BenefitsAll Feature Articles
BenefitsAll
You're busy, but you know that learning more about health insurance, exercise and nutrition, and saving and investing is important. Our short feature articles on these important topics will get and keep you in the know in minutes.
Health Insurance Articles
Medical Tourism is Worth Exploring
America has more top ranked medical schools than any other country. It also has high quality standards for care. However, America does not have the best health care system in the world. In fact, World Health Organization rankings ranked the American health care system outside its top 30 in 2000. Read More.
Age is Just a Number Unless You're Uninsured
You may think your uninsured, sixty year old father is old, but for Medicare, he is not old enough. The Medicare eligibility age is 65. And unless your 60 year old father is disabled, he will need to find health insurance elsewhere. What are his options? Read More.
Your Apathy, Their Disdain-The Inflated Price of Health Care...
On March 4, 2013, Time Magazine published a 36-page article by journalist Steven Brill entitled, “Bitter Pill: Why Medical Bills Are Killing Us!” Brill spent seven months analyzing bills from hospitals, doctors, and pharmacists. He also either interviewed or reviewed the hospital bills of seven uninsured or underinsured individuals and discovered that the health care industry charges whatever it wants. Read More.
This Open Enrollment Use a Medical Care Price Tool
You would think that after years of receiving information about health insurance options, we would have this open enrollment thing down pat. Unfortunately, that is not the case. Read More.
No Two (Health Plans) Are The Same - Comparing Your Options
One of the most asked for health insurance plan communication tools by employees is the plan comparison chart. This document compares health plan premiums, deductibles, copays, coinsurance amounts, out of pocket costs to employees of commonly used benefits, and some uncommon benefits. Read More.
Health Insurance-I Got Mine, You Get Yours
Last week the U. S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments on the minimum coverage provision (individual mandate) of the federal Affordable Care Act. The individual mandate requires most individuals to maintain adequate health insurance coverage beginning in 2014. Read More.
Open Your Eyes and Pick a Plan
Recruiting employees is often referred to as a hit or miss process. Good recruiting managers know that one of the best ways to prevent hit or miss hiring (avoid hiring the wrong person) is to carefully evaluate their options. The same is true in choosing a health insurance plan. Read More.
Yours For The Viewing - Health Insurance Cost Information
One of the biggest complaints about health insurance is that it is too expensive. Even if your employer pays some of the cost of your health insurance coverage you are probably still wondering if you are paying too much. You are also probably curious about what employees at other companies are paying for health insurance. Read More.
Retirement Plan Articles
The Kill Bill Guide to Saving for Retirement
Financial institutions, including big name retirement plan administrators, spend millions of dollars developing marketing plans designed to get us to save for retirement. To help put their plans into action they employ consultants who use behavioral economics research to understand why and how we make financial decisions. These financial institutions could save a lot of their own money if they hired Beatrix Kiddo as a motivational speaker instead. Read More.
Flip The Script on 401k Fee Disclosure Notices
Over the next few months employers will engage individual retirement account plan participants (e.g., 401(k), 403(b), 457 and profit sharing plans) in a discussion about retirement plan fees and expenses. Read More.
A 401k Conversation is Going on Without You
Retirement plans like the 401(k) plan are facing greater scrutiny and skepticism by nearly everyone. Are they the best way or even a good way for the average worker to save for retirement? Should they be changed to reduce risk and complexity? Should employers stop offering them altogether? These are the questions being asked; the answers depend on whom you ask. Read More.
Retirement Savings Plan-It Is My Money
Most employer-sponsored defined contribution retirement plans (401(k), 403(b), 457) include a loan feature even though employers are not required by law to include loans in the plan design. Employer retirement plans that make loans available to plan participants may restrain their use by: Read More.
Give up or Give it up?
It is hard to keep track of all of the television news reports, newspaper, and magazine and web articles about America's retirement savings crisis? Nearly every day someone is talking or writing about how the recent Recession has led more people to reduce or stop their retirement plan contributions, delay their retirement beyond normal retirement age, or throw their hands up in frustration over the stock market. Read More.
Wellness Program Articles
Bored With Your Workplace Wellness Program?
Today, terms like health risk assessments, biometric screenings, and online wellness tools are as familiar to employees as annual performance reviews. And like the annual review process, some wellness programs have become just another thing put together by the HR department. Some of these wellness programs are rarely communicated to employees or evaluated for their usefulness. Read More.
Oh, Wellness You Will
The top reasons employers provide health insurance coverage is to attract and retain good employees, to keep them productive, and because employees expect it. Despite having little or no say about what health insurance plans are offered, what medical benefits the plans will cover, or how much the plans will cost, employees are generally satisfied with their employer provided health insurance coverage. Read More.
Are Workplace Wellness Programs Stressing the Wrong Things?
With the help of improved statistics on return on investment, Human Resources departments have succeeded in making wellness programs a permanent fixture in their organizations. And to keep their CEOs on board, the primary focus is to consistently show the effectiveness of these programs at decreasing healthcare costs. A secondary focal point for HR is to keep employees on track in meeting company wide wellness goals. Read More.