Practical HR Tips, News & Advice. Updated Daily.
By David Slaughter, JD, Senior Legal Editor The month of July saw two hospitals reach multimillion-dollar Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) privacy and security settlements with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). Each case began with that most mundane of data breaches, the stolen laptop, but once HHS investigators started […]
By David Slaughter, JD, Senior Legal Editor Maximum penalties for violating many employment and benefits laws were increased, some of them substantially, by the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) in a departmentwide rule published July 1 (81 Fed. Reg. 43429).
By Jennifer Carsen, JD, Senior Legal Editor So, you think you’ve got a pretty good handle on this whole Affordable Care Act (ACA) thing. You know that you’re an applicable large employer (or ALE—and that “ALE” isn’t merely that thing you want to drink a lot of after a day of filling out ACA paperwork).
The cost of employee healthcare benefits around the globe is trending higher, driven largely by the higher cost of hospital and inpatient services, medical technology, and the overuse of services, according to a survey of medical insurers by Willis Towers Watson, a global advisory, broking, and solutions company. The Willis Towers Watson Global Medical Trends […]
By Gwen Cofield The 2017 contribution limits for health savings accounts (HSAs), recently announced by the Internal revenue Service (IRS), include a slight adjustment for self-only coverage.
The University of Mississippi Medical Center (UMMC) has agreed to pay $2.75 million to settle multiple alleged violations of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), following an investigation by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office for Civil Rights (OCR).
By Jeffrey Hemker, national manager, Retirement Division, Invesco Plan sponsors spend a significant amount of time crafting and deploying employee benefit communications, with 73% using e-mail to get the word out. Despite these efforts, 80% of participants do not open and read materials and, of those who do open, almost half don’t fully understand the […]
Even the most robust wellness programs are not likely to change employee behavior unless employees are engaged in the process. That’s why savvy companies make engagement a top priority when it comes to educating their employees about wellness.
Seventy percent of U.S. office workers and managers report working more than 40 hours a week, and the majority consider the office the most productive place to get work done. But employers need to take action to ensure it remains an inspiring, motivating environment. This, according to the second annual Workplace Index conducted by Staples […]
By Dan Colgan, CEO of Rock Paper Team In this day and age, more emphasis is placed on health and wellness than ever before. The rise of “athleisure” fashion trends, the popularity of FitBits, and the abundance of cleanse diets these days have everyone counting steps and calories.