The article below was published on September 13, 2017 by Employee Benefit News, written by Robert Lawton. With healthcare open enrollment season quickly approaching, 401(k) plan sponsors may want to spend some time educating participants on the use of health savings accounts. If you offer a high-deductible health plan to your employees, they probably have [...]
When a plan member was referred recently to a New York area physician for a sleep study, she took it upon herself to compare costs at other facilities. Her research quickly showed that the provider’s price of $4,302 was much higher than the “fair” price of $1,300 available at another facility in her area. By [...]
As if businesses in Illinois don’t have enough concerns, the General Assembly has introduced bills mandating a minimum of five (5) paid sick days per year for Illinois workers. Employees would be able to use the time to care for themselves or a family member, attend a medical appointment for themselves or a family member, [...]
The article below was published on September 5, 2017 by Employee Benefit News, written by Arthur Jonokuchi. When it comes to healthcare plan administration, ASOs (administrative services only) say they offer a big discount to self-funded plans. If you look closer, however, you’ll see that they actually do come with a cost, both monetarily and [...]
The Altarum Center for Sustainable Health Spending reports a significant drop in health hiring, pricing and spending during the first five months of this year. On average, 22,000 jobs per month were added by hospitals and ambulatory care facilities, compared to 32,000 per month during the same period in 2016. While the healthcare sector continues [...]
The article below was published on August 19, 2017 by Green Bay Press-Gazette, written by Mike Ferguson. Photo Source: Minerva Studio, Getty Images Wisconsin lawmakers are at an impasse over the state budget. Senate leaders can't agree with their Assembly counterparts on how to fund road repairs, schools, and various agencies. Resolving this [...]
In New York, industry efforts to support self-funding for smaller groups have led to legislation extending the grandfathering of existing stop-loss policies for groups of 51 to 100 for an additional year, through January 1, 2019. Other legislation impacting access to stop-loss insurance products by smaller groups has taken effect in Minnesota and is slated [...]
All the talk about repeal and replace seems to have lulled many plan sponsors into a false sense of security, thinking that ACA regulations weren’t going to be enforced. Unfortunately, the IRS is preparing to begin penalizing non-compliant plans, which is why we continue to encourage our clients to keep their eye on the ball [...]
The article below was published on August 7, 2017 by Bloomberg BNA, written by Sara Hansard. Small and midsized companies are increasingly providing their own health coverage for employees instead of buying fully insured plans since Obamacare was enacted in 2010. As the Affordable Care Act drives up premiums because of more requirements and taxes, [...]
The article below was published on August 4, 2017 by Employee Benefit News, written by Eric Brewer. High-deductible health plans with health savings accounts are becoming more popular as benefits consumerism increases throughout the country. Enrolling your employees in HDHPs is one way to educate them on the true cost of healthcare. And if they [...]
