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Taking Well-Being's Pulse

"[W]ell-being is continuing to have a big impact, with all well-being dimensions (financial, physical, emotional and social) being viewed by employees as important.... [S]ome of the more traditional elements of physical wellness experienced a decline in importance over the past year. Diet, for example, decreased in importance by 7 percent, from 65 percent to 58 percent. Exercise, meanwhile, dropped 6 percent, from 59 percent to 53 percent.... [E]mployers might want to refresh their efforts in both those areas."

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Pulse of the Purchaser: 2023 Survey (PDF)

25 presentation slides. "The Pulse of the Purchaser study gauges concerns and approaches of employers to address the workforce environment; whole person health, equity, women's health, mental health and obesity management; fiduciary perspectives; pharmaceutical drugs; high-cost claims; and potential health reforms. Among the 2023 findings: As employer concerns about healthcare affordability are skyrocketing, less than half are confident in the integrity of services and fees charged by hospitals, pharmacy benefit managers, third-party administrators, and even brokers and consultants."

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2025 Global Retirement Pulse Survey

27 pages. "Those who can clearly picture their life in retirement are: Three times as likely to have a written retirement plan ... Nearly twice as likely to work with a financial advisor ... Of mass affluents older than 30, Gen Xers have urgent opportunity to improve security."  MORE >>

Taking the Pulse of Lifetime Income

"Half of respondents said they feel more prepared for retirement than those in previous generations; 20% said they feel much more prepared. Almost 30% said they consider themselves to be as prepared for retirement as their earlier counterparts ... The study found strong support for a steady income stream during retirement. A strong majority -- 86% -- said that is their preference."  MORE >>

2024 Pulse of the American Retiree Survey: Midlife Retirement 'Crisis' or a 10-Year Opportunity?

"With just a decade until retirement, 55-year-old Americans have less than $50K in median retirement savings.... 'Silver Squatters' to rely more on family for housing, financial support. One-third have already postponed retirement due to persistent inflation. Women face acute challenges, exacerbated by caregiving duties71% say they are interested in annuities, but only 6% currently count them as part of their retirement strategy"

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2021 DC Pulse Survey: Retirement Trends and Savers' Needs

"77% of participants are looking for help to get through retirement, not simply reach it.... 81% of participants said it would be helpful if their employer provided secure income generating options in their workplace plan.... 56% of participants say they would save more for retirement if they had an emergency savings fund set aside.... 67% of retirees feel confident they have enough money to last throughout retirement[.]"

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Marketplace Pulse: Prescription Drug Benefits

"There are major differences between ACA plans and large group employer coverage when it comes to drug benefits. Individual and small group plans both have more formulary tiers than large group plans. Nearly all (95%) of individual market and 93 percent of small group plans have four or more tiers compared with 54 percent of traditional employer plans and 36 percent of high deductible employer plans. More tiers translates into higher out of pocket costs, since patient cost-sharing is higher for brand and specialty drugs."

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Highlights of 9th Annual Healthcare Industry Pulse Survey

"[F]ully one-third of healthcare executives surveyed ... believe non-healthcare market entrants could upend industry business models.... [N]early 40% of respondents said a market in which the majority of value-based relationships include both upside and downside shared-risk remains three to five years off -- a concerning finding that might indicate payers and providers continue to struggle in their efforts to scale complex, value-based care and reimbursement models from pilot to production." [Free registration required for download of full survey results.]  MORE >>

Taking the Pulse of New Association Health Plans

"States have reacted to the final rule in dramatically divergent ways. Some states believe that AHPs will make it finally possible for small employers to offer affordable healthcare options for their employees. Other states worry that AHPs will destabilize the individual insurance marketplace. They predict that healthy people will join AHPs because they are less expensive than other insurance options, and this shift will leave sicker people in a smaller pool with higher premiums."

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Taking the Pulse of Employee Wellness Programs

"Why are employers investing in employee well-being? ... [S]tock values for a portfolio of companies that received high scores in a corporate health and wellness self-assessment appreciated by 235% compared with the S&P 500 Index appreciation of 159% over a 6-year simulation period.... [And one survey] found significantly lower turnover rates among companies doing the most to help employees thrive compared to those doing less."  MORE >>

Taking the Pulse of Texans on Telemedicine

"70% of Texans favor the use of telemedicine to diagnose common medical conditions. 25% of Texans have used an emergency room to treat such common conditions -- a much more costly and time-consuming alternative to telemedicine.... 24% of rural Texans have to drive 30 minutes or more to get to the doctor's office. 23% of Texans have to wait 14 or more days to see their doctor."

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Health-Care Pricing Checks the Market's Pulse

Excerpt: It's hard to think of any industry where there is such a wide variance between what something costs, what is charged and what is actually paid. There are lots of reasons for that, too numerous to mention here. But whatever the cause, this lack of accurate price signals makes it difficult for the health-services market to operate efficiently.

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Taking the Pulse: The Commonwealth Fund Health Care Opinion Leaders Survey is Introduced

Excerpt: [I]n conjunction with Harris Interactive, the well-known online polling company, we've developed the Commonwealth Fund Health Care Opinion Leaders survey, a collection of 1,155 experts and innovative thinkers representing a broad range of health care sectors and points of view. We'll be surveying this group regularly on important policy questions and soliciting commentaries from a number of those same opinion leaders on the major issues of the day. Our goal is not only to gauge[.]

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Taking the Pulse of Your 401(k) Plan

"You must understand the fees your vendor is charging and be able to demonstrate the value you and your participants are receiving in return. However, with hundreds of vendors to choose from, how do you select the best? ... [H]ow can you be sure that you are getting the most value from your current vendor? ... [T]his article outlines a five-step process for conducting a successful vendor evaluation and presents a case study drawn from an Aon Consulting client to illustrate these steps."  MORE >>

MetLife's Missing Pension Payments?

"Companies offload pension risk, and it's up to the insurers to manage those pensions, including the administration of pension payments.... [As] more and more companies offload pension risk to insurers, these type of operational blunders are simply not acceptable. It's not just embarrassing, it could cost MetLife future business."

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The Pension Storm Cometh?

"[T]he pension storm isn't coming, it's been here for years and will only get worse. Whenever people talk about pensions, they typically focus on assets, not liabilities. This is a fundamental mistake because pensions are all about managing assets and liabilities. In short, it's about the funded status, stupid, not bragging about how much money your pension plan makes in any given year. This is especially true in the US where you have mature, chronically underfunded pensions which are poorly governed. No matter what they do, they will never be able to invest their way back to fully-funded status."  MORE >>

Are Public Pensions Bulletproof?

"Loyalton has been thrust onto center stage of America's public pension drama and this showdown is raising the possibility that California's pension promise is not absolute. This is particularly worrisome given California's pension gap is widening and could bring about major changes to public sector pensions there. And while Loyalton lacks the resources to fight CalPERS, if other cases develop ... don't be surprised if we get massive class action lawsuits (think Erin Brockovich) against retirement systems all over the United States."

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The Public Pension Problem?

"The legislative response to public pension deficits is predictable and shortsighted. Some reforms, like raising the retirement age and using career average earnings for determining pension benefits, are necessary as people are living longer.... U.S. pension reforms need to incorporate the shared risk model that has worked so well in the Netherlands.... Moreover, U.S. pension funds need to incorporate the same governance model that has allowed Canadian public pension funds to flourish. This means adopting independent investment boards that operate at arms-length from the government and compensating public pension fund managers more in line with what private sector fund managers receive."

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Are Public Pension Funds an Irresistible Pool of Money That's Running Dry?

"Desperate public officials often see public pension funds as an almost irresistible pool of money, borrow from these pensions and neglect topping them up. The compounded effect of such actions has led to massive pension shortfalls.... [B]efore you condemn this as yet another example of public profligacy, ... things aren't better in the private sector. The WSJ reports that S&P 500 companies posted a record level of underfunding for pensions and other post-employment benefits in 2011. Defined pensions were underfunded by $354.7 billion in 2011, an increase of over $100 billion from the end of 2010. During the good years, companies used investment gains from their pension plans to pad their earnings and outright steal from pensions, but now that option has vanished. With interest rates hitting record lows, pensions have become a liability, prompting companies to cut them or offload the risk to insurance companies."

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Achieving Scale in Pensions Through Portfolio Aggregation

"There are more than five thousand distinct public sector pension plans sponsored by states, counties, cities, and special districts.... While assets are highly concentrated -- the 25 largest plans account for more than half of all pension assets -- the vast majority of pension plans are actually very small.... [The authors] propose that pension systems explore the benefits of scale through consolidated investment organizations or by allocating to portfolio aggregators. How might this be achieved?"  MORE >>