Employers who were surveyed for a new report expected that group health insurance premiums would increase 5.4% this year and at a faster clip in 2024 as inflation hits medical costs. Employers said they are looking to manage growing group benefit costs without shifting costs to employees, as they realize that their staff are likely […]
July 27, 2023
If you have not yet done so, it’s time to update your employee handbooks and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission “Know Your Rights: Workplace Discrimination is Illegal” poster to account for changes to workplace anti-discrimination laws. The Pregnant Workers’ Fairness Act, signed into law last year, came into effect June 27 and the EEOC has […]
July 27, 2023
A recent study has found that injured workers are often left feeling frustrated and fending for themselves after they file a workers’ compensation claim. The survey of injured workers by researchers at the University of Waterloo in Ontario, Canada found that workers reacted in a number of ways when experiencing “procedural” unfairness, frustration in how […]
July 27, 2023
If you have staff who work remotely, you’ll want to pay attention to changes that are coming to the workers’ compensation class code you use for them. Starting Sept. 1, California’s telecommuter class code will finally get its own pure premium rates, that is lower than what’s currently being charged. Since many people starting working […]
July 26, 2023
A surge in demand for pricey, new and highly effective anti-obesity medications could put a financial strain on employers who sponsor their employees’ health plans. Employers have long offered coverage for certain weight loss tools, such as bariatric surgery if employees qualify for the drastic procedure that requires an operation. Other medications that have been […]
July 26, 2023
Skyrocketing claims costs and higher accident rates are pressuring the commercial auto insurance market, as insurers impose increasingly larger rate hikes and more are pulling out of the market or restricting who they will cover. While rate increases have been the standard for nearly a decade, since 2022 hikes are growing larger — often in […]
July 26, 2023
Cal/OSHA has proposed its long-awaited indoor heat illness prevention standard as increasingly hot summers are affecting workers in indoor spaces like warehouses, production operations, restaurants and more. The proposed standard, largely based on the state agency’s outdoor regulations, will require employers whose workplaces at times are at least 82 degrees to have a written Indoor […]
July 26, 2023
After the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services proposed new rules aimed at streamlining the prior approval process for most health plans in the U.S., a number of the country’s largest insurers announced their own steps to improve the process. UnitedHealthcare announced in late March that it would cut the use of prior authorizations by […]
April 26, 2023
Cal/OSHA has proposed its long-awaited indoor heat illness prevention standard as increasingly hot summers are affecting workers in indoor spaces like warehouses, production operations, restaurants and more. The proposed standard, largely based on the state agency’s outdoor regulations, will require employers whose workplaces at times are at least 82 degrees to have a written Indoor […]
April 26, 2023
As health insurance and treatment costs rise and recognizing the potential for tax savings and other benefits, more employers have started offering flexible savings accounts to their employees. FSAs are also an important way to enable employees who are not enrolled in high-deductible health plans with attached health savings accounts to save money over the […]
January 27, 2023