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As health care costs rise, Medicare Advantage plans have been increasing the use of prior authorizations for medical services or prescriptions that your physician may recommend.

This is one of the main trade-offs with Medicare Advantage plans: They offer networks of doctors and specialists for insurance that's similar to group health plans, and they often cost just a few dollars a month (or are free) and include additional benefits like dental and vision — and even gym memberships or food delivery services.

But what if you are denied for a service your doctor recommends? Here's how to handle it.

Pharmacy benefit managers have become woven into the fabric of the health insurance system, but their role is increasingly being questioned as health plan enrollees, employers and the health plans themselves are not benefiting and may actually end up paying more for their medications.

Critics say that PBMs employ several strategies that increase the financial burden on both patients and health plans. This article explains.

The fires that have ravaged large swaths of homes in Los Angeles are likely to significantly alter the California homeowner's insurance market and policyholders may need to brace themselves for surging premiums, policy non-renewals and uncertainty.

These fires will result in record payouts by insurers. Preliminary estimates on Jan. 14 were that the fires had so far caused $20 billion in insured damages, a number that's likely to rise if they continue burning. The fires will have significant insurance consequences for all homeowners in the state.

Employees who are unfamiliar with how to access care using their group health insurance can inflate your plan costs and how much they pay out of pocket.

Those who may not use their health plan much, or at all, may end up going to the emergency room for an issue that could have been handled by a general care physician in their plan network. While they may not think much about the added cost when they seek non-emergency care in the ER, they do when they get a bill in the mail later.

This is a significant problem, especially among younger workers. Here's how you can help.

A new study has identified the top five health conditions that are driving the overall cost of group health plan outlays, and without which spending would actually be falling.

The report is enlightening, and employers can use the findings to offer programs aimed at education and prevention to help control their employees' health care costs and cut into health insurance premiums paid by both employers and workers. What are the five conditions and what can you do to help your employees?

As health insurance costs continue to rise at an uncomfortable pace, employers in 2025 plan to shake up the status quo with their health care vendors, particularly those focused on reducing pharmacy spend, a main cost driver, according to a new report. 

To address spiraling costs, they will also focus on educating their staff about the importance of prevention and immunizations and guiding them to use specialized services that focus on managing chronic conditions.

Here's a look at the main strategies employers said they were likely to pursue this year.

While wage and hour lawsuits filed against employers around the country declined between 2022 and 2023, there were still nearly 6,000 complaint filings under the federal Fair Labor Standards Act.

These types of complaints are the most common employee actions against employers and they typically cover failure to pay workers for hours worked, overtime infractions or requiring them to work during their lunch period. With the onset of remote work and mobile devices, the chances of an employee working off the clock have increased substantially.

When running your construction operation, one of the biggest challenges is preventing subcontractors' and suppliers' safety practices from interfering with your own safety program.

While you may consider a number of factors when vetting a new subcontractor or vendor, one area that is often overlooked is their workplace safety practices. This is a mistake and can cost you dearly if one of their workers causes an incident at your worksite.

Employers who suspect an employee will be out for an extended period of time after a work injury may want to consider running federal Family and Medical Leave Act benefits concurrently with workers' compensation benefits.

This nexus between a federal law and state laws governing workers' comp is an important tool to protect the employer's and employees' interests when the injury meets the criteria of a "serious health condition." 

The danger to the employer of not running FMLA with workers' compensation is that the employee would still be entitled to FMLA leave once the workers' comp absence has expired. But you have to do it by the book. Here's how to get it right.

If you own a car you know it's never fun to fork out money to fix things like replacing worn-out parts or parts that break, such as a belt or drive shaft. Maintenance is also part of the package. While some maintenance tasks may not be urgent, there are four items on the car that you should replace when they are worn or damaged: your tires.

Tires are the only part of the vehicle that touches the road, and it's important that they have enough tread on them to handle your local conditions, particularly rain, snow or sleet. Other issues that can compromise safety include uneven wear or damage to the tire sidewall.

A temporary exemption that construction trucking providers had enjoyed from the controversial AB 5 law, sunsetted on Dec. 31. AB 5, which took effect in 2021, created a higher standard for determining who is a worker or a contractor in California.

This expiration will require employers who had benefited from the exemption to now apply a three-pronged test (known as the "ABC test") to determine an outside worker's status as either an employee or an independent contractor.

The ranks of the self-employed grow every year in the U.S. as more people explore the dream of running their own business.

By doing so they often give up one of the main benefits of working as an employee: a 401(k) plan with some type of employer matching.  And people who choose to pursue careers with government and municipalities often get some type of pension as well, that is paid out depending on their years of service. But often, self-employed individuals don't have that luxury.

This item sets out some retirement-planning steps you should consider taking if you are self-employed.