It is common knowledge that student loan debt is a combined trillion-dollar concern for millions of Americans. However, that doesn’t deter individuals, young and old alike, from pursuing higher education. It does, however, give them cause to find lower-priced colleges and various means to pay for college without going into insurmountable debt. Grants, low-interest loans, work-study, and tuition reimbursement are all options to help cover college expenses.  

Employee benefits are an essential part of any employee value proposition. Employers have continually used their comprehensive benefits plan to attract and retain top talent in competitive job markets for decades.

As we continue into Q1 of 2021, there is no question that 2020 was a year that will go down in history. Between the pandemic and natural disasters to the changing political landscape, we saw a shift in the benefits employees desired and needed.

Marijuana laws are changing quickly across the United States. Marijuana, also referred to as cannabis, reform was at the forefront of national and state legislative movements in 2020.

Understandably, confusion might surface as organizations attempt to keep up with the changing legal landscape of marijuana use while also maintaining a drug-free workplace policy. Employers face balancing workplace safety, meeting legal requirements, and administering a non-discriminatory drug use policy relating to marijuana use.

The costs and lost profits associated with a cyber incident or breach can result in a small to mid-sized business closing its doors. The average global cost of a data breach in 2019 was $3.92 million according to the 2019 Cost of a Data Breach Report. Therefore, cyber incident response plans are crucial for business continuity in today’s world of technology.

With the vulnerabilities of a mostly remote workforce due to COVID, cybersecurity needs to be assessed and ramped up to mitigate the increased risk. Part of the assessment and response to a remote workforce includes revamping cyber incident response plans to accommodate remote work environments.

Cyberattacks had already become an unwelcome norm for organizations before COVID-19. Per the Identity Theft Resource Center (ITRC), there were 780 breaches with 177,866,236 records exposed in 2015. Government, military, private business, educational, financial, and healthcare organizations were all impacted.

Accidental death and dismemberment (AD&D) insurance provides coverage for a family if the unthinkable occurs. If death or dismemberment due to an accident happens, AD&D insurance kicks in for the insured. However, there are some exclusions.

One of the top reasons for bankruptcy in the United States is unpaid medical bills. Medical costs are also one of the top stressors for Americans.

Health insurance is essential to help cover medical costs. However, the patient can easily get confused when they need to determine which of their doctor visits and medical expenses will be covered versus those that won’t. It becomes even more confusing when the patient’s doctor is unexpectedly gone from their current health plan.

The question comes down to whether your doctors and other healthcare providers are in network vs out of network.

More and more people are turning to chiropractic care to treat acute and chronic pain and disorders of the nervous and musculoskeletal system. According to the National Health Interview Survey (NHIS), the use of chiropractors increased from 9.1% to 10.3% from 2012 to 2017. Per the American Chiropractic Association, it is estimated that more than 35 million Americans see chiropractors each year.

The new normal is a regular topic of conversation. However, this isn’t necessarily a water cooler conversation at the office. Wearing masks, concerns of contracting COVID, being home a lot more often, educating our kids from home, and work from home jobs are all part of our current “normal.”