Employers aren't really cutting health benefits

Under Obamacare rules that kicked in this year, large employers have to offer health benefits to workers who put in 30 or more hours a week or face penalties. Some fretted that the new rules would cost employers a bundle or prompt them to cut workers' hours to get under the cap.

But a new study found that so far there's little cause for concern: Average enrollment in company plans was essentially unchanged between 2014 and 2015 at 74% of all workers.

The survey of nearly 600 employers by benefits consultant Mercer found that in 2015

Related: Obamacare is finally hitting employers

The average percentage of employees who were eligible for coverage increased 1 percentage point to 88%, while enrollment of eligible workers dropped 1 percentage point on average, to 83 percent.

Part of the explanation for the stable results stems from the fact that most employers were already in compliance, says Beth Umland, Mercer's director of research for health and benefits.

In 2014, employees had to work 25 hours a week on average to be offered health insurance, according to Mercer. That figure has edged up since 2011, when it was 23 hours weekly, but is still well below the law's 30-hour threshold.

Still, while the expansion in eligibility wasn't a big change for many employers, "if you were impacted, you were really impacted," says Tracy Watts, Mercer's national leader for health care reform.

Food and lodging companies were most affected by the new rules, with the average percentage of workers who were eligible for coverage increasing to 60% from 57%.

Other industry sectors that felt the change included health care, where per diem nurses and other professionals take on short-term assignments, and higher education, which employs many part-time adjunct professors, says Watts.

Related: Obamacare's second round attracts more Americans

But most employers aren't changing their practices to discourage health plan enrollment, the survey found. Some 73% said they had no plans to change, while 16% said they made sure newly hired part-timers work fewer than 30 hours weekly. Some 19% said they reduced the hours of employees who consistently or occasionally worked more than 30 hours a week.

Even though the health law aims to encourage employers to offer coverage by imposing fines on those who don't do so, not all of their employees take advantage of the offer.

Workers might not sign up because they have other options under the health law. Low-income workers may be eligible for Medicaid in states that have expanded coverage. Young adults can stay on their parents' plan until they turn 26 under the health law, and many people continue to get coverage through their spouses.

Related: Wal-Mart cuts health benefits for 30,000 part-timers

CNNMoney (New York) March 20, 2015: 3:27 PM ET

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Millennials: More educated, fewer employed than Gen X

Today's young adults are on track to becoming the most educated generation to date, according to new data from the Pew Research Center.

More Millennial women, in particular, are securing their diplomas than their older sisters, mothers and grandmothers.

They also outnumber their male peers when it comes to getting college degrees.

But those degrees aren't helping them get jobs. Thanks to the Great Recession, Millennials are less likely to be employed than Gen Xers.

Millennial men were hit particularly hard. Not only do they trail Gen Xers in employment, but fewer are employed now than Baby Boomers and the Silent Generation (who are now mainly in their 70s and 80s) were at the same age.

Instead, Millennial men are more likely to be out of the labor force, either in school or not looking for a job.

Millennial women lost ground in terms of employment when compared to Gen Xers. But they are still more likely to work than Baby Boomers and the Silent Generation, when it was more common for women to stay home and raise children.

Related: Millennials closing the gap in pay disparity between men and women

Related: Millennials say no to marriage

Related: Enough with Millennials. Here's what Gen X thinks

CNNMoney (New York) March 20, 2015: 3:35 PM ET

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The $10 bill is up next for a new look

While one advocacy group is calling on the government to replace President Jackson with a woman on the $20 bill, it's actually the $10 note that's up next for a redesign.

A new $10 bill is on track to enter circulation in 2020, a Treasury Department spokeswoman said Friday.

It will be the first to have a raised "tactile feature," making it easier for people who are blind to identify the cash, according to a Treasury Department document outlining redesign plans from 2013. The spokeswoman confirmed that the information in the report still stands.

Related: Jack Lew: Higher minimum wage = stronger economy

She would not comment on whether or not the redesign would include a new portrait of Hamilton or anyone else for that matter.

Some changes to the bill are aimed at making it harder for crooks to make counterfeit money. All bills are changed every so often for this reason, and security threats largely drive the schedule for redesigns.

One reason the $10 bill was selected as the first to get the raised feature is because it is frequently used and has a low production volume, allowing for a smooth transition, the report says.

The advocacy group, Women on 20s, is petitioning the president and Congress to put a woman on the $20 bill. It has a list of 15 candidates to replace Jackson and people can cast a vote for their favorite on its web site.

Additional reporting by Antoine Sanfuentes.

CNNMoney (New York) March 20, 2015: 7:50 PM ET

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March Madness Snapchat style

Snapchat lets users experience March Madness.

The popular message app has an agreement in place with Turner Sports, CBS Sports, and the NCAA that will give access to user generated content regarding the wildly popular basketball tournament, according to a person familiar with the deal.

The footage on Snapchat will come from the application's story platform.

Users will be able to watch fans react to the games -- whether its from the crowd at the venue, from those watching at home, or any college basketball fan in general.

Related: CNN and other media brands come to Snapchat

The source stressed that there is no financial arrangement in the deal and that it is more of an experiment to see the potential use of Snapchat in future sporting events.

"This is an experiment that taps into a youthful marketplace and could lead down the road to possible monetization in future," the source said.

It expands Snapchat's content away from quickly-expiring videos between users.

In January, Snapchat announced "Discover" a section of the app that allows different publishers like CNN and other brands to program channels within the app itself.

(Turner Sports is owned by Time Warner (TWX), Inc. which is also the parent company of CNNMoney).

CNNMoney (New York) March 19, 2015: 7:30 PM ET

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Jack Lew: Higher minimum wage = stronger economy

U.S. Treasury Secretary Jack Lew says it just makes sense for the economy.

"If you look at states and businesses doing it, if they're willing to do it in a competitive environment, it proves that we could do it overall," Jack Lew told CNNMoney's Christine Romans Thursday.

When Lew talks to CEOs around the country, they sound more and more confident about the U.S. economy. That's a good sign that better things -- including higher wages -- are likely ahead.

"I have a great deal of confidence that as we raise the minimum wage, it's going to boost a lot of economic activity in the process," Lew says.

Related: 3% raises are (likely) back in 2015

Target (TGT) is reportedly the latest retailer to start pushing minimum wages up to at least $9 an hour in April. Target has roughly 366,000 employees nationwide.

In February, Walmart announced it would increase pay to $9 an hour in April and $10 an hour by February 2016. The raise will affect about half a million Walmart employees.

It would take congressional action to alter the federal minimum wage, and so far Congress has been reluctant to do it. Some lawmakers argue that lifting the national minimum wage from $7.25 an hour to $10.10 -- the number the White House has proposed -- will hurt the economy.

Lew dismisses that criticism as out of touch. Workers who earn under $10 an hour are barely getting by, he argues, and when their wages go up, they almost always spend the extra money on groceries, gas and other bills. It goes right back into stimulating the economy.

Related: Seattle workers win fight over $15 minimum wage

It's not just companies that are acting to lift salaries lately. Minimum wage hikes went into effect on January 1 in 20 states, including South Dakota, Nebraska, Alaska and Alabama.

Beyond wages, Lew is most concerned about hacking attacks. He dubs it the great challenge for all leaders today.

"It is a new phenomenon where the risk is great and the learning curve has been fast," he says.

Going forward the U.S. has a lot of the right policies in place to succeed, according to Lew. But in addition to cyber attacks, America also needs to be more proactive on infrastructure investments.

"The economy of the future is going to be a function of how educated our people are and how strong our infrastructure is," he believes.

Related: What an interest rate increase means for real people

CNNMoney (New York) March 19, 2015: 7:27 PM ET

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FAA allows Amazon to test drones in U.S.

The government agency on Thursday granted Amazon (AMZN, Tech30) permission to test and experiment with certain drones in its fleet "for research and development and crew training."

The company first launched plans for a drone delivery program more than a year ago, but current FAA rules are so restrictive that only hobbyists and certain small businesses can use drones in meaningful ways. Realtors for example, can take aerial shots of their properties.

Delivering packages through the air in 30 minutes -- what Amazon wants to do -- is still far from possible given current rules that drones must remain in the line of sight of operators, and can only fly up to 100 mph.

But Thursday's announcement is "huge news for Amazon," according to BI Intelligence research analyst Cooper Smith. "It seems like the FAA is giving Amazon a runway to at least test in the U.S."

Previously, Amazon could only test its drones delivery program, Amazon Prime Air, in countries like India.

Related: FAA proposes to allow commercial drone use

Amazon isn't the only company building a drone delivery program. Google is also developing one and has faced the similar restrictions.

When the FAA released its initial proposal for drones regulation in the US last month, Amazon was very vocal about its disappointment.

Paul Misener, Amazon's vice president for global public policy, said at that time that "the FAA's proposed rules for small (drones) could take one or two years to be adopted and, based on the proposal, even then those rules wouldn't allow Prime Air to operate in the United States."

Another problem for Amazon is that under current rules, the drones must also avoid people. Also the operator must not allow "any object to be dropped" from the drone.

That would seem to preclude Amazon drones from flying into cities and leaving small packages on customers' doorsteps.

Among the concerns of regulators is no doubt what Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos said in announcing the plan: "This thing can't land on somebody's head while they're walking around their neighborhood."

An FAA spokeswoman said the agency did not have any additional comment. Amazon did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Under the terms of the experimental permit, Amazon must abide by specific operation rules: Drones can only be flown at 400 feet or below during the day in clear weather conditions, and must remain in the line-of-sight of their operators, who must hold at least a private pilot's certificate and medical certification.

Additionally, Amazon is required to send monthly data from its tests to the FAA. That information includes how many times test flights were conducted, who operated the drones, and any communication or hardware malfunctions.

Related: Amazon isn't happy with FAA's proposed drone rules

Related: These drones have a higher calling

CNNMoney (New York) March 19, 2015: 8:31 PM ET

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Can reality TV help tech's diversity problem?

"Absolutely, positively, unequivocally not."

That's according to black entrepreneur Kathryn Finney, founder of New York-based accelerator Digital Undivided. Finney was approached by a casting agency via email this week to appear in a reality show about black female entrepreneurs in tech.

"We are looking to connect with stylish, hard-working women in the tech industry who want to showcase their fabulous lives both in and out of work, and show what being a boss is really all about," read the email, which Finney detailed in a post on Medium.

She was outraged.

"The definition of a boss in the startup world is someone who has actually exited through an IPO or acquisition," Finney told CNNMoney. "In the premise of what they're framing it as, there are no black women who are that. The number of black women who have any sort of power in tech is very, very small. Those women are not going to participate in a reality TV show."

The email details that they're looking to cast "over-the-top" personalities, with an "unconventional approach to business" who celebrate successes at expensive restaurants, go on luxe vacations, and indulge in high-end real therapy.

According to Finney, the show would be "horrible for black women in tech." She said no true black female entrepreneurs would opt to be on this show.

"A reality show centers on conflict," she added. "It'll be impossible to raise any money, no investor wants to invest in someone who has conflict."

The email to Finney said the casting agency is working with a major production company to develop the series. (Finney declined to disclose who reached out to her, saying the woman herself is black and isn't responsible for the series.)

Finney said she's in communication with the casting agency (who said they'd relay her concerns to the production company) and sounded out on Twitter to rally support.

It doesn't take much to see that the reality show detailed seems more like Real Housewives than Shark Tank.

There's already a show on Bravo called Blood, Sweat & Heels that features a diverse cast of "self-made go-getters" in New York City. That production company, Leftfield Productions, said they are not behind the new show.

"It shows an utter lack of understanding of the tech world and of what we're up against as black women in this world," said Finney. "This isn't entertainment. This is business."

Related: Black women struggle to fund startups

Related: Black girls take on tech's diversity woes

CNNMoney (New York) March 18, 2015: 5:50 PM ET

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How Fox's 'Empire' became so big

But "Empire" didn't start out that way. Much of the credit for the show's success must be given to on-demand TV options that barely existed a few years ago. There are half a dozen ways to watch "Empire," and all of them have contributed to its total audience of 20 million a week.

Picture a tree: What's seen above ground are the overnight ratings for "Empire." That tree has been sprouting -- showing growth with each passing week and wowing the whole television industry. What's unseen, below ground, are the roots -- the on-demand viewership.

Early in the season, nearly half of the show's total audience was watching sometime after the Wednesday night premieres -- days and even weeks after.

"Empire" has been the No. 1 TV series on Comcast's video-on-demand system ever since it debuted in January. The cable provider's latest weekly chart, on Tuesday, was titled "'Empire's' on demand dominance continues."

Related: This is the Year of the African-American Viewer

To be sure, "Empire" had a surge in live viewership from the very beginning, thanks to a strong marketing campaign and its A-list stars Terrence Howard and Taraji P. Henson.

The first episode had 9.8 million viewers right out of the gate, according to Nielsen's overnight ratings. Analysts said it was propelled by African-American viewership.

But the live viewership was just the start. Fox's data for the first month of "Empire" -- the first four episodes -- demonstrates how it all breaks down.

The first four episodes, on average, had 10.7 million viewers who watched on premiere nights, either live or with digital video recorders within a few hours of the live airing.

The four episodes had another 8.5 million viewers who watched on-demand. And the episodes gained another 1.3 million viewers thanks to televised repeats. So the audience nearly doubled after premiere night.

Some of this catch-up viewing, about 3.1 million viewers' worth, happened within three days of the premiere, using either a DVR or a cable video-on-demand system. Another 700,000 or so viewers used a DVR to catch up four to seven days later.

Here's the most eye-opening statistic: 2.2 million viewers of the first four episodes used video-on-demand systems to catch up 4+ days later. This is way-delayed viewing, the kind that's historically not very valuable to advertisers. But the advertising landscape is changing as companies begin to insert fresh ads into old episodes.

The remainder of the 8.5 million time-shifters, 2.4 million, watched via Hulu or FOX NOW, the network's streaming service. That's another significant stat: It means more than 10% of the initial "Empire" fan base were streaming it.

Each week, the premiere-night audience for "Empire" grew. It's now up to about 15 million viewers, and will likely go even higher on Wednesday night.

How much of that is due to time-shifters who are now tuning in live? It's hard to say for sure. But for Fox executives, "Empire" is one of the shiniest examples so far of a trend that emerged just a couple of years ago: time-shifted viewership of old episodes translating into higher ratings for premieres of new episodes.

"Technology is a new show's friend," New York magazine's ratings guru Joe Adalian wrote. He noted that Fox "wisely allowed all episodes of the show to remain on VOD, rather than limiting potential catch-up viewers to just the last five or six hours."

A Fox spokeswoman said apples-to-apples data beyond the first four episodes is hard to come by, since various on-demand systems provide audience totals at different times. But episode 7 of "Empire," which premiered exactly one month ago on February 18, has been viewed "more than 5.3 million times" through cable video-on-demand, Hulu and Fox's web site. The VOD total is only for 4+ days later.

In other words, in mid-February, new fans of the show were still catching up on what they'd missed.

Maybe some are still binging right now, just in time for the finale.

Related: 'Empire' ratings up for 9th straight week

Related: African-Americans propel prime time TV hits like 'Empire'

CNNMoney (New York) March 18, 2015: 8:45 PM ET

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Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz says #RaceTogether 'right thing to do'

"It's not going to solve racism, but I do believe it is the right thing to do at this time," Schultz told CNN Money's Poppy Harlow Wednesday.

He launched the campaign earlier this week aiming to start a national conversation about race. The response has been mixed, including some harsh backlash on social media. One Starbucks (SBUX) public relations executive temporarily deleted his Twitter account after he was personally attacked.

But Schultz has a reputation for taking controversial stands, including having his staff write "work together" on cups in 2012 during the Congressional "fiscal cliff" drama. He's also spoken out about gun control, gay rights and affordable education.

He said Wednesday that Starbucks is forging ahead with his race campaign. In fact, Schultz spent at least half the time at the company's shareholder meeting Wednesday talking about the push, which he's calling Race Together.

Related: Starbucks exec back on Twitter after #RaceTogether backlash

"Friends of mine and some people at Starbucks felt it wasn't an issue we should engage in and I rejected that," Schultz said.

"If we all continue to be bystanders on something that's dividing the nation, then where is this headed? We are better than this as a country," he said.

Over the past few months Starbucks has held open forums for employees to talk about it. This week, it pushed further, encouraging baristas to start conversations with customers by writing the words "Race Together" on cups.

Related: Starbucks is tackling racism one cup at a time

But not everyone wants to discuss race relations while ordering their morning coffee, nor do they think the coffee line is the right place to have this kind of conversation.

But writing the message on cups is only a small aspect of the campaign, Schultz said.

The big idea, he said, it to act as a catalyst for a conversation that raises understanding, empathy and compassion around the issue.

CNNMoney (New York) March 18, 2015: 9:11 PM ET

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Kraft recalls 242,000 cases of mac and cheese for metal pieces

The issue affects 7.25-ounce boxes of the original flavor with a Sept. 18, 2015 use-by-date shipped to the United States, Puerto Rico, and some Caribbean countries.

The company said customers should return the mac and cheese to the store where they purchased it for a full refund or exchange. They also can call Kraft at 1-800-816-9432 to get their refund.

Kraft (KRFT) received 8 complaints about the issue, but is not aware of any injuries due to the metal pieces.

Kendrick Lamar's new album 'To Pimp A Butterfly' just set a record for streams

Starbucks exec deletes Twitter account amid #RaceTogether backlash

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CNNMoney (New York) March 17, 2015: 7:01 PM ET

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