Cost-Containment

The company's study, covering four years of data on 600,000 employees, is designed to offer HR managers benchmarks against which implementation of PPPAC can be measured.

With changes to its unemployment law taking effect this weekend, North Carolina not only is cutting benefits for those who file new claims, it will become the first state disqualified from a federal compensation program for the long-term jobless.

Employers are pushing their plan managers to reduce their long-term exposure to the vagaries of employee benefits.

WellPoint, the nations second-largest insurer, will offer employers a coverage plan that will include set prices for certain kinds of medical procedures

The likes of Dow Chemical, Safeway and 3M join forces to push for more 'value-based' care, more meaningful ways to measure outcomes and, overall, better results.

Despite a growing demand from consumer and industry groups for greater transparency from health benefits providers, health plans continue to resist offering much beyond the most basic tools to evaluate pricing and related factors.