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Insurance

New COBRA notice could help workers–and you, too

08/14/2014
You can finally make the Affordable Care Act work for you. The U.S. Depart­­ment of Labor has updated its model COBRA notice to emphasize that separated employees who qualify for COBRA continuation coverage may want to buy health insurance through the ACA’s exchanges instead.

40% of workers would quit if not for health benefits

08/11/2014

Your benefits program might be an even bigger retention tool than you thought. A new survey says that 40% of employees appear to be experiencing “job lock” because of health benefits.

Which has greater value to employees: Retirement or health benefits?

07/30/2014

Employees are more satisfied with their company-sponsored retirement benefits than they were five years ago, but satisfaction with health care benefits (especially the cost), has declined, according to a new survey by the Towers Watson consulting firm. How big is the satisfaction split?

Single act of disobedience doesn’t always rule out unemployment compensation

07/23/2014
The California Supreme Court has decided that a single act of employee disobedience may not always constitute misconduct within the meaning of section 1256 of Cali­­for­­nia’s Unemployment Insur­­ance Code.

Plan now for 2015 insurance renewal: 4 questions to ask

07/16/2014

Don’t wait for the usual renewal offer from your health insurance carrier—typically 60 days before your plan expires. That gives you no time to explore alternatives, either from your existing plan or from competitors. As you plan for next year, ask these questions.

Report: Higher 2015 health costs aren’t long-term trend

07/14/2014
Employers’ health costs will accelerate next year, but a 6.8% increase in 2015 won’t signal a coming cost spiral, PricewaterhouseCoopers says in a new report.

IRS limits dumping employees on ACA exchanges

07/07/2014
Employers contemplating simply giving employees tax-free cash to purchase health insurance on public exchanges will have to rethink that plan in light of new IRS regulations implementing the Affordable Care Act.

Thinking about skipping workers’ comp? Get ready to risk unlimited liability

07/07/2014
Here’s something to consider before you choose not to be a part of the Texas workers’ compensation system. Employers that forego coverage—as they are permitted to do—leave open the possibility of unlimited liability and have few defenses available.

Employers still committed to health benefits

07/01/2014
Despite persistent worries that the Affordable Care Act will raise costs for employer-provided health insurance, less than 1% of companies responding to a new survey say they plan to stop offering coverage to their employees.

Supreme Court OKs religious exemption to birth-control mandate

06/30/2014
The court said closely held private companies can’t be forced to cover certain types of contraceptives for their workers.