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Commentary: You don’t need to be one of the world’s best writers to communicate effectively with clients about their retirement needs.

Commentary: Online enrollment that gets participation in voluntary benefits as good as or better than one-on-one enrollment meetings at the worksite — while letting brokers keep twice as much of the voluntary commission. Is it possible? Columnist Nelson Griswold explains.

Commentary: Game on at the DOL means game on for employers. Are your employers prepared for a DOL audit? Are you prepared to advise them on what an audit involves and the fines for non-compliance?

Commentary: Although your customers may be placing a greater emphasis on voluntary plans, their millennial employees often are unaware of the reasons to elect coverage. If this younger employee base doesn’t understand voluntary options, it could result in lower enrollment and hurt your clients financially. Learn how to harness the millennial’s demand for information to your advantage.

Commentary: Automatic features have all helped retirement plan participants, but what should employers and committees discuss this year as they plan for future improvements in their plans as a way to seek to improve the retirement outcomes for their participants?

Commentary: The Catalyst for Payment Reform scored each state on its level of health care cost transparency — 29 received an F, only two scored an A. Transparency of health care cost and quality must be the founding principle of sustainable change, says Borislow Insurance’s Mark Gaunya.

Commentary: Who cares about what you and I do? Not our prospects and not our customers. What we need is something that grabs an individual’s or a group’s interest — fast, says marketing consultant John Graham.

Commentary: Why are we ashamed or afraid to tell our clients or prospects what our cost of doing business is? Why are we afraid to be transparent?

Compliant cost management is crucial for self-funded plans dealing with end-stage renal disease

Innovative decision-making tools are being developed by insurance carriers to help employers and employees make decisions about their benefit options.