of the primary features of the Affordable Care Act is the establishment of state-based health insurance exchanges.

The U.S. IDI market saw a significant drop in premiums between 2008 and 2009, and while that drop continued between 2009 and 2010, it was far less severe, according to global consulting and actuarial firm Milliman Inc. Even with the premium drop, there is an underlying strength in claim experience and overall profitability, Milliman concludes in its annual IDI market survey.

Senator Mike Enzi (R-Wyo.), ranking member on the senate health, education, labor and pensions (HELP) committee, released a report Tuesday showing access to child-only health insurance plans has declined significantly since passage of the new health care law. Enzi says the Department of Health and Human Services has failed to take action to address problems created by the new regulations.

Despite a down economy, customers are willing to pay for more quality from their health insurance providers, according to a recent survey. In fact, close to 50% of those queried say they are willing to pay more for quality customer service.

Almost half of employers surveyed in July by Colonial Life & Accident Insurance Company say they plan to add voluntary benefits to their plans within the next year.

CHICAGO — There is a need for an “extreme makeover” in the house of benefits with a delivery system built on partnership, collaboration, accountability and engagement — rather than competitiveness, says Larry Boress of the Midwest Business Group on Health. Read more from Associate Editor Brian Kalish as he reports from Employee Benefit Adviser’s Workplace Benefits Mania Conference at the Fairmont Chicago Millennium Park.

Unum has partnered with United Concordia and will soon offer dental benefits.

It was about seven years ago that a client of Matt McQuide approached the vice president at Benefit Controls Companies with a serious, if not uncommon, problem. The 1,000-employee textile firm was experiencing unsustainable rate increases of at least 9% to 11% a year. "They looked at us and said, 'If this continues, we won't have a business,'" McQuide recalls.