health care costs Archives - Page 2 of 2

How Do Multiemployer Plans Claim COBRA Premium Assistance Credit?

Jenny Gartman, CEBS

09 Jun 202108 Jun 2021

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has issued Notice 2021-31 which provides guidance for multiemployer plans and plan administrators regarding the new credit available to them for providing continuation health coverage to certain individuals under COBRA. We summarized the COBRA changes under American […]

Canada Employee Benefits Health Care Wellness

Legal and Practical Considerations for Virtual Health Care in Canada

Alyssa Hodder, GBA

19 May 202118 May 2021

There’s no question that the pandemic has accelerated the adoption of virtual health care in Canada, but we’re now learning that it’s not just a transitional measure. A panel at our recent virtual conference, Today’s Legal and Legislative Landscape Across Canada, explored […]

Coronavirus (COVID-19) Defined Benefit (DB) Plans Defined Contribution (DC) Plans Dependent Care Employee Benefits Health Care Multiemployer Paid Leave U.S.

Employee Benefits and COVID-19: Changing the Future of Benefits Today

Kathy Bergstrom, CEBS

17 Feb 202116 Feb 2021

The COVID-19 pandemic is likely to bring long-lasting changes to life in the United States, and those changes will be reflected in employee benefits. How COVID-19 could affect health, retirement and other benefits even after the pandemic is over is discussed in […]

Disease Management Employee Benefits Employee Benefits Survey Health Care Mental Health U.S.

21 Ways Employers Are Combating Escalating Health Care Costs in 2021

Justin Held, CEBS

27 Jan 202126 Jan 2021

Over the next ten years, health care spending in the United States is projected to increase at an annual rate of 5.4%. In response to the cost escalation, plan sponsors in corporate, multiemployer and public employer environments are looking for ways to […]

Coronavirus (COVID-19) Employee Benefits Health Care

Next Steps for Health Plans During and After COVID-19

Kathy Bergstrom, CEBS

04 Jun 202003 Jun 2020

Unless they had multiple members who contracted COVID-19, many health plans may have experienced a temporary reprieve from rising health care costs as plan participants delayed care while the country was shut down. But any decline is likely temporary, explained the Mayo […]

Employee Benefits Health Care

“Transparency in Coverage” Rule: Potential Requirements for Employers

Anne Newhouse, CEBS

21 Jan 202021 Jan 2020

On June 24, 2019, President Trump issued an executive order directing various federal agencies to develop new rules or regulations on improving price and quality transparency. As a result, on November 15, 2019, the Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and […]

Affordable Care Act (ACA) Employee Benefits Health Care Prescription Drugs

Managing Health Plan Costs After the Removal of Annual and Lifetime Limits

Kathy Bergstrom, CEBS

12 Dec 201911 Dec 2019

If you watch television at all, you probably have a pretty keen awareness that there are all kinds of new and amazing drugs on the market these days. Some cure previously incurable diseases and even save lives. But these drugs and other […]

Employee Benefits Health Care

Top 5 Costliest Health Conditions for Employers

Staff

05 Dec 201904 Dec 2019

A new International Foundation report Workplace Wellness Trends finds that musculoskeletal conditions, such as arthritis and back or neck pain, are the most costly condition for employers in the United States. The survey asked plan sponsors to choose the three conditions that […]

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 Mental Health Opioid Abuse Prescription Drugs

4 Ways to Control Substance Abuse Treatment Costs

Kathy Bergstrom, CEBS

18 Jun 201820 Jun 2018

Treating opioid addiction has become a costly problem for health plans. Particularly troubling are reports of unethical treatment facilities that exploit patients, failing to deliver on their promises of recovery. Because many of these facilities are not in-network health care providers, they […]