Roughly 63 percent of nurses are concerned they may not have enough money to retire comfortably, according to a report from Fidelity Investments.

People may think that e-cigarettes are a safer alternative to tobacco, but insurers might not agree. Tobacco use is one of just four things that insurers that sell health plans on the individual market can take into account when determining someone's premium: age, geographic location and family size are the other three. People who use tobacco can be charged up to 50 percent more than nonsmokers.

Physical therapy, in many instances, can get injured workers back on the job on a fairly predictable timetable. But, experts say, physical therapy works best when the injured individual is covered by an insurance plan that includes a specific treatment regimen. Too often, a study by the Network Synergy Group suggests, that doesn’t happen – and it extracts a considerable price from employers.
SOURCE: BENEFITS PRO

Employees were more focused on their finances in 2013 than in 2012, a heightened engagement that is reflected in financial wellness and proactive financial planning, according to a new report.

As you’ve probably noticed, more employees are relying on their employers to help them navigate the financial jungle and better save for retirement. The challenge: Coming up with advice to pass along to workers that won’t take your company from concerned educator to full-blown fiduciary.

If your wellness program is falling well short of the results you anticipated, the problem may be much bigger than you think. Health and wellness programs are essentially doomed to failure if the companies rolling them out have a toxic workplace culture. That’s one of the eye-opening findings from a new report by Jeffrey Pfeffer, a professor at Stanford University’s graduate school of business.

A health care organization is only as strong as its people. At the Becker’s Hospital Review 5th Annual Meeting, Stephanie Reid, RN, BSN, MBA, chief nursing officer and vice president of quality at Carroll Hospital Center in Westminster, Md., and Vicki Hess, RN, MS, CSP, principal of Catalyst Consulting Group, Inc., in Chicago, Ill., examined an oncology unit’s ailing employee engagement and supplied the three must-haves for creating a culture of employee satisfaction and commitment.

Implementing and expanding employer wellness programs are critical parts of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and are intended to not only improve the health of Americans but also help control health care spending. Starting Jan. 1, 2014, the law created new incentives designed to promote employer wellness programs with the idea of creating and supporting a healthier workplace.

Employers are at war with rising health care costs. But cost-inflation is not the enemy, Den Bishop, benefit broker and chairman of the board of the wellness vendor ACAP Health says. It’s disease that is the enemy – and benefit advisers are uniquely positioned to lead the charge against it, he says.

To get any worthwhile results from a wellness program, it’s virtually impossible to go it alone. But with so many wellness vendors out there, picking the right one can be a daunting task. So how do employers find the right wellness vendor for their unique company needs?

Americans are an unhappy bunch. Studies that assess happiness on the job, happiness at home, community well-being, physical health and emotional health all paint a portrait of Americans as dissatisfied, often depressed, going through life with unmet expectations and perhaps unrealistic goals for themselves, their workplaces and their families.

A few years ago, employee wellness was a nice-to-have program. But now, more than 50 percent of health care dollars are associated with lifestyle conditions, making it a must-have for today's employers. And with this must-have mentality, companies increasingly look to start or expand wellness programs.

Obesity, skin cancer and back problems have emerged as the leading causes of worker absences over the past 20 years, while depression has faded in significance – or has it?

For HR and benefits pros who need some help convincing upper management that wellness is a worthwhile investment, these stats may come in handy. Wellness programs can cut the health risk factors of employees – factors that often lead to costly chronic conditions – by 25 percent or more.

Each year, for the past nine years, the American Psychological Association has bestowed four companies with its Psychologically Healthy Workplace Award, a recognition of those organizations that seem to best understand the importance of emotionally healthy employees, and factor it into their business model, both with concrete, measurable programs and a culture of caring that recognizes the value of addressing employee problems before they have a chance to derail the individual or the business.

A large study in England has found that smokers trying to quit were substantially more likely to succeed if they used electronic cigarettes than over-the-counter therapies such as nicotine patches or gum. These results offered encouraging but not definitive evidence in the contentious debate about the risks and benefits of these increasingly popular smoking devices.

Work-life balance is out of balance in the United States, and it extracts a toll both on the job and at home. An oft-referenced 2010 survey starkly revealed how out of whack work-life balance is. Since, there’s been no evidence that it’s improved, despite the amount of discussion the subject generates.

What are some of the common factors–all much welcomed signs of improved workplace wellness–that are common to America’s healthiest companies? A marked reduction in smoking plus measurable reductions in glucose and blood pressure levels emerge as the most consistent hallmarks of a truly healthy workplace.