"[In] the first two months of 2022, the NSA prevented more than 2,000,000 potential surprise medical bills across all commercially insured patients. If only a fraction of these claims are ultimately disputed through IDR, it would still far exceed the government's estimate. Should the trend hold, more than 12,000,000 surprise bills will be avoided in 2022 due to the NSA."  MORE >>

"The end goal is to demonstrate that the criteria used in designing the plan's mental health coverage has been done thoughtfully and in such a way that it's no more stringent than the plan design for medical and surgical care. But that's just the half of it -- after establishing what the plan SAYS it does, sponsors must also show what the plan ACTUALLY does."  MORE >>

"[M]onitoring workers' mental health may be a major concern for employers moving forward as they try to optimize productivity and retain well-trained talent.... Employers may want to be more observant of employee behavior and immediately reach out to those employees who act uncharacteristically or erratically as those may be signs of underlying mental health issues. Additionally, employers may want to provide safe and confidential procedures and assistance programs to seek treatment for potential mental health problems."  MORE >>

"Providing competitive, flexible and robust family-friendly benefits is one way to both attract and retain excellence in the workplace.... [A]dding adoption benefits to the package is a growing national trend ... [A]lmost 10% of American adults were adopted, 40% have a close connection to adoption through family or friends and 37% of Americans who have not adopted have seriously considered it."  MORE >>

"Fourteen Republican members of the state House of Representatives have pledged to introduce bills in the coming legislative session that would bar corporations from doing business in Texas if they pay for abortions in states where the procedure is legal. This would explicitly prevent firms from offering employees access to abortion-related care through health insurance benefits."  MORE >>

"The COVID-19 pandemic, and the widespread shift to remote work that it triggered, has threatened to forever change how sick days are treated by employees and employers alike. It's possible the concept may ultimately fade away entirely."  MORE >>

"A blog in Health Affairs promotes ACOs and other VBP despite the lack of evidence for benefits. Why? Because VBP reinforces the corporate / private equity model of health care with growing profits for shareholders. We must elect those who would instead foster a truly equitable system."  MORE >>

"Plan sponsors could be making more trips to court for retirement plan fiduciary breach claims instead of settling through arbitration, under ... the Employee and Retiree Access to Justice Act [HR 7740], which seeks to prohibit arbitration of claims challenging the administration and fiduciary management of benefit plans regulated under [ERISA]. If passed, the bill would modify the standard of review held by courts when a plan participant or beneficiary is refused retirement, health or other benefits under an ERISA plan."  MORE >>

"While salary is typically the most important factor when a person is assessing a job offer, it may come as no surprise that the other top three financial considerations reported by young professionals include: medical benefits (54%); retirement savings (49%); and bonus (34%). When it comes to non-financial benefits that young professionals would prioritize in a job offer, they include paid time off (59%), schedule flexibility/remote work (65%) and professional development (28%)."  MORE >>