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Big shifts may be coming in how retirement plans are managed after the Labor Department announced the final version of its rules under Section 408(b)(2) of ERISA, which require broker dealers to disclose their services and fees to plan sponsors for individual plans.

The American Association for Critical Illness Insurance estimates that about one million Americans now have CI insurance protection. It's a good thing too, as nearly two-thirds of U.S. bankruptcies are the result of medical expenses, the association reports.

Open enrollment 2012 is long wrapped up, but carriers are already preparing for 2013. As the health care market is in a constant state of change, EBA spoke with the major medical providers for their views of trends and what to expect in the future.

Two years after President Barack Obama signed the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act into law, the U.S. Supreme Court this month will hear oral arguments on the constitutionality of the individual mandate that requires all individuals who can afford it to buy health insurance. The Court will also determine whether the Medicaid expansion is constitutional, which may affect employers with retiree health care plans. The majority of employers, however, are attuned to the Court's decision on the individual mandate and how much of the law will survive if that provision is found unconstitutional. Whatever the Supreme Court ultimately decides in U.S. Department of Health and Human Services v. Florida, here EBA outlines each potential ruling concerning the constitutionality of the individual mandate and how it affects plan sponsors and advisers alike.

Obamacare. Or is it ObamaCare? However you spell it, if you're in the health care advisory business you shouldn't be saying it.

Aon Hewitt isn't letting health care reform dictate its business model. If anything, it's the other way around. In addition to publishing an influential report on the implications of health reform for large employers, CEO Kristi Savacool has been to the White House several times in recent months to discuss the company's retiree health care exchange and upcoming active employee exchange model.

What do you do when the trust you place in a carrier is violated? You assume your producer's agreement is in place to protect you. Think again. When we send carriers a request for proposal, we are trusting them to act in good faith. Sadly, I found out not all are trustworthy.

As medical costs go up and household income lags behind, more people are likely to qualify for health care tax deductions.

From carriers to brokers, enrollers to consultants, the message was the same to the more than 600 attendees gathered Tuesday in Atlantic City, N.J. for the Workplace Benefits Renaissance: Voluntary benefits are a mounting source of opportunity for those who are prepared to take advantage

With health care reform swirling all around us and impacting the way we all do business, I’m switching gears for a moment to focus on our future by glancing back at our past. Remember the pride you felt when you graduated college. Good grades, good memories and a diploma . . . your ticket to dreams of a bright, successful future – do you remember asking yourself, ok now what? …