Practice Management

seven in 10 plan sponsors say controlling health care costs is "highly important" to them.

Employers are discovering how a wellness initiative is launched and supported over time is equally important as the available programs.

In a recent survey, employers say they are not likely to drop health care once state-run insurance exchanges take effect in 2014, finds consulting firm Mercer.

Roughly one-third of respondents say they will reduce health care benefits, 23 percent will reduce bonuses, and 18 percent will be reducing stock options/equity based compensation.

47 percent of executives say the PPACA may have a financial impact on their business. Most of them - 70 percent - have begun reviewing their health care benefit plans.

The nonpartisan Employee Benefit Research Institute examined data for private-sector establishments in 2009:

For 2011, the IRS has issued a draft Form W-2 for employers to report wages and employee tax withholding and will defer the new requirement for employers to report the coverage cover under an employer-sponsored group health plan.

Roughly 1,000 more organizations have been approved since August by the Department of Health and Human Services to receive reimbursements for their early retirees' medical claims.