Insurance

‘Part-timer’ working 40 hours: Eligible for benefits?

02/15/2012

Q. We hired a nonexempt part-time employee, but for several months she’s been working about 40 hours a week. Are we required by law to convert her to full-time status and offer benefits if she averages near 40 hours?

Focus now on insurance renewal for 2013

02/06/2012

For most employers, open enrollment for health insurance benefits in 2012 has come and gone. So now’s the time for comp and benefits professionals to start planning for the next health insurance renewal go-round. An early start will give you a fighting chance to keep costs under control in 2013.

Change employees’ health habits — one click at a time

01/24/2012

When employees hunch over keyboards all day, all the motivational posters in all the break rooms of the world won’t improve their health. Solution: Deliver practical, actionable advice directly into employees’ e-mail in-boxes. Learn how one company did it with great results.

DOL offers guidance on health plan rebates

01/24/2012

Federal rules that took effect Jan. 1 require group health insurers to spend 80% to 85% of every premium dollar on medical care and health-care quality improvement. Insurers that fall short must start paying rebates to insurance plan participants, starting Aug. 1. Now the DOL has clarified how those rebates should be disbursed.

Health insurance premium penalties are taking hold

01/18/2012

Premium penalties tied to health problems are on the rise, according to a study by Towers Watson and the National Business Group on Health. In 2012, nearly 40% of larger employers plan to penalize employees who don’t participate in wellness programs, or for not meeting certain health goals.

It’s time to give your wellness program a legal checkup

01/12/2012

Many employers (and the consultants who encourage them) aren’t doing a good job of managing the legal risk and cost associated with wellness programs that ignore the law. Federal, state and sometimes local laws can affect wellness programs. Employers need to understand them.

Chicago’s City Colleges take charge of leave, insurance

12/30/2011

The City Colleges of Chicago has ended its practice of allowing employees to “cash out” sick days when they quit their jobs. The policy applies to administrators and nonunion employees hired after Jan. 1, 2012, and is a first change resulting from a comprehensive review of benefits ordered by the school’s chancellor last fall.

Health premiums rose faster than pay

12/28/2011

Premiums for health benefits rose faster than employee pay in all 50 states from 2003 to 2010. Total premiums for family coverage—what employers and employees pay—increased 50%, and employees’ annual share of premiums increased by 63%.

Minnesota agencies settle retirees’ age-bias lawsuit

12/14/2011

The Minnesota departments of Natural Resources, Commerce and Public Safety have settled EEOC age discrimination charges that resulted from early retirement packages offered to senior state employees.

Proving the ROI of wellness programs just got easier

11/24/2011

Every employer seems to be jumping on the wellness bandwagon in an effort to curb health care costs. But it’s always been hard for HR to prove its wellness investment is worth it. Reason: the inability to nail down a return on investment (ROI) on wellness programs. Now, a host of new approaches and tools have come to the rescue.