Client strategies

Commentary: While an employee assistance program may be promoted to employees when it’s launched, it quickly becomes lost in the collection of employee benefits and is rarely utilized. To maximize its value, ask whether your prospective vendor includes some of the following services.

Startup introduces solutions to help organizations better manage employees and to provide company leaders with HR analytics reports.

Multiple signs point to growth in voluntary benefits sales, but employers would like to see a change in how their employees sign up for the benefit, according to new LIMRA data, released Tuesday.

Commentary: Smart brokers provide awesome service, killer expertise and modern technology solutions that can compete with any online platform.

Multi-employers that continue to offer health care benefits to retirees are embracing retiree-only plans as a cost-saving measure. While retiree-only plans are not subject to all of the rules of the ACA, there are still requirements employers and advisers should be aware of.

Commentary: It is a lot of fun to be able to help employers make sound decisions through benchmarking. Oftentimes, that’s the start of a prosperous relationship, says Zywave’s Dave O’Brien.

Younger workers have begun to recognize that working well into their traditional retirement age will likely be the new normal, as Social Security and even workplace savings plans may not support their lifestyles.

Explosive growth in the individual market is forcing brokers who work with very small groups to change their business models —and often receive less commission in the process.

Most private health care exchanges are geared toward active employees. But Tampa, Fla.-based Brown Insurance Group has an eye on part-timers who may have lost coverage or who never had access to group plans. Eric Brown, principal, explains how his private exchange allows employers nationwide to provide coverage to such employees through an exchange-like environment. Brown Insurance also assists with Healthcare.gov enrollment.

Big data is playing an increasingly larger role in benefits strategic planning and if a broker, health plan and employer work together, the opportunities for using such data to lower costs and increase well-being can be realized.

Commentary: Why hasn’t client adoption of enrollment technology met expectations with mid-sized employers during the last two decades? Recently, overall adoption has grown at a much faster pace than we have seen in a long time.

Although consumer-directed health plans are on the rise, few Americans report comparing the quality and price of plans, hospitals or doctors.

With the Affordable Care Act hitting its five year birthday and the second open enrollment period nearly finished, Americans are turning their attention and wishes for Congress and the Obama administration to a focus on prescription drugs.

Thomson Reuters has introduced a Checkpoint Learning Health Care Reform Certificate Program for tax and accounting professionals.

There may be a convergence of public and private exchanges and if that happens carriers need to adopt a more holistic approach and consider multiple retail channels to distribute their products as part of a multi-carrier approach or alliances such as those seen within the CO-OP market.

The Affordable Care Act has increased the burden for benefit professionals and forced employers to alter their business practices to comply with the health care reform law, industry experts told Congress.

Enrollment in private health care exchanges hit 6 million for the 2015 plan year, according to Accenture — doubling the 3 million figure from 2014. Most of the growth is in the mid-market segment.

Commentary: Proactive case management is the first step to creating a process for disability leave management that clients can count on, says The Standard’s Sandy Johnson.

As American workers are increasingly looking to a new range of employer-sponsored retirement products to help guarantee some securely funded golden years, they may be missing out on the advantages of a system they’ve paid into their entire working lives.

Commentary: Critical considerations that make a stop-loss plan successful for clients of all sizes, according to Sun Life’s Brad Nieland.