Consumer Driven Health Care

A new report shows the amount of money health plans dispensed to pay for medical and hospital benefits finally slowed after significant increases over the past decade.

In Dallas earlier this week, I listened to Harvard researcher Shawn Achor talk about misconceptions (mine included) of happiness. The conventional idea is that if we work hard well be more successful, and if we're more successful, well be happy. Apparently, were all wrong.

Factory workers at General Motors have overwhelmingly approved a new four-year contract with the company that includes profit-sharing instead of raises for most workers and promises thousands of new jobs.

As health care costs continue to grow, employers and employees alike are searching for ways to reduce the financial burdens they face, and many are turning to consumer-driven health plans that include flexible spending accounts.

As we enter open enrollment season, brokers, advisors and benefits managers need to get up to speed on consumer-directed health plans because they are fast becoming mainstream. Brokers should be prepared to answer a threshold question: How does the consumer-directed health plan compare with our existing plan?

There's some disparity between Americans healthy intentions and their actual actions, according to a new study released by Health Dialog and commissioned by parent company Bupa.