Several tech companies this week announced they would be adding egg freezing benefits to their health plan. While that may sound like a nice perk to some, making this and other benefit plan changes comes with risks that your employer clients, with your help, should consider.

On the heels of news about Aon Hewitt’s estimated more than 1.2 million HIX enrollees exceeding its expectations for 2015, Bright Choices Exchange operator Liazon is crowing about its own expansion plans.

The Internal Revenue Service said that the sequestration process could have an impact on the amount that certain small tax-exempt employers receive on the refundable portion of the Small Business Health Care Tax Credit.

The new CEO of the federal health insurance marketplace, Kevin Counihan, knows there is room for improvement, but says new processes have Healthcare.gov ready for 2015 open enrollment.

Despite listing them as top concerns, employer groups under 1,000 lives express difficulty keeping up with health reform and regulations, ADP study finds.

A fix is in the works to ensure agents and brokers can identify themselves and therefore receive commissions for their work on the federally-facilitated marketplace, an agency official at The Center for Consumer Information and Insurance Oversight said Tuesday.

Initial numbers for 2015 open enrollment put participation in Mercer’s Marketplace exchange at nearly five times the size of 2014 rates. The consulting firm also added 40 additional clients to the exchange who were not previously with Mercer.

A third of Americans have no retirement savings and those who do aren’t saving enough — automatic escalation can help.

Commentary: Benefit advisers hoping to remain relevant in this rapidly changing environment need to match their strengths to their client base, columnist Jack Kwicien says. In order to do that, some self-analysis is in order.

Commentary: Columnist Nelson Griswold reveals the "sales triangle" and why closing the sale is not the biggest part of the puzzle.

Commentary: You only get one chance to make a first impression. Columnist Mel Schlesinger shares his tips on how to make that first appointment with a prospective client a successful one.

A new broker-friendly private exchange is launching that will allow employees at companies with less than 50 lives to buy health insurance using pre-tax dollars.

Earlier this week, Walmart announced it was dropping health care coverage for employees who work fewer than 30 hours a week, a move the company estimates will affect about 2% of its workforce. Here’s a wrap-up of our analysis, plus a look at the ways other large companies are handling rising health care costs.

The number of employees with long-term disability plans has dropped and employees paying more for coverage, despite the fact that that 1 in 8 will need it during their career.

Under the ACA, control group status could make your small-group client an applicable large employer subject to the employer mandate. It’s time to revisit control group rules.

Commentary: Have you heard of Medicare observation status? Columnist Craig J. Davidson says it is creating a payment nightmare for older plan participants with Medicare Part A as the primary payer. Educate your groups with Medicare beneficiaries, Davidson says, because the rule has real consequences.

Commentary: Good salespeople understand the impact of an effective opening statement. The Standard’s Doug Waters provides five examples of conversation starters to transition to IDI from another product.

With an endorsement from the Affordable Care Act, outcomes-based wellness programs are gaining popularity. In the process, the way employers incentivize participation is changing in step with evolving user-friendly technologies.

Aon Hewitt expects more than 1.2 million employees, retirees and their families to choose health benefits through the company’s exchanges — revising their earlier estimates upward.

Walmart’s announcement this week that it will drop health care coverage for its part-time employees reiterates that employer-sponsored health care coverage is changing, and those benefit advisers who plan to remain relevant to clients must change, too.