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Employers have ratcheted up the financial incentives they offer workers to participate in wellness programs to a record $693 per employee, on average, this year from $594 in 2014 and $430 five years ago, found a report released on Thursday. And fewer employers are imposing penalties such as charging more for insurance if workers do not participate or achieve goals such as losing weight. (3/26)

Got a high-deductible health plan? The kind that doesn’t pay most medical bills until they exceed several thousand dollars? You’re a foot soldier who’s been drafted in the war against high health costs. Companies that switch workers into high-deductible plans can reap enormous savings, consultants will tell you — and not just by making employees pay more. Total costs paid by everybody — employer, employee and insurance company — tend to fall in the first year or rise more slowly when consumers have more at stake at the health-care checkout counter whether or not they’re making medically wise choices. (Hancock, 3/26)

Cigna Corp. and SCAN Health Plan agreed to an alliance Tuesday in which both health insurers will provide retiree Medicare Advantage benefits to California employers. Each company will remain independent. Insurers may view these types of loose partnerships more favorably as a way to get a piece of growing markets like Medicare without having to overpay in a full acquisition. (Herman, 3/25)