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Every day we hear again about how rising healthcare costs, especially deductibles and other out-of-pocket costs, are impacting consumers. But the real dilemma isn’t necessarily just rising deductibles and the trend of cost-shifting more and more costs to employees. It’s all of that in comparison to wage growth. Or rather – a lack of wage growth. Consider these staggering statistics:

Eric Gulko writes for CFO.com about the trend of more employers moving to self-funding, and tells you what you need to know to make the switch.

Photo:UNOmaha

We all know how employee benefits can affect the bottom line in not-so-positive ways (read: rising healthcare costs eating away at budgets). But what if we choose to walk on the sunnier side of the street, and look instead at how providing high-quality, affordable healthcare to your staff can actually support your operating funds?

"Millennials, the growing majority in today's workforce, want benefits that pertain to them. Are you offering them?" - a question from Jeff Oldham, who wrote for Benefits Pro about what Millennials want in the workplace.

With new laws around minimum wage being debated across the country, along with new regulations around overtime pay under the FSLA, many nonprofits are feeling the budgetary burn and wondering how to cover all of these costs while still supporting programming and staff development.

Peter Ubel writes for Forbes about the cost-benefit decisions doctors and patients must make in the face of rising out-of-pocket healthcare costs.

"From the time it takes to administer programs to their supposed lack of value, small organizations shouldn’t let these benefits misconceptions get in the way of offering robust plans, says MetLife’s Jimbo Story, writing for eBenefits News."

Today we welcome Jim White, Executive Director of the Nonprofit Association of Oregon, to the Nonstop Wellness blog. We discuss with Jim the importance of employee healthcare and why – and how – nonprofits should continue to offer benefits even in the face of ever-tightening budgets.

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"Stashed away in the byzantine language of the Affordable Care Act are rules that have caused a big bang-size explosion in health care startups--led by founders who will reinvent the health care industry." -Jeff Bercovici recently commented on the opportunity the ACA presents to entrepreneurs, writing for Inc.

Felice J. Freyer of the Boston Globe writes about how publishing the cost of health care services does not actually lead to decreased consumer spending on those services.