Client strategies

Is it legal for employers to drop health care coverage and pay for employees to go to the exchanges? One industry expert says yes — if you use this payroll option.

Commentary: With the use of intermittent leave, a type of Family and Medical Leave Act job protection, on the rise, The Standard's Lincoln Dirks says this type of leave potentially may become a growing burden for your clients.

Broker information was not compromised as part of a cyber-attack on Anthem’s IT system and the carrier says it is working with brokers to assist and inform their clients about the breach.

Commentary: The real marketing revolution rejects the idea that marketing is something companies do. John Graham shares 3 ways to turn your clients into your sales team.

The addition of a Roth in-plan conversion feature to a company's 401(k) plan may be viewed by executives as an important tax planning tool.

Department of Labor audits of employee benefit plans are on the rise and experts agree benefit advisers should be preparing their employer clients now for that impending knock on the door.

Commentary: Boomers are redefining what it means to be aging in the workforce, and redefining senior benefits in the process.

Commentary: Post-Affordable Care Act increases should be setting off fiscal alarms, says Frenkel Benefits’ Craig Hasday, who predicts more expansion to come.

Commentary: Half of HR managers don’t know how to help employees return to work from a disability, according to research from The Standard.

Employee engagement is a term often tossed around employer HR and management circles as being fundamental to productive workforces. But Assurance, a large independent insurance brokerage company, has figured out a way to both increase participation and revenue per employee.

Delaying health plan renewals appears to be the new normal under the Affordable Care Act, especially for small businesses.

Perhaps the hottest trend in benefits right now is the exchange distribution model. In EBA’s ongoing series of discussions with heads of the country’s top brokerages, these leaders share their approach to the exchange system and how they see private exchanges impacting the future of benefits.

As an effort to comply with the ACA, some employers have been considering offering employees a lump sum of cash to purchase health care coverage on the exchanges, but the DOL now says such an arrangement isn't going to cut it.

Delays, limited awareness, competition and insufficient subsidies among problems outlined in a Government Accountability Office report on state and federal small group exchanges. CMS says brokers will play a key role in any future growth.

Acquired by Towers Watson in November 2013, private exchange provider Liazon is navigating a unique space. It is both owned by a consultancy and used by that firm’s competitors. Alan Cohen, co-founder and chief strategy officer of Liazon, discusses how all brokers fit into the exchange equation and what, in his view, makes an exchange, an exchange.

An onslaught of Dec. 1 renewal dates means premium rates remain steady for now, but advisers need to prepare for heavy 4th quarter workloads.

CMS promises better, but brokers expect more disconnected phone calls, incorrect information and a difficult time processing applications for enrollment on Healthcare.gov.

Earlier this week, Walmart announced it was dropping health care coverage for employees who work fewer than 30 hours a week, a move the company estimates will affect about 2% of its workforce. Here’s a wrap-up of our analysis, plus a look at the ways other large companies are handling rising health care costs.

Walmart’s announcement this week that it will drop health care coverage for its part-time employees reiterates that employer-sponsored health care coverage is changing, and those benefit advisers who plan to remain relevant to clients must change, too.

Health care reform has changed the role of the adviser from insurance broker to that of a trusted adviser, counselor and compliance guru. Advisers hoping to thrive in this new environment will embrace the change less as a burden and more as an opportunity.