A quarter of survey respondents say they've foregone medical care because of the cost—up from 19% a year ago.

Without question, we are in for a very wild rhetorical ride over the next 12 months.

Adoption of "alternative payment methods" grew from 10.9 percent of payments to providers in 2012 to 53 percent in 2017.

This past year, I was lucky enough to talk to hundreds of benefits consultants about the latest trends in benefits communication. Here are five suggestions…