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The Plan Sponsor Council of America outlines its concerns over the DOL’s proposal to impose fiduciary requirements on retirement advisers.

Commentary: The broker’s dependence on the medical carriers — and their value to the broker’s business business — has about run its course, says columnist Nelson Griswold.

Communication is the leading factor in the failure or success of dependent eligibility audits, ranking higher than pricing, service, or any other of the “bells and whistles” that are promised by vendors, research notes. Paul Passantino, senior national account manager at Dependent Specialists Inc., provides 10 questions benefit managers should consider when crafting a communications strategy for dependent eligibility verification audits.

Despite potential savings offered, voluntary programs that provide discounts on products, services and tickets to employees are rarely used and seeing almost no growth year-over-year.

Independent insurance brokers recorded a median organic growth of nearly 6% for the second quarter of 2015, continuing a growth trend that’s been steady for the past few years.

Based on the questions at the oral arguments, how might the Supreme Court rule on King v. Burwell and what are the implications of such a ruling? Watch as Timothy Jost, a law professor at Washington and Lee University, discusses potential outcomes of the ruling, expected later this month.

In its first day of hearings about the proposed fiduciary rule, the DOL has heard testimony from advisers, legal experts and other industry representatives — many seeking revisions to minimize the ‘burden’ of the rule’s future implementation.

Concerns about over-regulation and accusations of industry cynicism led the opening of the Labor Department's hearings on its proposal to impose fiduciary requirements on retirement advisers — the latest phase of its contentious process to craft new rules on consumer protections.

Despite a growing optimism about their financial situations, African-Americans still participate in their employer-sponsored retirement plans at lower rates than the general population, indicating a continued need for employers to focus on retirement plan education.

Commentary: Brokers across the country have horror stories of Zenefits stealing their clients. So, columnist Nelson Griswold asks, what can a broker or adviser do to defend his book from Zenefits?