Insurance

Offer health benefits to all, regardless of age

05/12/2025

Under the Age Discrimination in Employment Act and the Older Workers Benefit Protection Act, it’s illegal to offer different benefits to workers ages 40 and older than you offer to younger employees. That’s true even if it costs you more to provide the same benefits to older workers.

Play ball! But limit your liability at summer social events

04/28/2025

Say your marketing director breaks his leg during an after-hours employee softball game against a crosstown company. Who’s responsible? You might be surprised.

How to contain health-care costs while enhancing the employee benefits experience

04/02/2025

According to Businessolver’s 2025 Benefits Insights Report, the days of choosing between cost containment and employee care are over. The most successful organizations are leveraging AI-powered technology to achieve both goals simultaneously. Here’s how you can join them.

Beware new class-action threat targeting smoker surcharges

03/10/2025

Employees claim Whole Foods’ benefits plan violates ERISA because plan administrators aren’t acting in the smoking employees’ best interests when they refuse to refund surcharges after employees quit using tobacco products.

Measure productivity loss when tallying health costs

01/13/2025

The costliest illnesses to insure aren’t necessarily the ones that take the biggest chunk out of your bottom line. When measuring how much money your organization sinks into employee health, don’t stop once you’ve calculated your share of employees’ insurance premiums.

Employer-sponsored health premiums rose 7% in 2024

11/11/2024

Family premiums for employer-sponsored health insurance rose 7% this year to reach an average of $25,572 annually, KFF’s 2024 benchmark Employer Health Survey finds. On average, employers contributed $19,276 to family-coverage premiums, while workers contributed $6,296.

IRS announces 2025 401(k) contribution limits, other pension plan limitations

11/04/2024

The IRS has finally released the 2025 inflation adjustments to 401(k) plans, as well as adjustments to other popular benefits.

Have staff acknowledge benefits changes

10/21/2024

Whenever you update the material terms of your benefits plan, you should collect written or electronic acknowledgments from employees attesting that they received and read the latest changes.

GLP-1 benefits coverage lags behind clinical eligibility

10/16/2024

About 42% of adults could be clinically eligible for GLP-1 medications that treat diabetes and obesity, but only 3% of those with employer-provided health insurance have a prescription for the drugs.

Ensure layoffs don’t target ‘costly’ workers

09/30/2024

When employers decide to reduce their workforces, it’s often because they need to save money. Laying off highly paid employees is one thing. It’s entirely another matter to target employees with costly medical problems that strain your self-insured health plan. That’s an almost foolproof way to trigger a lawsuit.