Insurance

The Affordable Care Act has increased the burden for benefit professionals and forced employers to alter their business practices to comply with the health care reform law, industry experts told Congress.

It’s not often a company finds itself in a market position where it has the flexibility and agility of a newcomer, along with a storied history that provides name recognition and a solid base of existing expertise. Global financial services giant AXA is in this sweet spot as it enters the U.S. employee benefit business for the first time.

A plan’s average account balance is a key metric used by recordkeepers and other service providers to evaluate its health. Increasing it can give sponsors the leverage they need to negotiate lower fees.

While several reasons have been suggested for a plateau effect in public exchange enrollment, it may all come down to dollars and cents, as well as carrots and sticks.

Of the people who purchased health insurance through a public exchange in 2014, 9% more federal exchange participants re-enrolled compared to the state-run marketplaces.

A third of employers say they’ve experienced fines and penalties in the past year because of non-compliance with government regulations, many of which they are simply unaware of. For many, expert advice from benefit advisers could be a real solution.

Enrollment in private health care exchanges hit 6 million for the 2015 plan year, according to Accenture — doubling the 3 million figure from 2014. Most of the growth is in the mid-market segment.

Some universities that provide health insurance to their students are stopping the practice, as they say the Affordable Care Act’s minimal essential health benefits requirements have led to unsustainable cost increases. Those that remain are turning to their brokers to determine the best way to continue offering coverage to their students.

Employees of all ages want disability coverage, but rising health care costs, stagnant wages and cost-shifting keep participation rates low.

Neuroeconomics is a combination of economics, neuroscience and psychology and it can affect how employees make investment decisions in their 401(k) plan.

Six ways employers can lead employees down the path to confident health care consumer behavior.

The Internal Revenue Service and the Treasury Department have issued guidance aimed at making it easier for taxpayers to be automatically enrolled in retirement plans such as 401(k) and 403(b) plans by their employers, simplifying the correction methods if errors are made.

Avoiding the Affordable Care Act's excise tax, set to take effect in 2018, is front-of-mind for many benefits decision-makers.

While the U.S. Supreme Court ponders its decision in King v. Burwell, a senior economist at the nonprofit, nonpartisan RAND Corporation suggests that the time may have come to re-evaluate the tax-favored status of employer-provided health benefits coverage to offset the costs of lost subsidies, maintain budget neutrality and end a bifurcated system that favors the wealthy.

Commentary: Proactive case management is the first step to creating a process for disability leave management that clients can count on, says The Standard’s Sandy Johnson.

Now, more than ever, the retirement plan services industry is placing a greater emphasis on in-plan guaranteed income solutions to help employees achieve better retirement outcomes.

As health evaluations move further center stage – be it via celebrities pushing for cancer screenings or companies including health assessments in wellness programs – it is becoming clear that to take full advantage of the health opportunities available, employees need to know as much as possible about their current health status.

Voluntary business is a well-known tool for brokers to increase their revenue while offering new products. But many employers are hesitant to add these products because of additional administrative burdens they can require. Enter the private health care exchange, says Carlos Ferrera, COO of Solstice Benefits and the Solstice Marketplace. With an exchange, the burden is gone, he says.

From its broker recruitment efforts to commission-based business model, common misconceptions and areas of business Zenefits will never enter, former CEO Parker Conrad got candid on the future of the fastest growing small-group brokerage in the country in a May 2015 EBA interview.

UnitedHealth Group’s $12.8 billion purchase of pharmacy benefit manager Catamaran Corp. continues a trend of PBM acquisitions, and there’s more to come, industry consultants say. In the long term, that may mean lower costs and more data availability for employers.