The popularity of voluntary benefit offerings continued to grow this year as employers seek solutions for employees strapped by rising healthcare costs and, especially this year, increased financial burdens.

Broker-dealers are waiting to see whether the Department of Labor softens its stance on the best-interest standard in proposed fiduciary rules. If so, then it could quell industry threats to cut loose their smallest brokerage retirement client accounts.

Commentary: More and more, brokers realize that helping prospects and clients with their employee handbook is a great value-added service.

Commentary: To help keep stress at bay and make the most of holiday family time, ACI Specialty Benefits’ Erin Krehbiel shares some all-time favorite “holiday hacks.”

Towers Watson & Co. won shareholder approval for an $8.9 billion merger with Willis Group Holdings Plc after negotiating better terms with the insurance broker.

2015 was a busy year in retirement: Collective investment trusts are gaining traction, plan sponsors are mulling what it means to be a fiduciary and Americans are starting to address their lack of savings.

Commentary: While most individuals enrolled in a COBRA plan are keenly aware of the notoriously high expense, most companies don’t realize how much COBRA enrollees actually cost them.

Regulatory clarifications about wellness incentives lifted a “big cloud” of confusion for employers this year, while new technologies have increased engagement and opportunity. Here's what happened this year in wellness, and what to expect in 2016.

Commentary: The IRS expanded permitted election change events, and employers who wish to add these rules must amend their cafeteria plans by the last day of the plan year in which the elections are first allowed, provided the amendment is retroactively effective.

Commentary: What’s on the horizon in the next five to 10 years for the DC plan world and policymakers to address?

The Affordable Care Act is about to test how well people respond to economic incentives. About 3.5 million Americans who are uninsured today could get health coverage in 2016 for less than what they'll pay in penalties under the ACA

The future of a brokerage lies in its up-and-coming talent. Top firms know it, and are investing heavily in grooming young advisers who show fortitude. EBA knows it as well, and for the 6th year in a row, we are looking for rising stars who are making a difference in the employee benefit industry.

Zenefits made the list of the year’s most-read EBA stories twice, including a defamation lawsuit that ADP filed against the Silicon Valley startup. Other attention-grabbing articles included the Aetna-Humana merger, Cadillac tax repeal efforts, attempts to tweak the ACA and the elimination of broker commission.

Commentary: Strategies for filling up at work without falling off the good-eating wagon.

Commentary: It’s never an easy task getting employees on the same page when it comes to retirement benefits.

Commentary: The key issue with this type of sale is an adviser’s comfort level in selling the products.

Commentary: There are many new market entrants promising to reshape the health insurance industry, but which are most likely to succeed?

Commentary: Think beyond commissions, says adviser Beverly Beattie. What if you proposed a different arrangement, one based on achieving certain defined metrics for success?

As employers continue to shift from pay raises toward creative benefit rewards to compensate employees, industry experts say it’s increasingly imperative advisers work with clients to take a holistic approach to benefit package design.

The Affordable Care Act, new ways to fill the sales pipeline and Zenefits dominated EBA’s BeAdvised blog commentary this year. The top 10 most-read blogs of 2015 detail the growing number of ACA regulations and reporting requirements, explain why advisers don’t accurately understand the threat behind a tech-focused brokerage and highlight simple-yet-effective ways producers can increase existing client revenue and get prospects to open the door.