Blog

Cybersecurity Best Practices How to Address Today's Cyber Threat

High-profile cyber attacks like the Microsoft Exchange server hack, the SolarWinds Orion software compromise and the Colonial Pipeline ransomware attack have highlighted increasing cyber risk for nearly every type of business. Furthermore, 2020 brought a massive shift to working from home for many companies due to the COVID-19 pandemic, further exacerbating the increase in frequency and severity of cyber attacks. As a result, the cyber liability insurance market is seeing increased premiums and deductibles and lower coverage limits. Businesses across all industry segments are subject to these trends.  Continue reading

Affordable Housing’s Growing Insurance Problem

Even though many academics are sounding the alarm over the housing affordability crisis in the United States, the affordability problem continues to intensify. Recently, researchers at Freddie Mac increased their 2018 housing shortage estimation by 52% to 3.8 million housing units.  In addition to the staggering increases in development costs over the last decade, escalating operational costs are threatening the affordable housing industry. One of these unseen costs that is significantly impacting the successful operation of affordable housing organizations is insurance.    Continue reading

OSHA Releases Emergency Temporary Standard for COVID-19 Vaccination and Testing

Update:  On Saturday, November 6, a U.S. federal appeals court issued a court order temporarily halting the implementation of OSHA’s ETS .  While this type of ruling …Continue Reading

Clarifying Guidance on COBRA Deadline Extension Relief

 IRS Notice 2021-58 clarifies the application of certain COBRA deadline extensions for electing COBRA coverage and paying COBRA premiums under prior relief that was issued as a result of the COVID-19 outbreak (“Emergency Relief”). Under the Emergency Relief, up to one year must be disregarded in determining the due dates for individuals to elect COBRA coverage and pay COBRA premiums during the Outbreak Period (i.e., 60 days after the announced end of the National Emergency).   Continue reading

2021 Mid-Market Employee Benefits Benchmarking Survey Results

In today’s volatile and extremely competitive talent market, it is important to make sure your employee benefits offerings are an asset to your organization – helping you attract and retain employees.  According to Microsoft’s 2021 Work Trend Index, a global survey of over 30,000 people in 31 countries, more than 40% of people are considering leaving their employer this year. The percentage increases to 54% when looking at Gen Z workers alone.  Most employers are having to take a more critical look at many cultural factors, including employee benefits, to ensure their human capital management strategy is ready for what’s next.

Given this landscape, it is more critical than ever for employers to understand how their benefits plans compare to peer organizations.  Utilizing benchmarking data, you can make informed decisions about your employer-sponsored healthcare benefits strategy and potentially uncover opportunities for improvement amidst the chaos.  Continue reading