Know whos receiving benefits and if they should be
Controlling rising health care costs is crucial for all employers, and conducting regular dependent eligibility audits can help.
Insurance
Can mid-season enrollment increase voluntary benefit participation?
Mid-year enrollment of voluntary benefits is gaining popularity, but benefit experts caution the strategy is not right for everyone.
Hotel chain moves employees to private exchange
Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide is the latest big-name company to move its active employee base to a private exchange, joining other brand-name companies such as Time, Inc., Sears, Darden Restaurants and Walgreens.
Biosimilars: What employers need to know
Novartis Zarxio is the first biosimilar product approved in the United States, ushering in a new era for the drug industry, consumers and third parties who manage medical and drug benefits.
Employee ignorance is not bliss on retiree health costs
How many of your employees will be short of money in retirement if they ignore the prospect of requiring long-term care? Answer: All of them.
Proposed changes to SBC concern large employers
Proposed changes to the Affordable Care Acts summary of benefits and coverage and uniform glossary are coming under fire from business groups who say the implementation time frame does not give them enough time to comply with the new requirements.
Benefits Think 2 ways to fill your pipeline with the right prospects
Commentary: Agency growth is completely dependent on producer pipelines. Yet, we typically see producers struggling with one of two situations: either they have empty pipelines or ones filled with the wrong opportunities.
Wendy Keneipp
Q4intelligence
Finding the right carrier partner
The broker-carrier relationship, especially one as long-lasting as Bob and William Taylors with Florida Blue and Darnell Smith, is dynamic and continuously evolving. EBA examines what makes this necessary partnership tick and introduces the top large-group insurance carriers in the country.
CO-OP caveats mount following key liquidation
One key consumer-operated and oriented plan based in the Midwest recently lost the battle for hearts, minds and pocketbooks along the highly competitive landscape of an emerging online marketplace when it was forced to liquidate, but does that spell doom for other CO-OPs?
Benefits Think CDHP transition troublesome for employers, employees alike
For companies transitioning to a consumer-directed health plan, the most important point to keep in mind is that the health plan a business adopts may not be as critical as how the business handles the transition to the plan.
Deb Dominianni
Pinnacle Care
Burwell: Insurance industrys expertise is critical
A strong relationship will lead to a better health care system and more informed consumers, HHS secretary says.
Employees want choice, but generally content with health coverage
The Affordable Care Act does not appear to have seriously eroded employees appetite for and confidence in receiving health benefits from their employer.
Benefits Think The limitations of self-service enrollment
Despite the trend towards online enrollment, employers who deploy a self-service enrollment for their workforce often discover that it can backfire, resulting in frustrated employees.
Louis J. Pantalone
Univers Workplace Solutions
Benefits Think Why skinny plans are getting fatter
In light of federal rules issued late last year, some types of skinny health plans are dead. But are all skinny plans dead? Maybe they just need to bulk up a bit.
John Turner
Corporate Synergies
Your clients want compliance help now more than ever
Advisers need to stay current on technology regulations to help employers, many of which are using multiple IT systems a strategy that could lead to penalties.
For companies with challenges, private exchanges present opportunity
Despite predictions that private exchange enrollment will hit 30 million in 2017, employers remain cautious about them, including those early adopters who say they had little choice but to move to one.
Benefits Think What employers need to know about the FSA grace period
If your flexible spending account plan had a year-end deadline of Dec. 31, employees could still have more time to use their leftover FSA funds, if you offer a grace period.
Jeremy Miller
FSAstore.com
A view of King v. Burwell from inside the courtroom
Commentary: The Supreme Court justices were very active in questioning both parties, although the most probing questions were aimed at the plaintiffs plus one often overlooked consequence should the court decide in the plaintiffs' favor.
Customized financial educational key to reducing employee stress
Can employees stressed out about their personal finances be as productive as those who are not? Not likely.
Benefits Think The demise of small- and mid-sized benefit brokers is greatly exaggerated
Commentary: Sometimes the market changes in a way where these size businesses may be better positioned for success. Now may be that time, says tech adviser Joe Markland.
Joe Markland
Nfor1