Carla Houston

As health care costs rise, employers have looked to wellness programs to improve employee health and keep expenses down. But enrollment rates and overall effectiveness vary widely by organization. To help, nearly three-quarters of businesses have begun offering their employees incentives to get healthy as part of a workplace wellness program, according to Anthem’s Trends in Health Benefits 2018 report. But are wellness program incentives the answer? A Wellness Program Incentives Overview A study of more than 1.4 million employees reported in the American Journal of Managed Care found that financial incentives had the greatest positive effect on the number of people who received preventive care services. Topping the list of such services were cholesteral tests, annual checkups and blood sugar tests, all of which increased by rates considered “significant improvements.” The study found that financial incentives were less effective at increasing rates of cancer screening...

Medicare's Annual Open Enrollment Period, millions of Medicare beneficiaries have a chance to make changes to their coverage for the upcoming year. There are a few things you can do during this period. You can change from one Medicare Advantage or Prescription Drug Plan to another. People currently enrolled in Original Medicare, which includes Part A and Part B, can also switch to a private Medicare Advantage plan, or they can drop their existing Medicare Advantage coverage to return to Original Medicare. Making sense of Medicare, which is the federal health insurance program, may not be easy for those who qualify if they don’t know where to find information. "It's like root canal every year having to get yourself up to speed on what's covered by your plan and what's not," admits Bob Hurley, president of eHealthMedicare.com. But by focusing on a few key areas and knowing where to turn for help if you need it, you can identify a plan t...