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CMS says small employers and their benefit advisers in select states will have early access to the ACA’s Small Business Health Options Program to test-drive the system, but not all are interested.

Some industry sectors are bucking the trend from defined benefit pension plans to defined contribution plans, with more than half of companies in the insurance and utility sectors still offering DB and DC retirement plans to new salaried employees.

MetLife was deemed systemically important by a panel of regulators, a decision that would subject the biggest U.S. life insurer to stricter Federal Reserve oversight.

Ever since final rules under the Affordable Care Act dictated that outcomes-based wellness programs must offer reasonable alternatives to employees unable to achieve the program’s health benchmarks, employers have continued to worry over the effectiveness of their health improvement efforts.

Commentary: Under the ACA, clinical trials offer an expanding frontier for plan sponsors and insurers, says Symetra’s Marien Diaz.

The IRS has released long-awaited draft instructions for the forms employers will use to comply with the ACA’s employer mandate, giving benefit advisers and their clients a glimpse of the work ahead for 2015 and how to begin preparing now.

Commentary: In part two of his series on how to create trust in the sales process, columnist John Graham shares the value of asking clients the right questions to create value, understanding, and confidence.

Commentary: When business leaders consider the positive aspects of a workplace wellness program, they often bring up expected reasons: It can keep employees healthy, productive and happy; allow the company to differentiate itself in a highly competitive marketplace for top talent; and limit overall health care costs.

Commentary: As buying cycles seem to stretch out longer as buyers require more time to make decisions, brokers, agents and other salespeople are doing their best to close quicker. Columnist John Graham discusses how building trust makes all the difference.

Employees aren’t shouting from the roof over how great their employer-sponsored benefits are. In fact, satisfaction is sitting at some of the lowest levels since 2008, according to new data released from Unum.

The full U.S. Court of Appeals in Washington will rehear a recent court decision that found the ACA's premium subsidies invalid in more than two dozen states due to the law’s specific language. A rehearing may reduce the chances of a new Supreme Court showdown over a central element of the health reform law.

Commentary: Companies across America are scrambling to discover the secret formula for engaging the millennial generation with their benefits. Blogger Matt Burns unveils a few tips on how benefit advisers can help.

Commentary: It all starts with a mindset, says EBA Advisory Board member Mark Gaunya. Do you begin each day with a mentality of scarcity or abundance? One is a recipe for failure.

Court rules verbal COBRA notice is sufficient, but benefit advisers caution employers to follow-up with written notice, as well.

Most Americans value life insurance as a means to financial wellbeing. Life insurance month reminds brokers to make that connection.

CVS Caremark Corp. halted sales of tobacco products almost a month ahead of schedule, started a smoking-cessation campaign, and changed its name to position itself as an advocate of better health.

Despite the ever-changing world, ERISA remains strong and steady. The average American worker is far better off because of ERISA, which has held up remarkably well over the past four decades.

New data reveals only 46% of middle-market consumers have individual life insurance, and that more than three quarters of consumers age 25-64 say they would benefit from more close guidance from financial services professionals in adding that important voluntary benefit.

Fed up over unpaid enrollment commissions, benefit advisers are suing the Nevada state exchange and its website contractor Xerox.

On the 40th anniversary of ERISA, benefits attorney Howard Shapiro contemplates the differences between this landmark piece of legislation and another, the Affordable Care Act.