Banco Popular de Puerto Rico

The $64,000 question on state and federally managed health exchanges will be "what is the broker compensation?" Reliance on state and/or federal government to control your compensation is an uncontrollable factor that could lead to the demise of many brokers whose sole business is groups under 50 lives.

The Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act requires that swap transactions go through a clearing process. On February 7, 2013, the DOL issued Advisory Opinion 2013-01A that provides clarification.

Twenty-seven years after women first complained in 1986 about bumping against an invisible barrier — dubbed the glass ceiling — when they aimed for top jobs, just 21 are chief executive officers of companies in the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index. Now, a rash of books, from Facebook Inc. Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg to former State Department official Anne-Marie Slaughter, are soon to be published, seeking to empower women.

A glass-half-full crowd of benefits brokers and agents – that could be the theme of this year’s National Association of Health Underwriters Capitol Conference. The organization concluded its three day lobbying stint Wednesday with a morning of discussion panels on health reform, remarks from a Republican congresswoman, a talk with a representative from Centers for Medicare and Medicaid and an address from NAHU’s president.

Buck Consultants is the latest benefit and consulting firm to form a private exchange. The move aims to reduce employer uncertainty about 2014 by reducing costs and increasing employee health care options.

Sometimes the Service is explicit about its enforcement priorities. Other times officials drop hints in public speeches. And sometimes they just keep quiet in hopes plan sponsors will not let their guard down thinking they are out of the danger zone.

“As an emerging market, DIAs have experienced significant growth in 2012,” says Joe Montminy, assistant vice president and director of LIMRA annuity research.

Early bird gets the worm. That’s an applicable motto for the National Association of Health Underwriters Capitol Conference attendees, who packed into a hotel on Capitol Hill early Tuesday morning for an overflowing session of speakers, from a senator to a president of a health insurance enrollment non-profit to Mercer and Wellpoint representatives.

The answer to that question is still fuzzy. That’s because while the Department of Health and Human Services has confirmed to Employee Benefit Adviser that HRAs and HSAs will be offered on the public exchanges, the organization still hasn’t released the details and regulations surrounding these accounts.

This new feature will start your week with three important facts, developments or conversations from recent and upcoming events. This week, we look at NAHU’s Capitol Conference, new details on Mercer’s private exchange and what’s up for sequester as the Friday deadline looms.