Mercer offers a comprehensive look at what health plan sponsors should be thinking about this contract season.
With specialty drugs driving the most costly medical claims to stratospheric heights, stop-loss policies may not offer the same peace of mind they once did.
An average 3.6% rise in employers' health-benefits costs was up a point from last year and once again exceeded the general inflation rate.
The retirement systems of Scandinavian economies are tops, while those of the U.S., the U.K., and France languish, according to Mercer.
A third of large companies now sponsor clinics for employees, and most of them report solid ROI, study shows.
Telemedicine services can lower employers' health-care costs, but only if employees use them — and few do.
Even with low unemployment and this year's tax windfall, employers are planning essentially flat salary increases for 2019, studies show.
With the tax perhaps unlikely to ever take effect, should companies still factor it into their benefits planning and strategies?
A minority but growing number of employers give employees bonuses and raises based on this year's tax windfall; Visa leads the way with huge 401(k) boost.
If companies were allowed to fund HRAs for the purpose of allowing workers to buy their own insurance, some companies might do it, research suggests.
When it comes to human capital, "risk" and "uncertainty" are two different concepts, and they need to be addressed separately in order to minimize risk.
However, employers' disdain for several aspects of the law, and their wish for changes to it, remain intact.
