Insurance

Family health insurance is no longer affordable through small employers

12/20/2023

Workers at small firms—those with fewer than 200 employees—would need to pay $8,334 on average toward the annual premiums for family coverage. But an employee’s share of premiums is often much more expensive—a quarter of covered workers at small firms must pay $12,000 or more annually.

Health insurance coverage of blockbuster meds depends on prescription

12/20/2023

Many of your employees may be asking whether blockbuster weight-loss drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy are covered by your health plan. The answer, according to a new survey by the International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans, probably depends on how the prescription is written.

As pharmaceutical prices soar, manage employee expectations about health-care costs

11/21/2023

It’s December, and by now your employees have already selected their preferred health plan for 2024. Chances are, you saw a significant increase in the cost of health insurance premiums. The cost of covering so-called blockbuster specialty drugs likely pushed costs higher.

Health-benefits costs jumped 5.2% in 2023 due to inflation, higher pharma costs

11/20/2023

The average per-employee cost of employer-sponsored health insurance rose by 5.2% in 2023 to reach $15,797. That’s a big jump compared to 2022, according to the Mercer consulting firm’s annual National Survey of Employer-Sponsored Health Plans.

Cost of employer-sponsored health insurance rose 7% this year, totaling almost $24K

10/30/2023

Amid rising inflation, annual family premiums for employer-sponsored health insurance climbed an average of 7% this year to reach $23,968, a sharp departure from virtually no growth in premiums last year, the 2023 benchmark KFF Employer Health Benefits Survey finds.

Benefits: Employers target health-care costs, mental health as they look toward 2024

10/23/2023

More than six out of 10 employers responding to a new Willis Towers Watson survey agree about their primary concerns as they anticipate managing health benefits in 2024.

Brace for higher health-care costs in 2024

10/23/2023

What accounts for the predicted increases? One factor may be Food and Drug Administration approval of several blockbuster drugs officially meant to treat diabetes but used off-label to help patients lose weight.

Is your best benefits move cutting benefits?

09/27/2023

Are you still having trouble attracting enough qualified candidates for crucial open positions? If that’s the case, beware cutting back on benefits—especially those that show you are a desirable place to work.

Open enrollment countdown: Spend this fall educating employees about benefits

09/13/2023

For many HR professionals, the fall open benefits enrollment season is a grueling ordeal for which the best outcome is mere survival. However, that mentality may mean missed opportunities to truly educate employees about your organization’s total rewards program and how they can choose the benefits that best serve them and their families.

It’s almost open enrollment, so let’s talk wellness benefits

09/12/2023

The only tax-free wellness benefit is reducing the monthly premiums employees pay for their major medical coverage. But there’s a darker flipside to wellness benefits that some employees won’t like: surcharges on employees’ major medical coverage for those who smoke tobacco.