Advisor strategies

While the top exchange leader confirmed Tuesday that 70,000 agents have completed federal training, documents obtained by Republicans suggest CMS might begin outreach to get more professionals involved.

President Obama touted this state as exemplary Wednesday in his health care speech, but one broker says there was a loophole for those who were able to enroll.

While the thought may not have occurred to retirement and financial planners, one expert says that with the rising cost of health care, it’s a concept that could save their businesses.

Two days after the troubled online U.S. health exchange went live, just 248 people nationwide had successfully enrolled in insurance plans under President Barack Obama’s Affordable Care Act, documents show.

The White House calls the nationwide uptick in health plan cancellations a result of “substandard policies” being eliminated, but advisers express concern over resulting rate hikes.

A day after her deputy apologized for the failures with the Affordable Care Act insurance exchange, U.S. Health Secretary Kathleen Sebelius followed suit and told Congress that she shoulders the blame for the botched rollout.

The Department of Labor is apparently close to finishing its controversial work on establishing a fiduciary standard.

CMS is communicating minimally with the thousands of insurance brokers who went through training for the 36 federally-run exchanges, while prominent ACA spokespeople — including the president — repeatedly fail to mention brokers as a viable exchange information source.

While the rest of the country was trying to access exchange websites on Oct. 1 and having no luck, something remarkable happened in Connecticut.

While the rest of the country was trying to access exchange websites on Oct. 1 and having no luck, something remarkable happened in Connecticut.

Nelson Griswold provides four tips for making sure you make the right decision for your client.

The choices that benefits professionals make now about the ACA are crucial.

Computer servers hosting a key piece of Obamacare’s insurance enrollment program fails Sunday, leaving federal and independent state exchanges unable to provide most services.

Despite a CMS report Friday that nearly half of all applications completed so far are from the federally-run state exchanges, brokers on the front lines have a different perspective.

The state-run exchanges in Washington and Kentucky have received positive press about their websites working in comparison to the federal, but brokers haven’t had much hand in the success.

Acknowledging Thursday that the exchange system “wasn’t tested enough,” CMS’ director of communications responded to issues brought up by government contractors earlier in the day on Capitol Hill.

A recent survey conducted by the National Business Group on Health shows surprisingly different results about employee ACA knowledge than a similar poll the organization commissioned in the summer.

As intelligence emerges about failed and rushed testing in the weeks leading up to the Oct. 1 launch of Healthcare.gov, an expert close to state-run exchanges says these issues may not be as easily fixed as the president alluded to on Monday.

President Barack Obama said the widespread flaws afflicting online insurance exchanges under his health care law represent only a portion of the program, as he sought to fend off critics of his signature legislative achievement.

The “bugs” that have plagued the rollout of U.S. health insurance exchanges will be fixed by Dec. 15, said Senate Finance Chairman Max Baucus, the lead author of the 2010 health care law.