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Advisers are more confident than they have been since January, but they still report being concerned over the disconnect in the marketplace, according to The Advisor Confidence Index, a benchmark that gauges adviser views on the U.S. economy and stock market.

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services is nearly ready to issue a proposed rule requiring health insurers to develop standardized, consumer-friendly summaries of benefits and coverage under their health plan packages.

Folio Investing research finds that other target-date funds lose 1% or more a year in performance due to inadequate diversification. The funds would do well to take a more institutional approach by looking at the relationship between asset classes to reduce risk, improve performance and deliver more consistent returns.

According to a new survey from Symantc Corp., the negative consequences from a social media misstep cost a typical employer $4 million per year. For a 140-character message on Twitter, that’s more than $28,000 per character — an eye-popping sum that will make HR/benefits professionals want to literally watch employees’ Ps and Qs on social media sites.

In July, EBN issued the PPACA Challenge, a 30-question quiz designed to test benefits professionals’ knowledge of the landmark health care reform law, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. Of the hundreds of practitioners who took the quiz, there were six questions that stumped you most often. View our slideshow to see what they were and find the right answers. For a PPACA crash course, view EBN’s award-winning PPACA interactive timeline.

Louisiana Sen. Mary L. Landrieu urges Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius to remove agent compensation from the medical loss ratio rule.

A new bill introduced in the Senate last week could help consumers keep their employer-sponsored flexible spending account funds at the end of the year.

Investment strategist says debt ceiling deadline presents no real cause for concern for investors.

Although generally a highly rated and highly valued benefit, one of the most irksome realities of flexible spending accounts is that account holders must drain the funds at the end of every plan year or lose them altogether. However, a bipartisan Senate proposal aims to end the FSA “use it or lose it” rule.

President Ronald Reagan was famously known as the “Great Communicator.” In a commentary for the New York Daily News to mark what would have been Reagan’s 100th birthday, Fred Thompson said Reagan’s reputation as The Great Communicator “boils down to three basic traits: he was simple; he was clear; he was sincere.” …