Health Care

Using Mental Health Apps as Part of Your Employee Wellness Strategy

Using Mental Health Apps as Part of Your Employee Wellness Strategy

Robbie Hartman, CEBS
 

Digital mental health tools have been growing in popularity, especially as plans and organizations navigate lockdowns and remote work arrangements that have kept employees apart during the COVID-19 pandemic. Many of these tools deliver mental health resources, programs and education through self-service […]

How Do Multiemployer Plans Claim COBRA Premium Assistance Credit?

How Do Multiemployer Plans Claim COBRA Premium Assistance Credit?

Jenny Gartman, CEBS
 

​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 […]

18 Prescription Drug Cost-Containment Strategies For Your Plan

18 Prescription Drug Cost-Containment Strategies For Your Plan

Justin Held, CEBS
 

Benefits practitioners have grown accustomed to headlines addressing the escalating costs of prescription drug spending. Despite concerted efforts, the cost of commonly prescribed brand-name drugs continues to grow at alarming rates. A recent study from the University of Pittsburgh stated that over […]

DOL Releases Model Notices for COBRA Subsidy Under the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021

DOL Releases Model Notices for COBRA Subsidy Under the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (ARPA)

Jenny Gartman, CEBS
 

​Thirty-five years ago this month, the Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1985 (COBRA) was signed into law. COBRA provides a way for workers and their families to temporarily maintain their employer-provided health insurance during situations such as job loss or a […]

Meeting the Benefit Needs of Your LGBTQ+ Plan Members

Meeting the Benefit Needs of Your LGBTQ+ Plan Members

Robbie Hartman, CEBS
 

Increasing numbers of people are identifying as LGBTQ+, particularly among younger generations now entering workplaces, but their needs are often underserved in the design and administration of benefit plans. Employers and plan sponsors that proactively make their plans more inclusive—from enrollment forms […]

Organizations Face New Health and Retirement Benefit Implications Due to COVID-19

Organizations Face New Health and Retirement Benefit Implications Due to COVID-19

Anne Patterson
 

How has the COVID-19 pandemic impacted employee benefits? The International Foundation has been tracking implications for workplaces across the country, providing a snapshot of the difficult decisions employers and their workers are making regarding their retirement and health care benefits. The latest […]