Advisor strategies

Nelson Griswold on what insurance brokerages need to keep up with health reform.

Craig Davidson on what health insurance stores should look like under health reform.

Early bird gets the worm. That’s an applicable motto for the National Association of Health Underwriters Capitol Conference attendees, who packed into a hotel on Capitol Hill early Tuesday morning for an overflowing session of speakers, from a senator to a president of a health insurance enrollment non-profit to Mercer and Wellpoint representatives.

Mercer is one of the latest companies to enter the private exchange game, and the consulting giant gave employers an opportunity to check out the service during a conference call Thursday. Company executives revealed some of those specifics during the call, especially during the Q&A period for the audience.

The National Association of Health Underwriters hosts its annual Capitol Conference on Capitol Hill this week, bringing business leaders and bipartisan legislators together to discuss the changing marketplace and pending health reform regulations. Employee Benefit Adviser will be on site at the Hyatt Regency Capitol Hill to bring you coverage from this summit.

The role of brokers in the new world of health care in 2014 is changing, and while it’s tough, there are five key marching orders for making the most of it. This sentiment opened the Workplace Benefits Renaissance in Atlantic City, N.J. on Monday with a keynote from Andrew Webber, the president and CEO of the National Business Coalition on Health based in Washington, D.C.

While brokers are experiencing anxiety about their role in exchanges, employees of all types may be confused about their options — thus providing brokers the chance to come to the rescue with targeted communication on the subject.

With PPACA implementation in full swing, the top four broker organizations set their sights on making inroads on Capitol Hill to secure regulatory fixes.

Mercer health benefit consultants have come up with a short list of what employer health plan sponsors need to keep top-of-mind in the New Year:

What employers and brokers need to know and do to success under the new health care reform model.

Nelson Griswold on how under health reform a carrier will not determine how much a broker is worth.

Guest blogger Linda K. Riddell shows how an eye for detail and some simple calculations could prove to be a life-saver for employees that are overusing/abusing narcotic painkillers. As always, share your thoughts in the comments.

HHS outlines various conditions and services insurers must cover, and rules to let companies expand employee wellness programs in new proposed regulations of the ACA posted Tuesday.

Now that health reform is here to stay, blogger Dave Petno says he is ready for the challenge to understand what he calls the “entire 2,700 page monstrosity.” Here’s how you can be prepared too for your client’s questions.

The Congressional Budget Office said in a report that a Congressional fix to exclude broker commissions from medical loss ratio calculations will increase deficits by $531 million over the 2013-2017 period.

Updated throughout the day after Obama's re-election, hear what industry leaders and industry groups say the president's win means for the broker community. Be sure to leave your thoughts in the comments, too.

New legislation begins this month in Massachusetts, a state ahead of the country on “health care reform,” says EBA Blogger Mark Gaunya. But what can others learn from this new law, a “a state-based, cost control experiment that may prove to be a glimpse of the future in your state?”

Turning PPACA compliance into profit for advisers brokers by Nelson Griswold.

Who will do most of the work implementing PPACA? Blogger Ed Bray, J.D., sees a tide that could be turning to a shared role between human resources and finance.

How do you present PPACA to clients and how does that help you prepare for the future? EBA Blogger Mark Lacher shares three things he has learned in his presentations.