Health Care Archives - Page 22 of 37

Proposed HRA Regulations Could Change Employer Health Plan Landscape

Lois Gleason, CEBS

08 Nov 201827 Jun 2019

On October 29, 2018, the Departments of Labor, Treasury and Health and Human Services (the Departments) together issued a proposed rule that could in the future allow employers to use health reimbursement arrangements (HRAs) to reimburse employees for the cost of individual […]

Strategies for Controlling Prescription Drug Costs

Justin Held, CEBS

15 Oct 201810 Oct 2018

Benefits practitioners have grown accustomed to headlines addressing escalating prescription drug costs. A recently released congressional report stated that the prices of commonly prescribed brand-name drugs have risen at a rate of nearly ten times the annual rate of inflation over the […]

Employee Benefits Health Care Talking Benefits Podcast

Does Telemedicine Live Up to the Hype?

Anne Patterson

25 Sep 201818 May 2020

Each month on Talking Benefits, I join Julie Stich, Kelli Kolsrud and Justin Held, International Foundation benefits nerdthusiasts, to discuss a trending employee benefits topic we think our listeners want to know more about (and if they didn’t think they wanted to know, they […]

Canada Employee Benefits Health Care

How Technology Can Transform the Future of Health Care

Robbie Hartman, CEBS

19 Sep 201818 Sep 2018

“Information is growing faster than we can handle and analyze efficiently, and medical data is expected to double every 73 days by 2020,” says Nathalie Le Prohon, vice president, health care industry for IBM Canada in Montreal, Quebec. But developments in technology […]

Employee Benefits Health Care

Average Deductibles This Open Enrollment Season

Staff

11 Sep 2018

With open enrollment season here, health insurance—and its costs—are hot topics. Wondering how your organization’s health care offerings compare to your peers’? A new report, Employee Benefits Survey: 2018 Results, examines the types of health care plans offered by employers, the average deductible […]

Employee Benefits Health Care Prescription Drugs

Opioid Crisis and the Workforce: A Firsthand Perspective

Kathy Bergstrom, CEBS

05 Sep 201821 Jan 2019

The opioid crisis has far-reaching impacts in both the United States and Canada, including the workforce. John S. Gaal, Ed.D., director of training for St. Louis-Kansas City Carpenters Regional Council, saw firsthand the impact opioid abuse has had on the construction industry […]

Employee Benefits Health Care

Group Medicare Advantage Plans—Tips for Plan Sponsors

Anne Newhouse, CEBS

30 Aug 2018

Although the number of retiree health plans has been declining in recent years, there are still plenty of employers looking for cost-effective and flexible options to cover retirees aged 65 and older. Medicare is available beginning at the age of 65, although […]

Health Care

Short-Term Limited-Duration Health Insurance: Not So Short Anymore

Lois Gleason, CEBS

22 Aug 201821 Aug 2018

Short-term limited-duration health insurance just got longer and less limited. What happened? On August 2, 2018, the U.S. Departments of Treasury, Labor, and Health and Human Services released a final rule on short-term limited-duration (STLD) health insurance, effective October 2, 2018. Why […]

Employee Benefits Health Care

Thought the ACA Individual Mandate Was History? Think Again!

Kelli Kolsrud, CEBS

26 Jul 201812 Dec 2019

It was big Affordable Care Act (ACA) news at the end of 2017 when the newly enacted tax reform law included a provision to drop the individual mandate penalty to zero dollars starting in 2019. Although it wasn’t technically a repeal of […]

Employee Benefits Health Care

Do Association Health Plans Have to Cover Essential Health Benefits?

Lois Gleason, CEBS

19 Jul 201824 Aug 2018

Association health plans (AHPs) are not new. So why are they now in the news? Recent federal regulations make it easier for groups of employers and small business owners with little in common to form or join AHPs that are treated as […]