Melissa Ruchhoeft in March 2016 joined the Global Benefits Practice of Lockton Benefit as a Senior Consultant. Melissa comes to Lockton from Gallagher Benefit Services, where she served as the Area Vice President of the company’s Multinational Technical Consulting Unit. Before that, she was the Vice President of Technical Services at IBIS, which was acquired by AJ Gallagher in 2014. She graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in philosophy from Wellesley

Building on a tried-and-tested concept, a great innovation in U.S. healthcare. Reproduced Without Permission from The Onion – Sept 23, 2015 www.theonion.com/r/51369 and kept warm expressly for GBV readers. ROCHESTER, NY—During a meeting with new hires Wednesday to discuss employee benefits, Radian Analytics human resources manager Ellen Schultz is said to have strongly pushed the company’s infinite-deductible health care option. According to sources in attendance, Schultz described the low-premium,

Only a few weeks after Dutch telecommunications firm Vimpel and U.S.-based engineering software editor PTC in February 2016 entered into settlements with U.S. authorities in relation to allegations of corruption, telecommunication hardware provider Qualcomm in early March 2016 agreed to pay $ 7.5 million to settle charges under the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA). Both PTC’s and Qualcomm’s illegal dealings were with corrupt Chinese government officials, whereas Vimpel got

Only one day after PTC announced at $28 million settlement with U.S. authorities in a bribery case involving China, Dutch telecom operator of Russian origin VimpelCom announced settlements with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission , the U.S. Department of Justice, and the Dutch Public Prosecution Service (Openbaar Ministerie) following investigations under the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and relevant Dutch laws, pertaining to VimpelCom’s business in Uzbekistan, where

Two units of U.S.-based engineering software company PTC will pay a total of $28 million (USD) to resolve probes into whether they gave more than $1 million in recreational travel to foreign government officials from China, in a probable violation of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, the U.S. Department of Justice and the Securities and Exchange Commission said in February 2016. NASDAQ-listed PTC has 6,000 employees in 30 countries

Zenefits, a San Francisco-based software startup recently valued at a whopping USD 4.5 billion, then revalued down to USD 2.3 billion, said in February 2016 it had replaced founder and CEO Parker Conrad with its former chief operating officer David Sacks, previously an executive at Yammer and PayPal. The company provides software for small and medium-sized businesses that automates some of their human resources services, including healthcare benefits, stock

Medical inflation appears to have slowed down in the U.S. in 2015, the average increase of health care rates for mid-size and large employers was 3.2% against 4.4% in 2014 and an expected 4.1% in 2016. Lower utilization levels due to reduced purchasing power of individuals and lower increases in medical prices contribute to this modest and perhaps temporary slow-down. The average total health care cost per employee, including

Human-resources startup Zenefits may be falling short of its revenue targets and has apparently started to curb expenses, as it struggles to meet investor expectations. Zenefits had announced a target of USD 100m in annualized revenues to be reached by January 2016 but may fall short as August 2015 actuals are understood to be slightly under USD 45m, still a large increase compared to USD 20m in January 2015.

Captive insurance has been an increasingly popular alternative risk transfer mechanism for U.S. companies for decades. But what may come as a surprise is that one of the great growth opportunities isn’t a new property or casualty exposure. It’s employee benefits.

Enrollment in public health insurance exchanges is expected to grow modestly in 2016, to reach a total number ranging from 9 to 12 million. The majority of current customers – approximately 9 million – is expected to re-enroll. However, the Congressional Budget Office earlier had projected enrollments to reach 20 million by the end of 2016; the shortfall is most significant and the projected number of enrollees likely will

Shareholders of Aetna and Humana in October 2015 voted separately and approved overwhelmingly the health insurers’ proposed $37 billion merger. Aetna shareholders approved the issuance of up to 127 million common shares to Humana stockholders, who agreed to the terms of the July 2015 merger agreement with Aetna as finalized in July. The deal is expected to close in the second half of 2016 after the approval of state

Offering on-site health services is not likely to have a material impact on employers’ medical expenses, but it can be useful in reducing employee absences and workers compensation costs, according to a report by the National Business Group on Health and Truven Health Analytics. In a study of 107 large employers’ health care, workers comp and disability benefit strategies released this week, the availability of on-site health clinics was

Health benefits startup Collective Health, a third-party administrator (TPA), in October 2015 raised USD 81 million in additional private investments for a total of 119 million since 2013 to support its plans to begin offering group health care products to self-insured employers in the U.S.A.. Principal investors in Collective Health include Google Ventures, Maverick Capital, Redpoint Ventures, RPE Ventures, New Enterprise Associates and Founders Fund. Based in California, Collective

In the U.S., benefits practitioners are busy implementing strategies to avoid the Cadillac tax — a 40% tax on health plan premiums exceeding USD 10,200 for single coverage and  USD 27,500 for family coverage; the tax is to be effective in 2018. They are making plan design changes such as increasing cost-sharing, reducing subsidies and eliminating plans with extensive coverage. They are also stepping up wellness activities, increasing consumerism

The maximum pretax contribution U.S. employees can make to their 401(k) plans in 2016 will remain at USD 18,000, unchanged from 2015. Other parameters such as the maximum catch-up contribution older employees can make to a plan (USD 6,000), the amount of employee compensation that can be considered in calculating pension benefits and contributions to DC plans (USD 265,000), the definition of a highly compensated employee for nondiscrimination testing (USD

Rick Jelinek joined Aetna in October 2015 as executive vice president in charge of the Aetna-Humana integration, as well as of Aetna’s enterprise strategy. In July 2015, Aetna announced plans to acquire Humana, which would approximately double its size. Jelinek reports to Aetna’s Chairman and CEO Mark T. Bertolini and joins Aetna’s Executive Committee. Prior to Aetna, Jelinek was an operating partner with Advent International, a private equity firm.

In late June 2015, GBV learned that AIG Benefit Solutions President and CEO Curt Olson was about to leave AIG. Only a few weeks earlier, Olson had led AIG’s comeback in the global employee benefits market, five years after the sale of the “old” AIG network along with other ALICO assets to MetLife. In late April 2015, AIG acquired a majority stake in ING’s ING Employee Benefits – Global

Payroll software and services provider ADP and the GoHealth Insurance platform that offers subsidized health insurance plans under the Affordable Care Act, have together launched a private health exchange that enables employers to assist both full-time employees and the contingent workforce, i.e. part-time, temporary and contract workers ineligible for employer-sponsored coverage, in selecting health plans. Apparently in an effort to leverage up-to-date, detailed employee data from its clients’ payrolls,

In a August 5, 2015 press release, New York-based insurance brokerage Integro said it has reached an agreement to be acquired by PE firm Odyssey Investment Partners. Odyssey re-enters the insurance industry after previous investments in Montpelier Re, OneCall Medical and York Insurance Services.  

INTEGRO TO BE ACQUIRED BY ODYSSEY INVESTMENT PARTNERS Investment Strongly Endorses Specialty Growth Strategy New York, NY (August 5, 2015) – Integro Ltd., an international insurance brokerage and risk management firm, today announced that it has reached an agreement to be acquired by entities affiliated with Odyssey Investment Partners, LLC, positioning Integro for continued growth. Financial details of the investment were not disclosed. Founded in 2005, Integro has evolved

Cigna in January 2015 released Cigna Compass, a new application based on predictive algorithms to guide U.S. health plan customers in building their own personal health care team of practitioners and save money. Cigna Compass synthesizes data related to a consumer’s medical plan use, biometric data, incentive information, claims history, and coaching program involvement to improve health and lower health-care costs. It guides customers to stay in-network and choose