Benefits Manager

Annual premiums for employer-sponsored family health coverage in 2011 increased to $15,073, a 9 percent jump from 2010, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation/Health Research & Educational Trust 2011 Employer Health Benefits Survey.

A group of Massachusetts community colleges has received $20 million in federal funding as part of a nationwide effort to design job training programs that provide the new technical skills workers need.

There is mounting evidence that wellness programs can significantly lower health costs when implemented with proper incentives.

The $8.3 billion shortfall predicted by the time the fiscal year ends in June includes $5.5 billion in unpaid bills and another $2.8 billion from a payment backlog for Medicaid, employee health insurance bills and business tax refunds, the report said.

Lockheed Martin Corp. is laying off 540 employees in plane-making operations in Texas, Georgia and California.

Congressional Republicans are demanding that the Obama administration clarify what it is doing about implementation or non-implementation of the Community Living Assistance Services and Supports (CLASS) Act long term care (LTC) insurance program.

The obesity drug market will increase more than six-fold over the next decade, increasing from $420 million in 2010 to $2.6 billion in 2020 in the United States, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, the United Kingdom and Japan.

The average length of unemployment among American households in August of 2011 was 40.3 weeks the longest on record.