PLANSPONSOR Weekend Newsdash
Week ending August 17th, 2018

Like the retirement plan, health care programs and other types of benefits play an important role in promoting employee loyalty and engagement. Numerous studies demonstrate just how much employees value access to health reimbursement accounts (HRAs) and student loan debt repayment programs, for example. Yet, there is also a clear disconnect between what plan sponsors believe their workers need to be financially and physically well, and what participants hope to receive from their employers. The articles below pinpoint these substantial features, while guiding plan sponsors as they implement best practices. Have a wonderful weekend!

Editor's choice
Benefits
Mercer Offers Framework and Scorecard for Improving Employer Health Benefits
Mercer’s Vitals for Change framework calls on employer health plan sponsors to demand more for their employees and their families in four key areas that target systemic problems in the health care system and drive positive disruption and innovation.Read more >
Benefits
Helping Employees Select the Best Health Plan Can Benefit Employers
Selecting the “wrong plan” may cause employees to pay more without getting more coverage or benefits in return, HSA Bank says, and Chad Wilkins, president of HSA Bank, points out it could cost employers as well.Read more >
Benefits
Meaningful Education Needed Before Open Enrollment
Education about benefits should be simple and personalized, and with the recent focus on HSAs as a way to save for retirement health care costs, special attention should be paid to education about them.Read more >
Industry Voices
Maximizing HRA Engagement on the Path to Consumerism
Jen Irwin, senior vice president, Marketing & Strategy at Alegeus, offers suggestions for the optimal design of HRAs.Read more >
Products
Program Allows Participants to Move Matches to Student Loan Debt
With a new service from BenefitEd, workers can move the entire match over to pay down their student loan debt or just a portion of it.Read more >
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