Practice management

Viewpoint: The advising business can be deeply personal when it comes to engagement with clients, says one industry communications professional. Here are some tips to strengthen those ties.

It’s no surprise Americans are tired. That’s why benefit advisers working with employers to build a wellness program should not ignore sleep solutions.

As employers begin to look at private exchanges as a means to provide health care benefits to their active employee population questions are being raised about potential conflicts of interest for consulting firms that also act as exchange purveyors.

Commentary: Clients with fewer than 50 employees face skyrocketing premium rates this year and next. Columnist Nelson Griswold has a solution.

As more large brokerages seem to be opening their own platforms, one company wants to provide a means for the smaller independent agent to have a branded, customized private exchange, too.

Commentary: Sebelius was in an “unwinnable position," according to the former head of sales and marketing at Covered California, Michael Lujan. The former insurance agent writes that more engagement with the benefits industry would have behooved the troubled health secretary.

As new social media platforms arise, there are more opportunities for brokers to act as ‘trusted advisers.'

At a legislative conference for the Big “I” agent advocacy group in Washington on Thursday, the ACA was noticeably missing from everything from legislators’ talks to the group’s lobbying agenda for the year.

While many companies are reaping benefits from outsourcing their benefits management, recent media reports have indicated that companies that have opted to limit or entirely scale back their HR departments in favor of cost or other reasons may be limiting their organization’s potential.

Commentary: A written business plan is important to thrive in the changing benefits landscape, says columnist Jack Kwicien. Here are some of the uses for such a document.