Employer Strategies

Cigna has instructed brokers to halt selling insurance to individuals who are subsidy-eligible through its federal health care exchange broker portals.

Having people shop for medical care the way they shop for cars or stereos might be ideal, in some ways. But it is not attainable as long as the shoppers are human beings.

Real estate company Keller Williams is one of the latest big firms to announce it’s offering associates access to a private health care exchange. Keller Williams’ independently owned and operated offices employ about 89,000 real estate agents — many of whom don’t have health insurance — across the country.

Recognizing the challenges (and headaches) involved in taking care of setting up their own benefits plans, a majority of small businesses say they recognize the need for an outside adviser to help.

California said 28,699 people were signed up in the state’s health insurance exchange in the first week, while New York had more than 40,000 sign up. But what did brokers have to say from the front lines?

Small business owners are more hopeful about the national economy and less concerned about systemic threats to their businesses, according to the Hartford, but more rate their risk-taking as conservative.

Reform proposals from the Securities and Exchange Commission could have a significant impact on your clients and their plan participants.

Certain requirements must be met in order to terminate these small business plans.

401(k) plans are largely outscoring 403(b) plans in some key plan features, writes The Principal Financial's Aaron Freidman, who equates this to a pre-season football game.

Insurers are getting faulty and incomplete data from the new federal-run health exchange, which may mean some Americans won’t be covered even after they sign up for an insurance plan.