Voluntary Benefits

Employers cannot afford complacency or the false comfort of rate caps and blanket No New Laser provisions that disguise risk rather than manage it.

James Gelfand, the president of ERIC, said draft guidance the U.S. Food and Drug Administration posted Wednesday could create new competition for "biologic" medications.

"Health care inflation is still front and center for a lot of organizations due to the higher cost driven by things like increased utilization, technological advances, prescription drug cost increases, and the list goes on," said Julie Gebauer, president of Health, Wealth & Career at Willis Towers Watson.

"By tackling branded pharmas and equitable pricing strategies that have left Americans carrying the financial weight of global drug innovation, the government is helping to relieve a long-standing burden on U.S. consumers and businesses," David Joyner, the CVS chief executive officer, said.

Medical costs are up 6%,, drug costs are up 10%, and there are "no signs this trend will slow," Brown & Brown's CEO says.

However, diabetes diagnoses have reached 13.8%, an all-time high.