Client strategies

A strategy to protect your clients’ interests in the new world of health care reform.

A new study confirms that a majority of large and mid-size U.S. employers are planning to change provider payment models to become more cost effective.

Businesses in the U.S. won more freedom to charge higher insurance premiums to workers who don’t meet health goals, or reward those who shape up, under rules released by the Obama administration.

EBA blogger Mark S. Gaunya says there are some important strategies small employers need to know while heading into 2014.

Jeffrey Endick, principal at Slevin & Hart, P.C., warned employers at the International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans on Tuesday in Washington about how they should prepare for exchanges as an alternative to the current system.

Being present and competent is the order of the day once the ACA becomes a reality, says blogger and UBA CEO Thom Mangan. Brokers need to act as a conduit, or contract with a conduit, to help employees navigate through. A lot of these issues fall on the shoulders of the human resources department, but a broker or adviser needs to offer comprehensive care.

Guest blogger Mark S. Gaunya talks about what advisers must do in the 'Obamacare' world where insurers are assuming more risk and consumers more cost.

After small group reform passed California ten years ago, brokers feared the worse, says blogger Andrew Torelli. What lessons can that bill teach us what to expect with the ACA?

Employers are still figuring out how to work with PPACA in the next nine months. That was the consensus during a panel at the 10th World Health Care Congress Monday in National Harbor, Md.

New legislation was issued last night in the Senate that would remove broker compensation from the MLR calculation.

Two employers shared how they’ve gotten creative with the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act at Thursday’s National Business Group on Health conference in Washington. One chose to move to a new consumer-driven health plan and the other chose a private exchange through Aon Hewitt.

Sam Smith, a member of California’s SHOP exchange advisory group and president-elect of CAHU, predicts a bright future for adviser involvement in PPACA’s state health insurance.

Buck Consultants is the latest benefit and consulting firm to form a private exchange. The move aims to reduce employer uncertainty about 2014 by reducing costs and increasing employee health care options.

More than half of employers have not calculated the costs of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, but of those that have, 61% say PPACA has increased their expenses.

Guest blogger Linda K. Riddell shows how an eye for detail and some simple calculations could prove to be a life-saver for employees that are overusing/abusing narcotic painkillers. As always, share your thoughts in the comments.

HHS outlines various conditions and services insurers must cover, and rules to let companies expand employee wellness programs in new proposed regulations of the ACA posted Tuesday.

Now that health reform is here to stay, blogger Dave Petno says he is ready for the challenge to understand what he calls the “entire 2,700 page monstrosity.” Here’s how you can be prepared too for your client’s questions.

Updated throughout the day after Obama's re-election, hear what industry leaders and industry groups say the president's win means for the broker community. Be sure to leave your thoughts in the comments, too.

A survey by online health benefits seller eHealthInsurance finds that more than three-quarters of small business clients are not doing long-term planning on how health reform, including insurance exchanges, may affect their business.

New legislation begins this month in Massachusetts, a state ahead of the country on “health care reform,” says EBA Blogger Mark Gaunya. But what can others learn from this new law, a “a state-based, cost control experiment that may prove to be a glimpse of the future in your state?”