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A panel of some of EBA’s Most Influential Women in Benefit Advising discuss how women are claiming a role in the benefits industry.

Commentary: Your new wellness vendor’s presentation showed impressive results from their work with other clients – risk factors reduced, cost curves bent, and ROI blossomed. It all sounds terrific.

With the advent of the Affordable Care Act, strategic planning for benefit plans has taken on a new level of importance. Yet very few employers have a strategic plan in place for benefits, said Bill Hembree, CEO, Health Research Institute during this week’s Benefits Forum & Expo in Boca Raton, Fla.

With consumers shopping online for nearly everything nowadays, benefit advisers should be rethinking their approach to selling insurance.

The one-size-fits-all communications approach is ending, but employee engagement is still an issue for many employers. Alison Davis, of employee communication firm Davis & Company, identified five root causes of deteriorating engagement, which she shared with attendees at this year’s Benefits Forum & Expo.

All comprehensive wellness platforms should consist of four core programs — wellness, disease management, EAP and work life components — says Yale Mallinger of wellness company HMC-HealthWorks, but it’s what makes up those components that counts.

As the obesity epidemic and overall sedentary lifestyle continue to cripple the American workforce – drastically increasing health care costs – consider the inspirational words of Diana Nyad. The record-holding swimmer, who accomplished a near-impossible swim from Cuba to Key West, Fla., centers on one key message to help jump start the population: "Never, ever give up."

Her breadth and depth of experience make Theresa White a good choice to be Aflac's first female and African-American president of Aflac U.S., say industry experts.

Gone are the days of hula chairs and ThighMasters at the desk, new technologies and wearable devices are playing into the benefits and wellness strategies of employers, Amy McDonough, Fitbit’s director of wellness, told conference goers at the 2014 Employee Benefits Forum & Expo, being held this week in Boca Raton, Fla.

Targeting employee needs and purchasing preferences can boost engagement and enrollment with voluntary benefits. The way to personalize that message, experts say, is through the use of data analytics.