Open enrollment is upon us, but consumers continue to be baffled by basic health insurance terminology and concepts, exposing a vital need for benefit adviser help and education.

Commentary: Targeting the small employer in today’s benefit landscape requires specific resources and knowledge from a benefit adviser. Columnist Jack Kwicien unveils what considerations to make when addressing the needs of your small employer clients.

Knowing all sides of a client’s benefits plan helps both retirement and health benefit consultants make better recommendations.

Commentary: The more companies we come in contact with, the more we hear this statement and the more we realize how much employers are relying on their broker, says Beverly Beattie.

The Obama administration forecast that as many as 9.9 million people will sign up for health coverage under Obamacare this year, 3 million below a previous estimate from the Congressional Budget Office.

Advisers need to know what employees want, what the competition is doing and be current on tax law before setting up an executive benefit plan.

Commentary: With the New Year approaching, columnist Craig Davidson advises, “Change your evil ways” or you will miss sales opportunities.

Potential Healthcare.gov customers can peek at 2015 prices for the program’s health plans today after the government said it would release a “window-shopping” feature overnight.

Acquired by Towers Watson in November 2013, private exchange provider Liazon is navigating a unique space. It is both owned by a consultancy and used by that firm’s competitors. Alan Cohen, co-founder and chief strategy officer of Liazon, discusses how all brokers fit into the exchange equation and what, in his view, makes an exchange, an exchange.

Adding innovative benefits to a health plan takes money, research and can help attract quality employees, but may also lead to problems if not properly thought out.

Michael Kapustin is a senior vice president with Brown & Brown’s Alpha Benefit Division outside of Philadelphia, Pa.

The U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to review a challenge to the tax subsidies allowed under the Affordable Care Act, but legal experts predict any high court ruling will have little effect on the law or employers.

The U.S. Supreme Court agreed to consider a challenge to the subsidies that are a linchpin of President Barack Obama’s health-care overhaul, accepting a case that suddenly puts the law under a new legal cloud.

A huge majority of new hires are already in the insurance industry, most firms ignore college graduates, study finds.

Private exchanges are giving brokers and benefit advisers a new venue to increase voluntary benefit sales.

In a surprise move, CMS has delayed its enforcement of the use of health plan identifiers in HIPAA transactions. What does this mean for your employer clients and HIPAA compliance?

Open enrollment season is designed to not only allow employees to make changes to their plans, but also to educate them. Likewise, employers and advisers should use the fourth quarter as an opportunity to stay abreast of the latest changes in health care plans. Here are six trends to watch for during the 2014-2015 open enrollment season.

The National Conference of CPA Practitioners is warning that the complexities of the Affordable Care Act may negatively affect millions of taxpayers in the upcoming tax season.

Election 2014 recap: Licensed agent joins the Senate; top broker organizations keep an eye on legislation that could affect the industry.

The IRS said Tuesday it plans to close a major loophole in the ACA by banning employers who offer medical plans without hospitalization coverage from qualifying as minimum value plans under the health reform law.