Healthcare

Commentary: Columnist Nelson Griswold explores the value of selling this product line for benefit brokers and advisers.

Employee benefit advisers and employers will have to wait longer than anticipated for the DOL’s expanded definition of fiduciary, as the agency has delayed the issuance of its proposal until January 2015.

As more than a quarter of American workers report that they have experienced abusive conduct at work, it’s important for employers to develop an effective anti-bullying policy that respects past decisions by the National Labor Relations Board and the courts.

Although a vast majority of employers plan to continue providing health care benefits for their employees, many are taking drastic action to mitigate the health care reform law’s financial effects on their benefit strategies.

Commentary: Columnist John Ludwig says employers and their benefit advisers still have a long way to go to help workers be retirement-ready.

CMS has granted 18 states a delay in enacting employee choice on the SHOP exchange, which some advisers feel is the only incentive for employers to enroll on the exchange at all.

Benefit brokers should be prepared to communicate ACA updates and answer questions both in-person and via new technology to reach employees.

The emergence of public and private health insurance exchanges, as well as the ongoing shift toward placing more responsibility on workers for health plan decisions, is creating a new normal for employers and employees alike.

People managers should not underestimate the impact of coaching their people to success around individual and shared goals. It’s one of the rare benefits that accrues to the organization as much as its employees.

Potentially a result of complaints from consumers and increased competition on the ACA exchanges, benefit brokers may be pleased to find more options on the 2015 plans.