health

October 8, 2024

Getting the Most Out of Your 2025 Open Enrollment Communications

Open enrollment is a crucial period for both employers and employees. It’s when employees can make important decisions about their benefits and an opportunity for employers to engage with their workforce effectively. As organizations continue to adapt to evolving workforce needs and changing regulations in 2025, open enrollment communication becomes more critical than ever. This...

September 18, 2024

Motivating Employees to Spend More Time With Open Enrollment

Open enrollment is a critical period for both employees and employers. It’s the time when employees can make important decisions about their benefits, which can significantly impact their health, financial well-being and overall job satisfaction. However, many employees rush through this process, missing out on opportunities to optimize their benefits. In fact, a Voya Financial...

September 11, 2024

Preparing for the Fall and Winter Virus Season

During the fall and winter months, respiratory viruses tend to spread more widely. Before the COVID-19 pandemic, influenza (flu) and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) were the main causes of severe respiratory disease during these times of year. Although some people have mild symptoms when they catch the flu or RSV, others get sick enough to...

August 20, 2024

Key HSA Features—2025 Compliance

Health savings accounts (HSAs) are a popular type of tax-advantaged medical savings account available to individuals enrolled in high deductible health plans (HDHPs). Individuals can use their HSAs to pay for expenses covered under an HDHP until their deductible has been met, or they can use their HSAs to pay for qualified medical expenses that...

August 19, 2024

Managing Work-Life Balance During Return to School

For working parents with school-age kids, the back-to-school season can be chaotic. There are new routines to figure out, an onslaught of activities to manage and sometimes kids’ transitional meltdowns to soothe. Undoubtedly, working parents are a critical part of the U.S. workforce. Not only is labor force participation among parents back at pre-COVID-19-pandemic levels,...

August 15, 2024

The Advantages of Voluntary Benefits

Voluntary benefits, such as vision, dental and life insurance, are additional benefit options offered by an employer. Unlike traditional benefits like health coverage, employees are responsible for paying for most or all of these voluntary options. Advantages of these benefits include: Contact us if you have questions about available voluntary benefits. Article Published By: Zywave,...

August 1, 2024

Communicating HSA Rules to Employees

As part of the open enrollment process, employers that offer HSA-compatible HDHPs should help their employees understand the benefits of opening an HSA and making tax-free contributions. Employees may be confused about the rules surrounding HSAs and may not realize all the advantages associated with these accounts. CMR Risk & Insurance Services, Inc. can provide...

July 11, 2024

Helping Employees Navigate Rising Health Care Costs

Employers continue to struggle with rising health care costs and providing employees with affordable and quality care options. Unfortunately, employers expect health care costs to increase significantly in 2024. Several industry reports revealed that employers anticipate health care costs to grow between 6.5% and 8.5% in 2024, the largest increase in more than a decade....

July 8, 2024

OSHA Proposes Heat Injury and Illness Prevention Standard

On July 2, 2024, the U.S. Department of Labor’s (DOL) Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) announced an unofficial version of the proposed standard to protect workers from heat injury and illness. If finalized, the new standard would apply to all employers conducting indoor and outdoor work in all general industry, construction, maritime and agricultural...

June 10, 2024

Over 80% of Employers Will Add or Improve Benefits in the Next Year

A new report by health care benefits company Lively found that 81% of organizations plan to add or improve employee benefits in the next year to better recruit and retain employees. Furthermore, the report showed that employee experience, feedback and ease of use matter the most when benefits leaders decide to select or renew with...