As the COVID-19 pandemic rages on and more employers bring staff back to the workplace, many businesses are considering implementing mandatory vaccination policies for seasonal flus as well as the coronavirus. A safe and widely accessible vaccine would allow businesses to open their workplaces again and start returning to a semblance of normalcy. But employers [...]
U.S. employers are expecting their group health insurance costs to climb 4.4% in 2021, despite the ravages of pandemic and a likely uptick in health care usage next year, according to a new survey. The expected rate increases are on par with much of the last few years when insurance premium inflation has hovered between [...]
As health insurance costs rise and our workforce ages, fewer employers are providing retiree health insurance benefits to their older workers, and are instead asking them to sign up for Medicare. It's a delicate situation as some older workers may resent being pushed to Medicare, especially if they've worked for their employer a long time. [...]
With open enrollment right around the corner, it's time to review the health plan options available to you for the next year and prepare your workplace for signing up for the 2021 policy year. The big decision for employers is finding a plan that fits not only their budget but also the budgets of their [...]
Great perks and incentives packages can help attract top-notch talent, maintain employee morale and improve overall engagement and satisfaction with a company. The coronavirus pandemic has made perks and benefits even more important, particularly in light of so many workers feeling burned out, stressed from working at home or feeling isolated due to closures and [...]
The IRS has announced the new affordability requirement test percentage that group health plans must comply with to conform to the Affordable Care Act. Starting in 2021, the cost of self-only group plans offered to workers by employers that are required to comply with the ACA, must not exceed 9.83% of each employee’s household income. [...]
As lawsuits against employers continue rising amid the coronavirus pandemic, some businesses are requiring workers to sign waivers absolving them of liability and responsibility should they contract the virus. Eight percent of executives surveyed by law firm Blank Rome said they would require that their workers sign waivers of liability before returning to the workplace. [...]
With large employers expecting health insurance rates to climb 5.3% in 2021, they are concerned about how the COVID-19 pandemic will affect overall health care costs in the coming years, a new survey has found. Those expectations gleaned from the survey by the National Business Group on Health would mean average premiums and out-of-pocket spending [...]
While most business owners and executives have been fretting about the COVID-19 pandemic and the effects on the economy and the survival of their business, now is a good time to conduct a review of group health plans in light of changes and new rules for 2021. Here are some of the main changes that [...]
New guidance from the Trump administration absolves insurers of the responsibility of paying for COVID-19 tests that are required for workers who are returning to the job. The guidance, released by the departments of Health and Human Services, Labor and Treasury, means that employers will likely either have to foot the bill themselves as they [...]
