News To Know – October 2016

IT’S TIME TO KILL THE 9-TO-5

SEP 20, 2016 | BY REBECCA GREENFIELD Jessica Piha gets to work whenever she wants and leaves whenever she wants — really. “There’s really no set schedule,” said Piha, the director of communications at home-improvement startup Porch, which lets its employees work flexible schedules. Piha likes to get in “super early” and leave at 3 p.m. for a workout class. “I just like to be able to do my work when it needs to be done,” she said. “I will never not hit deadlines and deliver.” CLICK HERE TO READ THE ENTIRE ARTICLE

EMPLOYER HEALTH PLAN COSTS TO RISE MODESTLY IN 2017

AUG 09, 2016 | BY JACK CRAVER Amidst much angst over the dramatic price increases anticipated for Affordable Care Act health plans, a new report from the National Business Group on Health shows that the cost of employer-based insurance, still by far the most dominant source of health coverage, will only rise modestly next year. The report estimates that the average cost of an employer-based health plan will increase 6 percent. That outpaces inflation, but it is no greater an increase than employers experienced over the past year and it is lower than the anticipated 10 percent increase for plans offered through the ACA exchanges. CLICK HERE TO READ THE ENTIRE ARTICLE

IS YOUR COMPANY PREPARED FOR A DOL INVESTIGATION?

JUL 28, 2016 | BY MANUEL MENDOZA The last thing any human resources professional wants to receive is an envelope alerting them to a Department of Labor (DOL) ERISA Investigation. Unfortunately, today’s HR professionals have reason to be concerned as 75 percent of DOL investigations are closed with correction. Corrections can range from changes to administrative processes, fines, penalties, and in rare cases, imprisonment. CLICK HERE TO READ THE ENTIRE ARTICLE

HEALTH CARE SPENDING KEEPS GOING UP, UP, UP

JUL 14, 2016 | BY MARLENE Y. SATTER Health care spending rose in 2015 by a 5.5 percent increase over 2014’s spending, and that rate of increase is likely to rise in years to come. That’s according to Modern Healthcare, which reported that the U.S. health care system spent $3.2 trillion in 2015, or almost $10,000 for every person, according to the latest federal projections. The rate of increase in 2014 was 5.3 percent, and while a lot of that additional spending is due to more people being insured under the Affordable Care Act, the rate increase is not as high as in previous years. CLICK HERE TO READ THE ENTIRE ARTICLE
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