Wellness

Drafting a strategic plan is the first step to combat soaring health care expenses impacting employees and employers, many of whom are turning to wellness programs and private exchanges to control costs.

Whether a simple health risk assessment or a complex incentive plan, employee wellness programs have become a fixture of the modern workplace.

Benefits professionals have been on a never-ending regulatory road trip since the Affordable Care Act was passed in 2010 and employers everywhere are asking “are we there yet?”

EY, formerly Ernst & Young, takes an integrated approach with its comprehensive employee assistance program, EY Assist.

Questions over program effectiveness, legality and data storage have employers hesitating to implement such plans.

Asking questions is a vital first step for helping an employee with a medical condition at work, but how do you start that conversation and stay in compliance with ADA regulations?

Commentary: A well-executed and outcomes-based HRA keeps a wellness program running smoothly and effectively because all other elements depend upon its accurate assessment and ongoing data.

Fitness device maker Fitbit now will enter into HIPAA business associate agreements with corporations, health plans and self-insured employers that want to offer its wellness platform to employees.

Measuring wellness results with credible data is a laudable goal, but it’s an incredibly tricky endeavor.

Open enrollment season. Your plans are in check. Your benefits fair is squared away. Your communications strategy is set. It’s game time, right?

Insurers are projecting significant jumps in pharmacy expenses this year, driven primarily by specialty drugs.

Despite the regulatory uncertainty about how the Affordable Care Act’s excise tax will apply to employer-sponsored care offered through onsite clinics, employers appear committed to the concept.

Commentary: A broker whose perception of wellness is limited to seasonal flu shots and employee assistance policies is at a competitive disadvantage compared to a broker who understands the power of connecting health risk assessment and biometric data with claims data.

After a surge in consumer interest in wearable technology, which reached its peak in January, demand has been slowing for wearables over the past six months of 2015.

Commentary: If you want to guarantee that a wellness program doesn’t make any headway in delivering positive results, be sure to commit these five common worksite wellness offenses.

Many employers are now recognizing the need to offer a more holistic approach to wellness and helping employees manage stress cause by personal financial issues.

Advisers need to help clients understand their workforce, outline clear objectives and communicate effectively if employers want to establish a successful wellness program.

Trying to institute a wellness initiative in a poor corporate culture is like making dinner with rotten ingredients.

Despite some progress in making employees smarter consumers of health care, pockets of resistance remain, sometimes in surprising places.

Large employers are playing a waiting game in the coming year on health care cost saving strategies as many wait and see how Washington politics play out.