"This is the year of the employee: priorities are focused on what is most critical to support them, in and outside of work, so that they thrive in the workplace and have a reason to stay," Aon says

But the majority said their organizations were not prepared to take advantage of the currently existing data on such factors.

A study from Nomi Health says the average predicted cost of long COVID to patients is nearly $9,500 within the first six months following a diagnosis.

The elephant in the health care M&A room remains the cost of those services post-merger.

Reproductive rights and benefits plan experts suggest plan sponsors move cautiously before converting individual actions and decisions into plan policies.

Primary care providers are now on CVS's radar, as the pharmacy chain looks to expand its reach into health care.

Employers are either standing pat with benefits, or finding more creative ways to configure their package to make it more attractive to employees.

As the pandemic evolved, we saw increased claims severity in younger populations covered by employer-sponsored plans, particularly for patients with comorbidities," says Tara Krauss, Head of Accident & Health at QBE North America.