A robust benefit package with lots of choices has served as the hallmark of quality employee-sponsored offerings for decades. Swelling health care costs and administrative headaches, however, are driving some employers to make a major shift from that model. Today, consumer-driven plan design — and no other choice —...

Connelly, Carlisle, Fields & Nichols’ (CCF&N) Annual Spring Seminar on March 19, 2013, will examine the evolving world of health insurance in light of health care reform legislation.  WhenTuesday, March 19, 20138:00am -11:00am (Continental Breakfast) WhereTampa Yacht & Country Club5320 Interbay BoulevardTampa, FL  33611 Featured speaker will be Mark...

Making the right investment in benefits: How the winning companies do itTuesday, Feb. 19, 2013 – 2 p.m. ET / 11 a.m. PT Register Nowfor this FREE WebinarPriority Code: UBA339Regular Cost: $50.00 Are the benefits you provide valued by employees and effective in achieving your goals?  Fine-tune your benefits...

Balancing the issues of quality versus cost continue to be at the forefront of discussions about the nation’s health care system.  New research released by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), the Institute of Medicine (IOM) and the National Research Council (NRC) further supports the significance and...

A recent federal ruling likely will ease some compliance worries for employers sponsoring wellness and disease management programs. The 11th Circuit Court of Appeals recently upheld a lower-court ruling that a wellness program in Florida does not violate the Americans with Disabilities Act’s (ADA) prohibition of required health exams...

Since 2003, Gallup has asked Americans three times to gauge their views on obesity, cigarettes, and alcohol.  In Gallup’s most recent poll, most Americans (81%) say obesity is an “extremely” or “very serious” problem to society.  This represents a sharp increase from 56% when Gallup first asked Americans about...

Because the guidance provided by the regulatory agencies has been fairly general, employers continue to have questions about how to handle the medical loss ratio (MLR) checks. Below are answers to some common questions, based upon either the guidance issued by the regulatory agencies regarding MLRs or how similar...

By week’s end, the U.S. Supreme Court is expected to publish its decision on the legality of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, or PPACA (also called health care reform, HCR and ACA).  With the fall congressional and presidential elections on the horizon, the Supreme Court decision is...

When President Obama’s healthcare reform legislation was approved by Congress and signed into law in 2010, it marked the most significant healthcare change in the last fifty years.  However, this year there will also be important milestones that may significantly impact the future of the legislation.  Perhaps the most...

A Citizens Property Insurance panel approved approximately thirty recommendations that if enacted will affect nearly all Floridians.  Citizens, the largest Florida property insurer with 1.5 million policies, wants to raise premiums and drop some insurance coverages in order to streamline Florida operations as well as reduce the overall risk...