Insurance

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.

77% of employers report greater employee need for mental-health care

09/05/2023

An increase in mental-health challenges was cited as the most significant area of prolonged impact resulting from the pandemic. Last year, 44% of employers saw a rise in mental-health concerns, while 77% of employers reported an increase this year, with another 16% anticipating one in the future.

Employers plan for 7% rise in health-care costs next year

08/28/2023

Higher utilization due to chronic health conditions will be the primary cost driver for 22% of employers surveyed.

Health insurance red tape, claims denials and confusion cause care delays

08/21/2023

Most people with health insurance—58%—say they encountered at least one problem using their coverage in the past year, according to a Kaiser Family Foundation survey of consumer experiences with health insurance.

Open enrollment countdown: Employers take a variety of approaches to health benefits education

08/07/2023

As open enrollment for 2024 benefits approaches, employers are ramping up efforts to educate employees about key benefits, including health insurance. According to a new study by Optavise, a provider of benefits training, employers use a variety of tools to ensure employees understand and make smart choices about their health coverage options.

5 tips to improve open enrollment this fall

06/26/2023

While everyone else is on vacation this summer, HR pros are busy planning for the upcoming open-enrollment season. Follow these tips to make the process run more smoothly for you and more effectively for your employees.

Employers rate health insurance their most important benefit

06/21/2023

Employers consider health-related benefits the most important perks they offer, according to the Society for Human Resource Management’s 2023 Employee Benefits Survey.