Employee Benefit News

Miss the broker fly-in today?

Check out our photos from this morning's breakfast where approximately 1,000 members of CIAB, AHIA, NAHU and The Big 'I' gathered before heading to the Hill for a day of lobbying. …

Doubt over health reform good timing for lobbying brokers

As more than 900 benefits brokers descend on Capitol Hill today for meetings with lawmakers and their staff, they do so amidst talk that the health care reform process is breaking down. On the Sunday talk show circuit Senate Democrats admitted the timetable has slowed. President Barack Obama originally called for legislation to pass by August. 'Well, we don't expect it to be signed into law by the August recess,' said Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.)…

Senate support slips on taxing employee health benefits

The change of heart on funding health reform through an employee benefit tax appears to be due predominantly to a lack of voter support for the measure. 'When you go out and ask people across the country, they don't like it,' Sen. Kent Conrad (D-N.D.) told reporters Tuesday, reports The Washington Examiner. …

New reform bill provisions impact employers as brokers rally for Capitol visit

Fresh off a new Congressional Budget Office scoring of their health care reform bill that drops the price tag from $1 trillion to just over $600 billion, Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee members have returned to marking up the Affordable Health Choices Act with renewed enthusiasm — at least from committee Democrats. …

Go behind the scenes of EBA's July cover shoot

Ever wonder what happens at a magazine cover shoot? Check out the behind-the-scenes footage of EBA's July cover shoot with NAHU's Janet Trautwein, CIAB's Joel Wood, The Big "I"s Charles Symington and AHIA's Diane Boyle. …

Candid health care reform talk from the industry's leading lobbyists

Check out the highlights from our July cover story interview with four of the key stakeholders fighting for your interests in the health care reform debate happening now on Capitol Hill — NAHU's Janet Trautwein, CIAB's Joel Wood, The Big 'I's Charles Symington and AHIA's Diane Boyle. …

Are employer-based health care benefits moving into the line of fire?

In an interview with 'Fox News Sunday' Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius indicated that a tax on employee health care benefits could be a part of a health care reform bill. Sebelius was quick to point out President Barack Obama's desire to avoid taxing employee health benefits saying that, 'I think he's open to discussion but prefers, again, capping the itemized deduction, returning it to the days of Ronald Reagan.' She repeatedly…

Reform bill markup likely extended as committee awaits cost estimates

Sen. Chris Dodd (D-Conn.), who is leading the markup of Sen. Edward Kennedy's (D-Mass.) health reform bill in the ailing Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee chairman's absence, told reporters today that the legislation will likely remain in committee markup through the Fourth of July holiday. Originally scheduled to conclude June 26, the markup has slowed as lawmakers await budget estimates from the Congressional Budget Office on a number of provisions in the bill, including…

One way to reduce health care costs? Eliminate some vendors.

Punctuating the need for reform, the latest Milliman Medical Index shows that health care costs have risen 7.4% for a typical family of four in the last year. A principal with the global consulting firm, Bruce Pyenson shares how the survey results can help employers manage costs (including getting rid of vendors that don't bring value), and why he says calling a decline in the rate of health care spending growth progress is just 'a…

Head of American Association of PPOs talks health care reform

House committees release health reform outline

The leaders of the three committees in the House of Representatives charged with creating health care reform legislation released an outline of their health reform agenda June 9 following a briefing for the members of the Democratic Caucus. Highlights from the House Committees on Ways and Means, Energy and Commerce and Education and Labor include: the establishment of a health insurance exchange with a public health insurance option, sliding scale affordability credits…

Public plan legislation imminent

Sen. Edward Kennedy, chairman of the HELP Committee, will likely reveal today health care reform legislation closely mirroring the system adapted in his home state of Massachusetts, The Washington Post reports. A draft circulated Friday includes a requirement that every American have health insurance, and mandates that employers contribute to employees' coverage, according to the Post. The proposal includes a government-sponsored public plan option, a senior adviser told the Post, and also calls for an…

What about COBRA premium assistance for those who ...

What about COBRA premium assistance for those who are not working and receiving no salary while on a 12 month Medical Leave? I am the sole support for my family. I desperately need health coverage while on medical leave. My monthly COBRA cost is almost 800.00. If we can provide assistance for those who...

June Issue Preview

Take a first look at the June issue of EBA where we tackle Massachusetts brokers' perspective on national health care reform, what's happening with medical tourism and why executives should take another look at their benefits.

Republicans release health reform proposal

After months of Democrats responding to Republican criticism of their health care proposals with, "So where's your plan?" Republicans finally have an answer.