With just three major insurance companies, brokers must distinguish themselves from carriers, create additional approaches to serve clients and develop alternative risk approaches to health benefits, industry experts say.

After more than 50 votes in Congress and two attempts before the U.S. Supreme Court to mothball the ACA and public exchange marketplace, some Republicans now see the budget reconciliation process as yet another avenue for achieving this long-time goal.

Anthem Inc. struck a deal to buy rival Cigna Corp. for $48.4 billion, wrapping up almost a year of contentious negotiations and potentially creating the largest health insurer in the U.S.

More and more employers are looking to ensure the retirement readiness and financial wellbeing of their employees, as financial stress has shown to make a significant impact on both the physical well-being of employees and their workplace productivity.

Commentary: Bloviating terms have no meaning to plan participants, who simply want to know if their pensions will be delivered as promised.

Fee disclosure rules may have helped bring 401(k) fees down, but plan sponsors can still do more to ensure they – and their employees – aren’t paying too much.

Worksite voluntary benefits are gaining in popularity on standard ancillary benefit offerings, but the adviser’s sales approach to each needs to be varied.

As a value-added reseller, Apprize Technology sells and services to brokers three different benefit administration platforms, what many call a private exchange— bswift, benefitsCONNECT and Infiniti HR. Gary Wert, Apprize’s president, discusses why Apprize and other resellers may have to turn away business in the fourth quarter and why some brokers aren’t building their own exchange, but rather using a reseller.

Anthem Inc. is near an agreement to buy rival Cigna Corp. for about $48 billion, two people with knowledge of the matter said. A deal would create the largest health insurer in the U.S. after almost a year of talks.

Commentary: Even though much has changed in the last 10 years, we may still describe the 403(b) market as “wild,” says The Principal’s Aaron Friedman.

Commentary: Many safe harbor IRAs don’t live up to their name and could leave sponsors with unexpected fiduciary liability.

Many believe the DOL has gone about its fiduciary rule-making in the wrong way and fear the rules, as proposed, will do more harm than good.

Commentary: Employer interest in exchanges is high, but adoption rates have lagged behind projections for 2015.

Industry trade groups and associations flooded the DOL with suggested amendments and revisions to its proposed fiduciary rule, ahead of the July 21 deadline for comments.

Commentary: Brokers are strategically positioned to encourage employers to commit to a more productive workforce.

Traditional IRA investors showed little reaction to the economic downturn in 2007.

Understanding these ACA compliance requirements and the tools necessary to track the required data can be confusing and overwhelming.

Commentary: Many of the world’s leading employers offer expert second opinions as a valued employee benefit that can save money by averting unnecessary testing and treatment, decrease absenteeism, and promote employee retention.

Employers offering high deductible plans – particularly those who have gone the full replacement route – still need to beef up their educational efforts.

Higher PBGC premiums and a volatile market are catalysts for risk management in DB plans.