“I like mine with lettuce and tomato, Heinz 57 and French-fried potatoes . . . ” Even if you’re not a Jimmy Buffet fan (a.k.a. Parrothead), you can appreciate the fact that everyone likes their burger a little different. Customization is also […]
Tailoring pension and benefits messages by age or generation is a good first step toward helping plan members make better decisions. But that may not go far enough. “An evolution is coming to more personalized retirement and benefit plan communications,” said Michelle Oram, […]
One of the challenges of being in the benefits field is persuading people to take action. We want them to participate in an annual health risk assessment, exercise, get their children vaccinated, save for retirement . . . the list goes on […]
As I was writing the short blog you can’t wait to read below, I couldn’t help but think of the classic phrase, “The shoemaker’s children always go without shoes.” You’ll find out why in a second. This proverb dates back to the […]
Rarely does a day pass when there isn’t a news headline decrying how few people are saving for retirement, and among those who are saving, most aren’t saving enough. With all the warnings of a retirement crisis and people facing poverty in […]
Preventive care is vital to keep your employees healthy. The more employees take advantage of available preventive care, the more cost-effective their care becomes. They stay healthy, you save on health care costs—It’s a win-win for employees and employers. You know that […]
Employers and employees alike are well aware of the complexities involved in the implementation of the Affordable Care Act (ACA). The results from our most recent survey show that about 40% of organizations rate their employees’ understanding as either poor or very […]
Have you ever tried to make sense of health care bills after a serious illness? Did you fantasize about marching into your insurance company president’s office, handing him or her a box full of EOBs and demanding a real explanation of your […]
Soon the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) will begin notifying employers about employees receiving advance premium tax credits (APTC) or subsidies for 2016 on the ACA federally facilitated exchange. For an idea of what the notice will look like, see […]
If you are a baseball fan, you are probably familiar with this quote often credited to legendary baseball coach Sparky Anderson—”Losing hurts twice as bad as winning feels good.” I’ve got to wonder whether Sparky knew how right he was. His words […]