Wellness

With the impact of health care reform still evolving, employers are taking a fresh look at their strategies for keeping employees healthy and productive.

Industry experts say that while unlikely, the historically stable product line may have the potential for price changes as its sales continue to rise.

With specialty drugs expected to reach as much as half of total drug expenditures within the next few years, pharmacy benefit manager CVS Caremark has launched a new program designed to make the process of filling specialty medication prescriptions easier for plan members.

CMS says benefit brokers and advisers are expected to be able to enroll their small business clients on the federal SHOP exchange online by sometime later this year.

To effectively address the reality of the widespread implications of obesity, employers must think beyond wellness programs. They must apply a wide-angle lens to employee health, wellness and even risk.

The U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services has announced training and registration dates, along with requirements, for benefit advisers and brokers who want to enroll small business employers on the federally facilitated SHOP exchange.

Benefit advisers are poised to close the gap between employers’ need to control health costs and comply with the health law and employees’ lack of interest in taking ownership of their health care choices.

Benefit insiders predict a steep decline in small business group health insurance sales in the coming years, which could prove harmful for many independent brokers and agents.

The IRS this month clarified for benefit advisers and their clients that employers cannot escape ACA penalties and taxes via pre-tax premium reimbursement plans.

Benefits managers struggle to measure the real returns on wellness initiatives; achieving the goals of cost savings, cost avoidance and employee engagement requires a well-orchestrated plan. But it's not an impossible task.