Advisor strategies

Acquired by Towers Watson in November 2013, private exchange provider Liazon is navigating a unique space. It is both owned by a consultancy and used by that firm’s competitors. Alan Cohen, co-founder and chief strategy officer of Liazon, discusses how all brokers fit into the exchange equation and what, in his view, makes an exchange, an exchange.

A little-known special enrollment period under the Affordable Care Act allows for small employers to pick up group health care coverage regardless of whether they meet minimum participation or contribution requirements.

An onslaught of Dec. 1 renewal dates means premium rates remain steady for now, but advisers need to prepare for heavy 4th quarter workloads.

CMS promises better, but brokers expect more disconnected phone calls, incorrect information and a difficult time processing applications for enrollment on Healthcare.gov.

A fix is in the works to ensure agents and brokers can identify themselves and therefore receive commissions for their work on the federally-facilitated marketplace, an agency official at The Center for Consumer Information and Insurance Oversight said Tuesday.

Aon Hewitt expects more than 1.2 million employees, retirees and their families to choose health benefits through the company’s exchanges — revising their earlier estimates upward.

Walmart’s announcement this week that it will drop health care coverage for its part-time employees reiterates that employer-sponsored health care coverage is changing, and those benefit advisers who plan to remain relevant to clients must change, too.

Health care reform has changed the role of the adviser from insurance broker to that of a trusted adviser, counselor and compliance guru. Advisers hoping to thrive in this new environment will embrace the change less as a burden and more as an opportunity.

Complicated and tedious ACA reporting requirements are forcing benefit advisers who want to stay relevant to adapt to a more automated way of doing business.

A panel of some of EBA’s Most Influential Women in Benefit Advising discuss how women are claiming a role in the benefits industry.

With the Affordable Care Act’s employer shared responsibility reporting requirements for 2015 quickly approaching, benefit advisers should already be working with employer clients to implement benefit administration systems to ensure compliance with the law, industry experts say.

Many of your employer clients will soon face hefty penalties under the ACA for failing to make an offer of health care coverage. Legal experts clarify what that offer of coverage must be.

Health insurance premium rates are on the rise, a trend that could alter brokers’ selling strategies.

Company executives are increasingly becoming involved with health care benefit decisions. Benefit advisers hoping to win, and keep, their business must tailor their tactics to the C-suite.

Although open enrollment for ACA plans is not set to begin until November 15, a new report estimates that nearly 7 million adults may be able to enroll through special enrollment periods.

Employers are seeking help from benefit brokers and advisers as health care costs have them searching for alternatives to the current system of health care delivery.

Employers and employees more than ever need the help of their trusted adviser to communicate in plain language the complexities of today’s health care landscape.

Brokers and assisters will need to work closer together to help consumers during the 2015 ACA open enrollment, but most agree that will involve overcoming some underlying issues.

A day in the life of benefit adviser Bob White from Plan Benefit Analysts of Tulsa, Okla.

As the country’s demographics continue to shift, employers are facing changes in the makeup of their workforce, according to a report from the Council of Economic Advisers. With those changes come new benefits needs for working families. Brokers can help their clients keep up with these evolving requirements and expectations.