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The Countdown to January 1, 2006: The Retiree Medical and Benefits Revolution (PDF)

13 pages. Excerpt: Three Key Issues: Design -- Making the right choice; Administration -- Impeccable recordkeeping, Employer earns full Part D subsidy, Retirees get maximum Rx coverage; Behavior change -- Provide early and clear communication, Influence desired retiree behavior.

Employee Benefits Join the Genomic Revolution Toward Precision Medicine

"Precision medicine tests and therapies are being adopted into clinical practice as evidence of their effectiveness grows. However, most private health insurers do not offer coverage for genetic or genomic services unless certain clinical criteria and evidentiary standards are met.... This article will explore the types of clinical genomic tests available today, their potential benefits, key challenges to adoption, compliance considerations, and pros and cons for employers and plan sponsors."

The Employment-Based Pension System: Evolution or Revolution? (PDF)

Revolution or Reform: How the Health System Is Changing

"We have laid the foundation for reducing the number of uninsured from more than 1 out of 7 people to something likely to approach 1 out of 15. We have constructed a health coverage system that very substantially builds on an individual private health market system and on public programs, combined with tax credit premium subsidies for moderate-income families -- which make health coverage much more means-sensitive and progressive. The health insurance system is much more regulated than before -- to the benefit of those who are most in need of health care. And we have initiated the first rudimentary steps for a higher-quality, more value-based health system."

The Road to Healthcare Benefit Taxation

"If PPACA's Cadillac Tax remains in place as it is currently written, this [graphic provides a] snapshot of how it will eventually tax more and more of your health plan over time."

Volunteering for Trouble: The Nightmares Voluntary Benefits Often Bring

"[V]oluntary benefit providers systematically over-promise and under-deliver.... The carrier will not enroll all of your employees correctly.... This will increase the HR department's workload and hours will be spent on the transition.... Depending on the type of product you offer, you may have to meet minimum participation levels.... Courts regularly rule that a voluntary plan is an ERISA plan, even if the employer never intended to sponsor the plan formally.... [Yet some voluntary benefits] can be appropriate and even desirable in a handful of circumstances."

Summer Interns Probably Must Be Offered Health Benefits by the 90th Day

"The only ways to safely circumvent [the ACA requirement to offer] such benefits to a short-timer or summer intern would be if: [1] The person could be legitimately categorized as a seasonal worker which means that their job can only, by its very nature and definition, be accomplished during a recurring season.... [2] the person will work less than 90 days; or [3] the person will be working less than 30 hours per week. Many [employers] are opting to limit summer interns to a maximum of 29.5 hours a week in order to avoid this issue.... Others are limiting summer interns to 89 or less days to accomplish the same goal. However, that day limit also means you cannot subsequently hire that summer intern inside of 13 weeks[.]"

CalPERS Pays Out $65 Million in Medical Benefits and Another $2 Million Per Month in Premiums For 'Ineligible' Individuals

"Dependent audits are always a good idea on large plans. No matter how diligent a plan sponsor is, some dependent fraud occurs.... It is not uncommon for employees to bilk an employer out of 5% to 15% of a plan's total cost with phony dependents. And now we learn that the California taxpayer has been paying $2 million a month in premiums and a total of $65 million in claims for fraudsters to cover unqualified individuals in CalPERS."

Carrier Rebates to Employer Health Insurance Plans -- Whose Money is It?

"[U]nless the employer pays for one-hundred percent of all medical benefits (with no employee contributions) the employer has to share those savings with employees commensurate with the amount of premium the employees paid or by using the money to benefit the health plan."

What Your Health Insurance Carrier Won't Tell You at Renewal

"While PPACA covered roughly 12 to 15 million of the nation's 40 million uninsured, it did nothing to actually reduce price. If anything, PPACA made healthcare more expensive by about 2% per year since its inception with its myriad of taxes, fees, penalties and robust benefit mandates. Alas, for the first time since its passage, we are finally starting to see costs moderate and carriers are back to the kind of record profits they enjoyed prior to 2010."