Marli D. Riggs

Plan sponsors can raise the level of participation in voluntary benefits by providing live assistance to explain options to their employees, according to a recent survey.

Hundreds of National Association of Health Underwriters members attended the organization’s 81st annual convention in San Antonio, which concludes Wednesday.

The National Association of Health Underwriters is gathered in the most visited city in Texas for the organization’s 81st annual convention from June 26 – 29.

Benefit brokers have a growing opportunity to help clients incorporate comparative effectiveness research into value-based health plan design, a just-released survey suggests.

Advisers should work closely with health insurers to improve service fundamentals that drive employer satisfaction and commitment to benefit sponsorship, suggests new research that also identifies the best-performing vendors.

As controversy continues to brew over the validity of a McKinsey survey finding 30% of respondents would likely drop employee health care coverage in the years following the implementation of health reform’s state exchanges, a survey on the same topic from Lockton reveals a more conservative estimate: nearly one in five employers (18%) say they will consider terminating group coverage.

A recent survey from Principal Financial Group confirms that employees who use a financial adviser do significantly better at meeting their retirement savings goals than those who do not.

The benefit broker segment continues to be the largest producer segment according to Eastbridge Consulting Group’s 2010 U.S. Worksite Sales Report.

Less than 20% of chief financial officers consider themselves very knowledgeable about the new GAAP statutory principle-based framework, while 24% say that key personnel within their company know very little about the plans, according to a recent survey.

Enrollment in health savings accounts jumped to more than 11.4 million as of Jan. 1, 2011, according to an annual census released June 14.

Almost 80 percent of employers anticipate that there will be an increased demand for access to savings and investment advice about their 401(k) plans, according to a new survey.

According to a recent survey by Eastbridge, "product competition" was named most frequently as an obstacle voluntary and worksite executives' businesses will face over the next few years. Forty percent of the executives deemed this a top issue.

Two out of three workers would purchase additional health insurance benefits to make sure they are protected, according to a report from Aflac. Fifty-nine percent of respondents said they would acquire voluntary insurance.

BenefitMall has revamped the company's website, adding resources and information to assist brokers. Changes include an improved home page that provides quicker access to tools that can help brokers more effectively manage their businesses.

Hundreds of facts and statistics have been compiled from numerous industry reports to produce the first Long-Term Care Insurance Almanac and Book of Facts. The guide, produced by the American Association for Long-Term Care Insurance, will help financial and insurance professionals address the increasing number of questions raised by prospective clients.

Group medical premiums continue to increase nationwide, according to the May Employee Benefits Market Survey conducted by The Council of Insurance Agents & Brokers. Since the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act was enacted last year, many carriers and brokers blame the legislation for the increase rates, states a CIAB news release.

Plan sponsors say that they “find comfort” in their advisers and the services they deliver, according to preliminary results from a comprehensive study to research the benefits that plan sponsors gain from working with professional retirement plan advisers.

The mid-size market is a bright spot for voluntary sales in an otherwise stagnant economy, according to LIMRA research.

New steps to reduce premiums and make it easier for Americans to enroll in the federally administrated Pre-Existing Condition Insurance Plan risk pool were announced May 31 by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

Voluntary home and auto benefits are an increasingly important part of many brokers' product arrays - and revenue streams.