ASHHRA Health and Wellness Pulse
BENEFITS
By Kathryn Mayer As employers consider their health care and total rewards strategies with the context of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, nearly half expect voluntary benefits and services to become more important than ever over the next five years, according to the Towers Watson 2013 Voluntary Benefits and Services Survey.
SOURCE: BENEFITS PRO
Visit http://www.benefitspro.com/2013/08/14/5-most-popular-voluntary-benefits to view the full article online.
By Kelsey Miller
The Physician Payments Sunshine Act, an Affordable Care Act provision requiring doctors and medical companies to disclose their financial relationships, went into effect Aug. 1. Physicians say they are now working to find a balance between necessary transparency and what some perceive to be burdensome filing. SOURCE: KAISER HEALTH NEWS
Visit http://capsules.kaiserhealthnews.org/?p=21277 to view the full article online.
By Tristan Lejeune In a recent, nationwide survey of more than 1,000 401(k) plan participants, the majority of respondents seem aware that they are primarily on their own for their retirement saving, and they plan to rely mostly on their defined contribution plan to get there. However, according to the Schwab poll, many find information on their 401(k) confusing and lack confidence on managing their retirement savings. SOURCE: EMPLOYEE BENEFIT NEWS
Visit http://ebn.benefitnews.com/news/participants-taking-command-retirement-2735502-1.html to view the full article online.
By Dan Cook Even when offered health coverage by their employer, nearly half of millennials opted not to accept it. This rather startling insight into this independent-minded generation was among the findings of ADP’s "Annual Health Benefits Report: 2013 Benchmarks and Trends for Large Companies," which identified trends in employer-provided health benefits between 2010 and 2013. SOURCE: BENEFITS PRO
Visit http://www.benefitspro.com/2013/07/24/millennials-say-no-thanks-to-employer-health-plans?t=employee-paid to view the full article online.
Technology is improving the way employee benefits are managed and delivered by employers as well as marketed and sold by brokers. According to "Tapping the Potential of Technology," the fourth in a series of research briefs stemming from The Prudential Insurance Company of America’s Seventh Annual Study of Employee Benefits: Today & Beyond, three-fifths of employers—primarily those with more than 500 employees—report using an administrative platform to manage their benefits programs. Of those, 62 percent rate the use of their platforms as "effective," with another 37 percent rating it "highly effective." SOURCE: WORLD AT WORK
Visit http://www.worldatwork.org/adimComment?id=73499&from=Benefits%20News to view the full article online.
WELLNESS
By Denis Storey There’s something to be said for a real lunch hour where everyone gathers together in the same place to eat and socialize. But now you’re quietly judged no matter what you do. Leave the office for an hour to actually eat out at a restaurant with a colleague – you’re branded a slacker who’s never in the office. And those desk diners remain convinced they’re harder workers than you. SOURCE: BENEFITS PRO
Visit http://www.benefitspro.com/2013/08/05/lunch-hour-guilt?t=wellness to view the full article online.
By Tiffany Gagnon Need a kick in the butt when it comes to weight loss? Your workplace may have just the motivation you’re looking for. New research from the University of Texas at Arlington suggests that financial incentives are effective in encouraging employees to lose weight—and that they have the potential to help a business’s bottom line, too.
SOURCE: MENSFITNESS.COM
Visit http://www.mensfitness.com/training/lose-weight/is-money-the-ultimate-weight-loss-motivator-at-work to view the full article online.
By Adam Bluestein How are your employees feeling these days? It’s a question you might want to ask yourself in advance of new Obacamare rules that will give employers unprecedented leeway to use financial rewards and penalties to incentivize workers to get and stay healthy. Depending on the makeup of your workforce, that could have a big impact on your company’s health care costs in the short- and long-term. SOURCE: INC.COM
Visit http://www.inc.com/Adam-Bluestein/Obamacare-wellnessprograms.html to view the full article online.
By Krista Yoder Latortue Companies are increasingly recognizing the benefit of investing in corporate wellness programs to reduce employee health care costs over time. The increased awareness of the cost savings resulting from corporate wellness programs is certainly commendable. However, many companies turn to word-of-mouth corporate wellness programs rather than relying on evidence-based programs. It is important for those in charge of corporate wellness within a company to remember the health interventions that work for them as individuals might not work for other employees unless evidence-based. There is no "U" in corporate wellness! SOURCE: HUFFINGTONPOST.COM
Visit http://www.huffingtonpost.com/krista-yoder-latortue/theres-no-u-in-corporate-wellness_b_3653070.html to view the full article online.
By Tim Gould It was time for us to ramp up our wellness activities. We hoped that helping staffers live healthier lives might help us with those ever-rising healthcare costs. We knew that it was crucial to get employees involved, but we also knew they were only half of the challenge. Getting staffers’ spouses and dependents on board would really help us in the long run. But first, we needed to get buy-in from staff. SOURCE: HRMORNING.COM
Visit http://www.hrmorning.com/case-study-family-approach-to-building-wellness-paid-off/ to view the full article online.
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