When employers evaluate health benefit plans for their employees, factors such as coverage, cost and customer service are typically cited as most important. However, companies nationwide are looking for innovative ways to help improve employee health and more effectively manage costs, including adopting new value-based care approaches that put more emphasis on paying for patients’ […]
President Trump on Friday unveiled his blueprint to lower drug costs through increased competition, improved negotiation and creating incentives to lower list prices and out-of-pocket costs for consumers. While he called out certain players “in the middle” for their cost-driving behaviors, there’s a big problem with his recommendations: They do not place a priority on […]
WASHINGTON, DC — While the drumbeat of repealing and replacing the Affordable Care Act has died down since last year, employers must still be aware of the White House’s plans to change the healthcare landscape. There are still some initiatives like President Donald Trump’s Oct. 12 executive order requiring the Department of Labor to adopt regulations that […]
Small and midsize businesses seeking flexible benefit plans for their employees that also provide a means to contain costs often feel their options are limited. The fully insured world restricts flexible and creative plan options, and many employers are stuck in a cycle of paying steep increases year over year because they’re being pooled with […]
The Internal Revenue Service is beginning to send out Employer Shared Responsibility Payment notices to employers that it believes failed to comply with the ACA coverage requirements in 2015 calendar year. Some employers receiving these notices actually complied with the ACA requirements in 2015, but the IRS received inaccurate or incomplete information and has thus […]
The annual limit on deductible contributions to a health savings account will jump by $50 for individuals and $100 for families next year, the IRS announced late last week. For 2019, the annual limit on deductible contributions will be $3,500 for individuals with self-only coverage, a $50 increase from 2018, and $7,000 for family coverage, […]
(Bloomberg) – The Trump administration is siding with Texas in the state’s bid to convince a federal judge that Obamacare is largely unconstitutional. The Justice Department is tasked with defending federal statutes. But in this instance it agrees with the state that the individual mandate and other requirements should be deemed illegitimate as of Jan. […]
Risk is discussed in many contexts in the retirement plan industry. It comes up as a sales tactic; as good counsel from trusted advisors preaching procedural prudence; or, often, in the form of intimidating industry vernacular like fiduciary liability, fidelity bond or the big, bad Department of Labor. This DOL paranoia is an underlying motivation […]
It’s a common benefit to offer, and one that can add up quickly. It’s an employer paying out accumulated unused sick, vacation or any other form of financial incentive to their employees at retirement. The figures add up. In New York, an attorney in the city’s law department received a $211,779 payout after stockpiling 120 […]
Health savings accounts are rising in popularity as more employers turn to high-deductible health plans as a means of saving themselves and their employees money on healthcare. Fidelity Investments says that in 2017, 112 new employers began offering health savings accounts to employees and that the company saw a 50% increase in the number of […]
