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From childhood on, we have mentors for everything we do - parents, teachers, coaches, counselors. Everywhere we turn, a mentor is there to guide us through uncharted territory and help us succeed.

In the voluntary benefits business for more than a decade, Nashville's Karen Quigley knows a tidal change when she sees one. With carriers increasingly entering the core voluntary market and health care reform looming large over the whole industry, Quigley knew it was time to adapt.

Communication portals for employees have been the mainstay of benefits communication for the past decade. Increasingly though, brokers are finding that communication solutions focused on benefits alone are being subsumed by corporate intranets.

As a Texas-based benefit adviser, I can speak from experience about the article "Building value through health data transparency" (p. 14). In January 2008, Texas passed House Bill 2015, under which for groups between two and 50 lives I can get data on month-by-month covered lives, premium paid and claims paid. I can also get a listing of large claims in excess of $15,000. On groups with 50+ lives, I get all kinds of information on ER visits, office visits, prescription drugs, etc.

Some years ago, I was a researcher for a major employee benefits educational association. I learned that changes in federal legislation mean big business for advisers because of the demand they create for education. So here is my educated prediction for the new year: the equation in 2011 will be education equals sales.

With the new year in mind, I have a question for you: Are you working from a blueprint for success in 2011, or are you simply doing exactly what you did in 2010 and hoping for a different result?

Though January is just another month on the calendar, it is filled with hope - and sometimes, with trepidation. So in keeping with that spirit, here are some thoughts on what is likely to happen this year.

David Marom saw a need in the benefits marketplace, and he's using two decades worth of industry experience to meet it. This quarter, Marom Tech launches its Benefits Analysis Reporting application to help benefit advisers and consultants meet client needs through five avenues:

In a year replete with bad news, one of the most encouraging pieces of good news in 2010 was an uptick in the rate of growth of consumer-directed health plans. By the end of this year, more than 60% of U.S. employers are expected to offer a CDHP, according to a July 2010 GAO report.

With apologies to Sarah Palin, how's that change thing working out for you?