2 Minute Tuesday

Remote and hybrid work are enduring legacies of the pandemic for many businesses and employees. "What began as an emergency response to the COVID-19 pandemic has become a durable feature of the modern labor market," according to a new paper from the National Bureau of Economic Research. "By 2026, roughly 100 million employees in Europe [...]

Nearly every employee knows their employer offers mental health benefits, but awareness alone isn't translating into care, according to a new survey from Segal that suggests employers should focus less on promoting benefits and more on making them easier and more affordable to use. The survey found that 99% of workers are aware of their [...]

What You Need To Know Millions of Americans dropped health insurance coverage after Congress allowed the enhanced COVID-era healthcare subsidies to expire. HSAs allow taxpayers to fund their accounts with pre-tax dollars and withdraw the funds tax-free if they are later used to cover qualified medical expenses. HSAs are always offered in conjunction with lower-cost, [...]

What You Need To Know Employers should design the benefits for the workforce they actually need. Every employer has its own internal labor market. Different workers have different skills. Retirement plans are often an unrecognized strategic workforce tool. Current workforce trends, such as an aging labor force, extended working lives and the decline of defined [...]

What You Need To Know The One Big Beautiful Bill Act was Reconciliation 1.0, and the Secure America Act was Reconciliation 2.0. The Great American Healthcare Plan bill could ferry health provisions into a third reconciliation package. Supporters include the ERISA Industry Committee, the HSA Coalition and the Council for Affordable Health Coverage. Conservative Republicans [...]

Providing attractive health benefits at an affordable price is challenging for any employer in 2026 but especially for small and mid-sized businesses. These companies, which employ about half of the U.S. workforce, report average premium increases of 18%. Morgan Health, a business unit of JPMorgan Chase Bank, recently surveyed health benefits decision makers about the […]

What You Need To Know The Primary and Behavioral Healthcare Access Act bill would require plans to cover three annual primary care visits with no cost-sharing. The bill would also require plans to provide three behavioral health visits per year without cost-sharing. The bill introduction might be a sign that Congress is trying to pass […]

What You Need To Know Congressional leaders are trying to raise $200 billion to pay for the military action in Iran. The House Budget chairman has talked about changing the ACA subsidy system. The House Energy & Commerce chair has suggested bringing back health provisions cut out of the OBBBA package. Republican leaders in Congress […]

What You Need To Know The U.S. government could lose $2.2 trillion in 2027 on $5.9 trillion in revenue. Employee Benefits Security Administration funding could hold steady. The ACA exchange funding request is $34 million higher. The U.S. Department of Labor has trimmed references to civil monetary penalties — and most references to criminal investigations […]

Nontraditional and value-added products and services are generating a lot of buzz in the voluntary benefits marketplace, while the traditional mainstays of life and disability continue to capture the lion’s share of sales. But if the industry were a horse race, you’d see supplemental medical products including hospital indemnity, critical illness and accident coming up […]