Wellness

As employers face the threat of EEOC investigations into their wellness programs, Congress contemplates legislation in support of financial incentives for wellness programs. But are employers focused on the wrong issue?

Employers and benefit professionals are urging Congress to pass legislation that would allow employers to offer financial incentives for wellness program participation, despite recent opposition from the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission

Although most employers who move to private exchanges are seeing some cost savings below trend in their initial years, that is not sustainable over time, says Rob Harkins, practice leader, private exchanges at Willis Group. For Willis, the exchange is not designed to be a long-term money-saving product on its own, but rather part of a larger program for its clients to manage health and wellbeing.

Although employee “well-being” programs remain highly popular, few employers actually have a strategy behind them.

Increased utilization of EAP and wellness services, the emergence of fatigue management programs and more demand for mobile health applications are a few of the predictions for this year, according to Chestnut Global Partners.

The patchwork of marriage laws across the country imposes an administrative and financial burden on employers, says a recent amicus brief filed on behalf of large employers in an upcoming Supreme Court case.

More employers are making disability income benefits available to employees, at the same time that the proportion of those employees who have access to disability income DI coverage choosing to take advantage of it is edging downward.

Calling it the most personal device the company has ever created, Apple on Monday officially launched its smartwatch designed as a “comprehensive health and fitness companion.”

Americans are sedentary, and physical activity levels are abysmal. It’s no secret that being active is associated with profound benefits.

Senior executives “get” the link between employee health and performance to a greater degree than middle and front-line managers, and this could be be significant for departments locked in budget battles seeking greater resources for health promotion efforts.

Employees are sitting too long, not using all their vacation, survey finds.

More and more employers are looking beyond curbing health care costs when measuring the success of health and wellness programs.

The definition of wellness seems to be broadening, with benefits such as vacation days, community volunteering and workplace celebrations taking the stage as top wellness initiatives,

Having a goal, understanding the workforce and communicating in a variety of ways helps increase participation.

Commentary: Collective information is the new frontier when it comes to big data in the health care realm, says Lockton’s Kayla O’Neal

Smartphone-based activity and fitness apps are just as accurate as those found on dedicated wearable devices, and may be a more economical alternative for most people.

Eight years after drugstore chain giant CVS bought PBM Caremark, Rite Aid followed suit yesterday in announcing plans to acquire EnvisionRx, a 14-year-old PBM with estimated 2015 revenue of $5 billion, and 21 million covered lives.

For employers battling absenteeism or looking to reinvent current policies, creating a solid philosophy which includes robust return-to-work and employee wellness programs will be vital in increasing attendance.

Would saving an extra $200 billion in health care costs a year sound nice? No, it’s not another ploy to get rid of the ACA … for once. Annually, between $100 billion and $289 billion is spent on hospital visits due to patients failing to adhere to their prescription medicines

In the next five years, when it comes to managing costs, wellness offerings and family coverage, C-level executives and benefit managers both cite four changes expected in the next five years, but executives and managers each weigh in differently on their importance.