Client strategies

Health insurance premium rates are on the rise, a trend that could alter brokers’ selling strategies.

A new analysis estimates even more employers will move active employees to private exchanges in part because brokers are taking on a bigger role in pushing them as a solution to rising health care costs.

The IRS has posted draft instructions for the various Affordable Care Act reporting that will be done for calendar year 2015 and while the instructions provide much needed guidance for employers and insurers, they also confirm the daunting complexity of the reporting task.

Employers continue to express interest in private exchanges, but most are hesitant to be the first to make the jump. What they will do once others switch, however, may surprise you.

Large employers say they don’t have plans to eliminate health care coverage for active employees in 2015, although 35% say they are considering moving their active employees to a private exchange in 2016 or beyond, a recent survey finds.

Employers say in 2015 they will continue to shift toward offering CDHPs, but many need adviser help to engage employees in better health care decisions and understand the benefits of a private exchange.

Even with a four-year high in the hiring, manufacturing and service sectors, benefits managers are utilizing higher pay and improved benefits to deal with their ongoing recruitment challenges.

Benefit advisers hoping to stay ahead of the trend of employers transferring some of the burden of increased health care costs to their employees, should be prepared to discuss a variety of new and old cost-sharing strategies, as well as additional cost-saving tools.

With health care costs continuing to rise, it’s no surprise to benefit advisers that their employer clients continue to seek benefit solutions that shift some of the cost burden to their employees — and new data reveals that trend shows no signs of stopping.

An increase in the offering of consumer-driven health care products has not translated into increased understanding on the part of consumers — exposing a need for more assistance from benefit professionals and educational tools.

As media interest in health insurance exchanges decreases over time, the insurance industry may need to develop more effective communications to reach the uninsured.

Kicking off the National Association for Health Underwriters annual meeting Monday, the group’s lead lobbyist outlined the current status of benefit brokers in the eyes of Washington, while a Republican politician discussed potential outcomes of the 2014 election.

When he ran for president in 1988, Michael Dukakis infused the phrase “Massachusetts Miracle” into stump speeches to describe the state’s economic transformation. That same description could apply if a costly and controversial plan to fix the state’s Connector exchange succeeds.

How a father and daughter benefit broker team worked together to launch a private insurance marketplace that serves small and mid-size businesses as well as other local advisers.

Even against the backdrop of a stronger economy, modern families are still feeling the pinch of financial security, pointing toward the need to tailor products to the needs of specific family structures that are considerably different than the traditional nuclear family.

Mirroring a recent HHS initiative, some state-run marketplaces such as Covered California have extended a special enrollment period for COBRA-eligible individuals, allowing them to enroll in a marketplace exchange plan through July.

Everyone understands that advertising helps sell products and that was the top way to sell health plans through the public exchanges. But looking back on the first open enrollment, which advertising techniques worked and what lessons were learned to raise the number of enrollees further for 2015?

The breakdown of states running their own health insurance exchanges versus those using the federally facilitated marketplace will change in due time – but exactly how it will change is still up in the air, said a speaker at Wednesday’s National Health Insurance Exchange Summit, held in Washington, D.C.

American workers are increasingly satisfied with their retirement plans and interested in investing in them, a trend advisers and employers use in their favor.

While many in the industry think voluntary sales is a no-brainer for benefit advisers and employees alike, there's one type of product that hasn't seen a boost thanks to the ACA.