Subject Root Tag

More small and midsized employers are looking at self-funding, but it’s not a winning formula for everyone.

Some baby boomers are carrying too much risk in their retirement portfolios because of the stock market’s rapid rise over the past five years.

Advisers who provide a variety of distribution methods, year-round support and targeted messages help employees better understand their benefits, which leads to increased participation.

State-based marketplaces were overall quite successful in retaining enrollees, however, a large number of consumers shopping within the marketplace during 2015 open enrollment decided to switch plans based on the price of services offered.

Commentary: The health care cost crisis needs to be addressed now. Enter applied predictive analytics.

While states are starting to realize they need to step up and help private sector employers better prepare their employees for retirement, Americans continue to fall short in meeting their economic needs in retirement.

With its streamlined technology platform and no fee business model, Zenefits has created quite a stir in the benefits industry. Should brokers be scared or should they be thanking Zenefits for pushing the envelope?

Commentary: If you ask people how they would make decisions today while working, most would tell you they can only make an educated guess or seek advice from financial professionals. Imagine how disconcerting this is when they no longer work and earn paychecks.

Commentary: When it comes to disabilities, employers need to do more than simply provide accommodations.

As pressure mounts on state-run public health insurance exchanges to be financially self-sufficient in time for 2016, consumer operated and oriented plans created under the Affordable Care Act face the same challenge. And with two recent troubling developments in the CO-OP space, there are renewed questions about the long-term viability of these nonprofit entities.

There are three types of brokers: the transactional broker, the Zenefits-style broker and the new school premier broker — but soon only one of them will be successful.

The IRS continues to seek industry input on the Affordable Care Act’s excise tax on high-cost employer-sponsored health plans.

Employee financial stress can often be overlooked by the C-suite. Yet, some industry experts say it can have a major impact on the company’s productivity and profitability. Financial education should be considered a pivotal component of any employer’s wellness program.

Offering benefits and health programs is one thing, but ensuring your employees are using the right benefits at the right time is another.

Health reform has put a spotlight on ben admin and HRIS systems, but there are many factors to consider when choosing a new platform, experts say.

Focusing on the end result of what voluntary benefits can do for an employer makes the proposition of introducing the products a no-brainer, says Willis’ Mike Meredith.

Paid sick leave seems to be gaining traction in some parts of the United States, but it continues to face a lot of resistance.

Just last week, the DOL provided guidance about people treated as independent contractors, but who may really be your employees. That is just part of the trend. Another way you may have “extra” employees is through joint employment, most commonly through use of a staffing agency.

Commentary: Employers face an uphill battle in classifying a worker as an independent contractor due to DOL guidance that defines ‘employee’ so broadly that such a classification should only be reserved for a narrow subset of workers.

Waiting to see how private exchanges play out is no longer a business strategy; and to succeed, brokers must change their business practices, speaker at EBA/EBN Private Healthcare Exchanges conference says.