Articles
ALE adoption of ICHRA grew 39% year-over-year on a like-for-like basis. Here's what the transition actually looks like on cost, communication, and ACA reporting.
Reference-based pricing reprices outpatient surgical claims to a percentage of Medicare instead of accepting PPO discounts off inflated billed charges. On a single $75,000 procedure, that difference can exceed $22,000.
A broker who negotiates once a year, at renewal, isn't negotiating. Year-round preparation, claims data, and marketplace benchmarking are what actually move the number.
Voluntary supplemental benefits, including life, disability, accident, and critical illness, can be offered to all eligible employees at near-zero employer cost. Here's why mid-market CFOs should close that gap before the next open enrollment.
ERISA preemption shields most Illinois self-funded private-sector plans from state insurance mandates. But exempt doesn't mean drop it. Your workforce, retention, and what employees had under BCBSIL belong in the decision too.
A PDF in the break room doesn't reach your third-shift workforce. Here's how manufacturers can build an open enrollment communication strategy that actually works for hourly, multilingual, and deskless workers.
Rush and Endeavor plan to merge into a 12-hospital, $11 billion system, putting them alongside Northwestern and Advocate at the top of Chicago's market. Research says hospital mergers raise prices 6% to 9%. Here's how employers should prepare.
The 4-month cap on short-term health plans isn't a coming threat. It's a 2024 rule the agencies stopped enforcing in 2025. Here's what actually touches a self-funded plan, including a new fertility excepted benefit proposed for 2027.
Low average HSA balances are a plan design signal, not an employee engagement problem. Here's what the data says about deductible misalignment, seed contribution strategy, and why fixing this protects both employees and the employer's bottom line.
1 in 120 U.S. workers will generate a claim exceeding $1,000,000 during their working years, and that frequency has grown more than 85% since 2014. Here's what that means for your health plan design.
Blue Cross small group renewals in Illinois average about 15.4% for 1/1/2027 and can't be negotiated. Mid-market releases average 22%, with 4 to 6 points of typical relief. AI-assisted hospital coding and HCSC's $1.9 billion loss explain a lot of it.
Construction employers face serious ACA employer mandate risk when seasonal hiring swings and variable-hour tracking gaps collide. Here's how to use look-back measurement periods and avoid COBRA liability.