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Until recently, I directed a corporate benefits department and was responsible for complying with the legislation that affected my organization's benefits program. There were mountains of legislation, and while my staff and I were able to handle it effectively, we definitely struggled to keep abreast of everything we needed to do. Then came the law that broke the camel's back: health care reform.

The recession has been a double-edged sword to employers, forcing them to contend with the productivity and morale issues brought on by staff layoffs but also the financial squeeze of rising unemployment insurance taxes, COBRA costs and severance packages.

My husband and I recently celebrated our 25th wedding anniversary in Mexico. It was perfect - ice cold Coronas and warm sun. The only drawback (other than the beer-bellied men in Speedos) were the constant solicitations to purchase a time-share.

Lately, it seems as though a week doesn't go by without a survey inquiry from a neighboring city or county about how Palm Beach County is encouraging or mandating employees to quit smoking.

As employers start to conduct cost-benefit analysis on providing health insurance under the health law, they should also study some proposals by the National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform.

Over two days of hearings in March, the Department of Labor heard from almost 40 retirement industry players on its proposed rule to update the definition of the term "fiduciary" under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act. The agency also has received over 200 public comments on the proposal.

I enjoyed the article, "Is stop-loss the answer?" on page 14 of the April issue. I started my insurance career marketing and selling self-funded plans and spent time as a stop-loss sales representative for a managing general underwriter, so self funding is near and dear to my heart. I agree with the comments in the article that self funding is a viable option to consider for larger groups. Heck, I even had a couple of 20-life groups that ran successful self-funded plans for many years. That said, there are deep issues to consider if you are not proficient in self-funded plans.

This month I thought I'd deviate from my normal approach and follow up on a previous column using a case study approach.

As I am writing this, my two-year-old is smacking my leg, trying to crawl onto my lap and attempting to commandeer the keyboard. All of these "adorable" antics make it difficult for me to work, type, or even think.

Growth in the long-term care market has been on the upswing the past several years. The turbulent economy and recent changes to health care have increased awareness of this valuable protection. Employers are taking this time to re-evaluate their employee benefits and many see LTC insurance as a product that can be easily added to a benefit plan without a lot of additional costs.