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With just days to go in open enrollment on the ACA’s public exchanges, brokers say the biggest problem is getting a hold of certain carriers, and one in particular rose to the top of the list of complaints.

Employers are making creative changes to employee benefit offerings to stem the tide of rising health care costs, but many are taking a wait-and-see approach to private exchanges, according to presenters at MetLife’s 10th National Benefits Symposium Monday.

Despite nearly two-thirds of employers indicating that managing critical talent is vital for success, only a handful of employers feel their programs are communicating these values to high performing staff.

Commentary: Employer group waiver plans provide a solution for the struggling public sector

Months after becoming the first state to offer health care coverage to lower-income residents through a “private option” rather than Medicaid expansion under the ACA, Arkansas finally agreed to extend this closely watched political compromise.

Commentary: Study shows employee assistance programs reduce absenteeism, improve productivity and condition-specific outcomes

Through a new group annuity program, Towers Watson may have found a solution to retiree medical costs – a burgeoning problem for employers. The option eliminates the financial risk from the table and limits the administrative burdens linked to the benefit.

Commentary: Access to information has completely changed the way people make buying decisions today, and it’s influencing your agency whether you realize it or not, says Q4intelligence’s Wendy Keneipp.

Employers tend not to change their benefits programs quickly, and the Cadillac Tax is only three more open enrollments away. It might be tempting to wait, but those who evolve their plan designs now have more time to educate and engage their employees on these programs.

While a flurry of recent, presidential-level focus on America’s retirement system might be a good opportunity for dialog on its shortfalls, those in the retirement industry fear that a new era of potential tax grabs is on the horizon.