By Lisa Gillespie, Kaiser Health News More than half of large employers in 2016 will aim to more tightly manage employees’ use of high-priced specialty … Read more
Big Challenges Are Looming For HR With Affordable Care Act Compliance
The U.S. Supreme Court’s recent decision in favor of the administration in King v. Burwell should erase any lingering doubt that complying with the … Read more
High-Deductible Health Plans: Savings Now, But Problems For Workers Later?
Got a high-deductible health plan? The kind that doesn’t pay most medical bills until they exceed several thousand dollars? If so, you or your employees … Read more
Study: Obamacare Has Little Impact on Employer-Sponsored Health Coverage
There has been much hand wringing over the health law requirement that large employers this year offer insurance to workers who put in 30 or more hours a … Read more
Can Your Company Require an Employee to Buy Health Insurance?
Under the Affordable Care Act, large employers that don’t offer their full-time workers comprehensive, affordable health insurance face a fine. But some … Read more
Congress Looks to Provide Clarity on Employee Wellness Programs
By Ilyse Wolens Schuman and Michael J. Lotito As promised during a Senate hearing conducted earlier this year, members of the House and Senate have … Read more
Senate Committee Told EEOC Must Provide Guidance on Wellness Plans
Editor’s note: Weekly Wrap is taking the week off. It will return next Friday. By Ilyse Wolens Schuman Recent actions by the Equal Employment … Read more
What Is a Full-Time Employee? Senate Panel Hears It’s Not 30 Hours a Week
By Ilyse Wolens Schuman During the first employment-related hearing conducted Friday by the new Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions … Read more
Small Businesses Drop Health Coverage Due to Obamacare Alternatives
For two decades Atlanta restaurant owner Jim Dunn offered a group health plan to his managers and helped pay for it. That ended Dec. 1, after the … Read more
Employers Love Wellness Plans, But the Question is – Do They Even Work?
If you get health insurance at work, chances are you have some sort of wellness plan, too. But so far there’s no real evidence as to whether these plans … Read more
The Challenges an Employee May Have Switching to a Spouse’s Insurance
If a married couple who each have health insurance through a job want to switch coverage from one employer to the other, usually it’s a snap. During the … Read more
Biggest Loser Contests at Work? Only If They Pass Muster With the EEOC
By Howard Mavity We are again running a Biggest Loser Contest among our 31 offices and will award prizes, beginning at $1,000, to individuals who lose the … Read more
Feds Warn Employers Not to Dump Sick Workers From Health Plans
As employers try to minimize expenses under the health law, the Obama Administration has warned them against paying high-cost workers to leave the company … Read more
EEOC to Offer Employers Guidance on Wellness Programs
By Eric B. Meyer The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission is obsessed with wellness programs. Or, as the EEOC likes to describe them … Read more
Big Changes For Workplace Health Plans: 6 Pitfalls to Watch For in 2015
You don’t get a pass this year on big health insurance decisions because you and your employees are not shopping in an Affordable Care Act marketplace. … Read more
What You and Your Business Need to Know About Obamacare, Year 2
For business owners, two things in life are certain: taxes and rising health care costs. The two become nearly interchangeable when new IRS Health Care … Read more
Costs Are Rising (Even If Premiums Aren’t) For 2015 Health Care
Fall is enrollment season for many people who get insurance through their workplace. Premium increases for 2015 plans are expected to be modest on average, … Read more
Study: Minimal Savings For Employers Who Cap Medical Payments
In an effort to slow health care spending, more employers are looking at capping what they pay for certain procedures — like joint replacements — and … Read more
Growing Debate Over Employer Health Plans With No Hospital Benefits
Lance Shnider is confident Obamacare regulators knew exactly what they were doing when they created an online calculator that gives a green light to new … Read more
Software Flaw Lets Employers Offer Health Plans Without Hospital Benefits
A flaw in the federal calculator for certifying that insurance meets the health law’s toughest standard is leading dozens of large employers to offer plans … Read more