Client strategies

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.

How many individuals and families that selected a health plan in the federally facilitated health insurance marketplace have paid their first month’s premium? Depends on whom you ask.

Despite a reliance on Healthcare.gov because their state-run exchange legislation was passed later than others, Idaho came out on top during open enrollment 2014 and the state has brokers to thank for a lot of it.

When the government announced last summer that it was delaying the employer mandate, many employers let out a sigh of relief. They relaxed. However, now it’s time to pick up the pace again. Before you know it, 2015 and 2016 will be here and the ACA will be an everyday reality for employers.

IRS issues annual health spending account contribution limits and out-of-pocket maximums.

Only a little over half of small businesses understand and are prepared for the changes required by the Affordable Care Act, according to a new survey.

When the public exchanges were first envisioned, some industry analysts thought most employers eventually would head for the exits on financing health benefits and simply steer their employees into the nascent online marketplace. That hasn’t happened, of course, and it’s far too early in the HIX rollout to expect any meaningful change to occur.

While just over half of employers in a recent survey said it was very important for a private exchange to accept ERISA fiduciary responsibilities for the plans purchased on the exchange, the reality is employers cannot offload their fiduciary responsibility by moving to a private exchange, say legal experts.

Brokers may be the best intermediary to communicate a matter of pediatric dental compliance to employers and medical carriers operating in numerous states as regulations shift.

As employers begin to look at private exchanges as a means to provide health care benefits to their active employee population questions are being raised about potential conflicts of interest for consulting firms that also act as exchange purveyors.

As new social media platforms arise, there are more opportunities for brokers to act as ‘trusted advisers.'