Banco Popular de Puerto Rico

Broker demand for self-branded client communication software is reaching a fever pitch as agencies look to differentiate themselves from the competition. Adviser Tom Harte is capitalizing on the trend with a low-priced platform that targets advisers who find other product price points unattainable.

Employer clients using an ACA compliance solution vendor may have already received, or will be soon receiving, surveys or questionnaires requesting information about the employer’s workforce. Industry experts say the surveys often use technical jargon or request data that some employers are unsure of where to find, highlighting a real need for adviser help with the process.

While the first year of the ACA reporting requirements could create headaches for employers, it’s also an opportunity for advisers to increase their value and secure clients for the long-term.

Commentary: The Affordable Care Act’s reporting requirements are challenging, and carriers, employers and advisers have scrambled up a steep learning curve. Here are five predictions about how compliance will unfold in the coming months.

Employers and employees should be considering the benefits of health savings accounts as a retiree benefit, industry experts say. HSAs offer cost-shifting benefits for employers and employees that advisers should be educating clients about.

Aetna Inc. is quitting the health insurance industry’s main lobbying group, dealing a second blow to the organization just months after the exit of UnitedHealth Group Inc.

Technology and better educated consumers are two factors that are reducing the costs associated with retirement plans — which in turn are seeing exchange-traded funds grow in popularity, industry experts say.

The ACA allows states, beginning in January 2017, to ask the federal government to waive almost every major coverage requirement of the health care reform law, including the employer mandate. Employers and other benefit industry stakeholders hoping to be relieved from ACA requirements may consider state waivers the elixir they’ve been waiting for, but are they?

New reporting requirements are forcing public agencies to deal with a massive amount of liability, largely due to unfunded retiree health benefits. One California city helped solve the problem with a private exchange. The format is gaining popularity with plan sponsors for their early and post-65 retirees.

Systemic problems are keeping HSA balances from meeting their full investment potential, experts say.