Benefits

Research findings suggest that employers could do a better job of educating employees about benefits that may improve their overall financial security.

In an Issue Brief published by the Employee Benefit Research Institute (EBRI), Neil Lloyd, partner and head of DC & financial wellness research at Mercer, explains choices plan sponsors have for offering student loan repayment benefits.

The 2018 PLANSPONSOR Defined Contribution Survey also found 403(b) plan sponsors, to a higher degree than respondents overall, offer college savings and student loan repayment benefits.

They also have many characteristics equated with greater financial stability than those not in a HDHP.

The 2018 Health Enhancement Research Organization (HERO) Scorecard Progress Report also found offering targeted lifestyle management services and having a formal, written strategic plan in place for well-being improve physical wellness program outcomes.

Survey data demonstrates asset managers, recordkeepers, consultants and plan sponsors talk past each other regarding retirement income solutions, Cerulli says.

Transformation in health care delivery, focus on high-dollar claims and drug costs, and continued movement to account-based plans are among the list for what employer health benefit providers and advocates see happening in 2019.

A report from Cerulli Associates suggests that pairing HSA and DC plan communication and administration and modernizing HSA investment menus can help to position HSAs as retirement savings vehicles.

Findings in a Buck survey demonstrate that a failure to creatively invest in employee wellness can result in many adverse consequences for the success and sustainability of a business.

MediKeeper suggests using available data to better personalize programs, using social interaction to encourage wellness program participation and making virtual programs available to reach more of the workforce.

Employers surveyed by the Employee Benefit Research Institute (EBRI) noted that they face many challenges in offering financial wellness initiatives.

Less-healthy enrollees are more likely to disenroll from the HSA-eligible health plans than healthier enrollees, according to an EBRI study.

More favorable claim experience and a reduction in provider reimbursement rates were cited by respondents to Buck's 37th National Health Care Trend Survey as two key reasons for the projected slowdown in trend increases in 2019.

However, while 71% of employers see a positive impact on company health benefit costs from wellness programs, more than one-third say they do not offer these programs, the Transamerica Center for Health Studies found.

And public sector employers are more likely than their peers to offer a full range of benefits.

One key misconception to break is that Social Security is meant to be an adequate source of income on its own for retirees.

Only 4% of HSA owners invested their money, and when distributions were taken, investors took larger distributions than non-investors, EBRI found.

More midsize and large employers are foregoing the short-term savings offered by cost-shifting and turning to strategies addressing care delivery and health management, Mercer finds.

“Employers can now identify opportunities to develop local provider strategies that improve quality and lower costs,” says Todor Penev, with Aon.

They are rising 2.8%, in keeping with a rise in the DOL’s Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W).