BY Scott Wooldridge   U.S. consumers could save more than $18 billion a year if providers stopped overpricing their diagnostic and testing services, according to a new report from UnitedHealth Group (UHG). The insurance giant said it found prices can vary significantly for common tests such as MRI scans and echocardiograms. “This price variation leads to gross overspending for […]

BY Jim Blachek   Employers often operate under the misconception that getting a better benefits plan means getting a new benefits plan. While big changes are sometimes necessary for big improvements, some business owners may shy away from looking at new opportunities for their plan because they don’t want to get rid of their current plan […]

BY Jim Blachek   Traditional benefits plans have changed so little over the years that many business owners don’t even realize that changing their plan is possible. Stagnant, overpriced benefits plans can cause employers to develop misconceptions about how to make their plan more efficient, resulting in uneducated or even unhappy employees and benefits plans with wasted […]

BY Joel Kranc   Working remotely is increasing in numbers and popularity. A new study from Condeco Software, The Modern Workplace 2019: People, places & technology, shows that the U.S. and Australia are essentially tied (45 percent and 43 percent respectively) for having the second-most companies allowing remote work. “The research clearly shows that businesses are […]

BY Jack Craver   President Donald Trump is expected to sign an executive order aimed at requiring greater disclosure of prices in the health care sector. The Wall Street Journal reports that sources in the administration say the directive could come as early as next week. It would direct federal agencies to demand price disclosures from health insurers and […]

BY CONNER INSURANCE   OVERVIEW On May 28, 2019, the IRS released Revenue Procedure 2019-25 to announce the inflation-adjusted limits for health savings accounts (HSAs) and high deductible health plans (HDHPs) for 2020. These limits include: The maximum HSA contribution limit; The minimum deductible amount for HDHPs; and The maximum out-of-pocket expense limit for HDHPs. […]

BY CONNER INSURANCE On Thursday, May 23, 2019, the Senate Health Committee proposed a bipartisan bill called the Lower Health Care Costs Act. This bill sets out to address surprise medical billing, reduce the cost of prescription drugs and the overall cost of delivering health care, and improve transparency. The proposed bill is the latest […]

BY BEN CONNER When you build and evolve your business strategy, you look for innovation and you strive to secure competitive advantages. You know that to protect your business and to position it to grow, each choice you make within that business needs to be well-considered. It doesn’t make sense, then, to buy any sort […]

BY BEN CONNER As business owners, we expect insurance to be expensive. Each year, we battle with our brokers to keep the costs as low as possible, but premiums still increase between 5% and sometimes 20%. This leaves us in the tough spot of trying to protect the stability of the business without passing expensive […]

BY CONNER INSURANCE   OVERVIEW On Dec. 14, 2018, a federal judge ruled in Texas v. Azar that the entire Affordable Care Act (ACA) is invalid due to the elimination of the individual mandate penalty in 2019. In response, on March 25, 2019, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) filed a letter with the Fifth […]