Insurance

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.

Study finds increase in health insurance claims denials

06/05/2023

According to research by the nonprofit Kaiser Family Foundation, even when patients received care from in-network physicians pre-approved by their insurance companies, claims were denied 17% of the time on average in 2021.

No employer-paid health benefits? That’s a deal-breaker for half of Americans

05/30/2023

Nearly half of Americans—48%—would quit their jobs if their employer stopped offering health insurance benefits, according to a new survey by the Assurance brokerage firm.

New-to-the-job workers account for more workers’ comp claims

05/22/2023

An employee’s time spent in a particular role and their age were driving factors in the frequency of injuries that resulted in workers’ compensation claims and the cost of those claims. That’s according to a new study by The Traveler Companies, the nation’s largest workers’ comp insurer.

Passive or active? Decide early which open-enrollment strategy fits your organization this year

05/17/2023

As you begin planning for benefits open enrollment this fall, now is the time to address a basic question: Will you allow employees to passively enroll—simply continuing the benefits they chose for this year—or will you require them to proactively select their benefits for the 2024 plan year?

Proposed regs would strengthen HIPAA’s privacy provisions

05/02/2023

Proposed regulations issued April 17 by the Department of Health and Human Services would extend the scope of HIPAA’s privacy protections specifically to women who travel to other states to receive reproductive health-care services where those services are legal and would apply to almost all judicial or administrative proceedings related to this care.