American Benefits Podcast

Health Savings Accounts (HSAs), and the high-deductible health plans (HDHPs) associated with them, still constitute a minority share of all employer-provided health offerings in the United States. But they probably also represent the most fertile area of employer innovations to reduce cost and improve health care value. That is why the American Benefits Council included in DESTINATION 2030 , its l...

On Wednesday, February 12, the American Benefits Council released its long-term public policy strategic plan, DESTI NATION 2030: A Roadmap for the Future of Employee Benefits . In this episode, host Jason Hammersla speaks with Strategic Plan Task Force Chair Tami Simon about the plan's development and ultimate framework for advancing holistic well-being.

Shawn Gremminger recently assumed the role of president and CEO of the National Alliance of Healthcare Purchaser Associations -- a Council member and frequent ally on health care policy. In this episode, we discuss the National Alliance's unique structure and composition, its policy priorities and the importance of getting value for every health care dollar.

Fred Thiele, vice president, global benefits and mobility for Microsoft, will serve as chair of the American Benefits Council's Board of Directors for the 2023-2024 term. In this episode, he speaks with host Jason Hammersla about his company's unique approach to benefits, outlines his priorities for the next year and drops a few tales of questionable reimbursement requests.

Diversity, equity and inclusion is a priority for many of the American Benefits Council's member companies, who have in turn directed us to engage with these issues as they relate to employee benefits.  Over the previous 12 months, the Council has established a task force to address social determinants of health and joined with a number of other esteemed organizations to release the research repor...

If the American Benefits Council is to be a leader in the employee benefits world, we must have strong internal leadership. The Council's policy agenda is carefully considered and set by our Policy Board of Directors, made up of knowledgeable and dedicated human resource and benefits professionals at each of our most engaged member companies. Holding the gavel at the head of that table is this epi...

For many multinational companies, figuring out how to scale employee benefits for a global population is a critical element of their economic competitiveness. But if providing comprehensive employee benefit programs in the United States is like playing advanced chess, doing so on a global basis is like playing advanced chess on a moving speedboat. The American Benefits Council's policy team is not...

Even as policymakers discuss and debate the so-called "retirement savings gap," employers and others are starting to take part in a newly-minted coverage expansion tool: the SECURE Act of 2019 birthed the inception of the Pooled Employer Plan (PEP), which allows separate companies employers to team up and share plan administration for their collective employees. On this episode of the American Ben...

Paid leave may not be an "employee benefit," strictly speaking, in the same way that health coverage and retirement coverage are. But providing it has become a significant pressure point for employers, especially as an increasing number of states and localities have erected their own mandates over the last decade. In this episode, host Jason Hammersla talks about this slow-motion explosion of paid...

The 2020 enactment of legislation to eliminate "surprise" medical billing was not just the most significant health care coverage legislation since the Affordable Care Act. It was also the culmination of a remarkable show of (relatively) swift and bipartisan lawmaking.  Since that enactment, however, the story has taken dizzying twists and turns, with more to come as the regulatory implementation p...

Even casual observers know that, over the past several decades, the nation's retirement system has evolved from a predominantly defined benefit system to a predominantly defined contribution system. That said, there are still nearly 47,000 defined benefit plans in the United States, (half of which are insured by the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation, or PBGC), covering almost 33 million people...

The current labor market is in flux, with many industries still in pandemic recovery while the "great resignation" creating a talent vacuum. Contingent or "nontraditional" work may not be as trendy a topic as it was five years ago, but it could represent a resource for companies seeking to fill important roles. In this episode, host Jason Hammersla speaks to John C. Scott, director of the Pew Char...

According to a recent report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 6 in 10 adults in the U.S. have at least one chronic disease, while 4 in 10 have two or more. The CDC also estimates that 90% of the nation's health care expenditures are for people with chronic and mental health conditions. And it's very likely that the pandemic has exacerbated chronic disease by disrupting access to...

Over the past year, the American workforce has undergone a forced evolution, with work environments and habits thrown into chaos. But even before the pandemic, human resources strategy had shown signs of strain under a rigid definition of "productivity."  In this episode, host Jason Hammersla speaks to internationally respected HR consultant Richard Polak, who thinks there is a better way. Polak e...

With the nation in the throes of a lame-duck congressional session and slow-motion presidential transition, the judiciary is the only branch of the federal government that is working smoothly at the moment, even in the wake of seismic change in the U.S. Supreme Court's personnel. And, as it happens, employee benefits policy hangs in the balance. On November 10, the high court heard oral arguments...

The American Benefits Council is known for its staff continuity, with seven of our 15 staff members having been here for at least two decades. Occasionally, however, the employee benefit gods require new blood and new energy. The most recent addition to the Council family is Katy Johnson, who succeeds the newly retired Kathryn Wilber as Senior Counsel, Health Policy, directing the analysis and adv...

While we often focus on the Fortune 500 companies that dominate the world economy, another group of employers plays a fundamental role in the daily lives of millions of Americans: the churches, religious institutions and affiliated organizations that employ hundreds of thousands of clergy, lay workers, and their family members. This is a population with very typical health and retirement needs but...

The American economy crosses borders, oceans, time zones, cultures, languages and great walls. And therefore, compensation and benefits has gone global, too. For many multinational companies, figuring out how to scale employee benefits for a global population is a critical element of their economic competitiveness. Here at the Council, we're engaged on global benefits in numerous ways, from functi...

Retirement benefits are obviously one pillar of employee health and financial security, but despite all that employers do the "retirement savings gap" between what people have and should have, continues to grow. One of the biggest barriers to savings is student loan debt, which now exceeds 1.5 trillion in the U.S., while tuition rises 8% year over year. In an effort to help their employees, more c...

We talk all the time about employee benefits for the evolving global workforce, but the truth is that benefits are important for more than just workers. For example, many covered lives are those of the spouses and children of workers with job-based health insurance. The voice of these families in Washington DC belongs to Frederick Isasi and his colleagues at Families USA, a nonprofit, nonpartisan...

The independent workforce – a potent mixture of temp workers, contingent workers, "gig" workers and others – represents  anywhere between 4 and 40% of the overall labor market  and constitutes an interesting economic challenge: in a nation where employment is central to one's health and retirement benefits, how do we provide financial security to those who do not have long-term, consistent employm...

As a result of the 2018 midterm elections, Democrats will assume control of the U.S. House of Representatives in 2019. And while Republicans still control the White House and the Senate, this one change has the potential to derail the whole legislative process, like when one bulb goes out in a string of Christmas lights. So what does that mean for the rest of 2018 and the next two years? That's a...

On the cusp of the 2018 midterm elections, health care remains a major issue for American voters. According to the Kaiser Family Foundation , 71 percent say that health care policy is "very important" in their decision about how to cast their vote and a plurality – 30 percent – say that health care is the most important issue in the midterm elections. Since more than half of all Americans, 181 mil...

Retirement policy is supposed to be a bastion of stability and security, but the history of that policy is characterized by constant change: changing demographics, workforce patterns, plan designs and political priorities – to say nothing of rising financial markets and falling interest rates. The resulting story has unfolded like a drama with an uncertain ending. Author, attorney and benefits pro...

On average in the United States, 115 people die each day from an opioid overdose. As this epidemic has touched workers, employers have sought to address it through innovative plan  design and outreach. Meanwhile, Congress is poised to enact legislation designed to stem the tide of opioid abuse and addiction.   Earlier this year, the American Benefits Council, in partnership with the Midwest Busine...