Creating a benefits strategic plan for your clients (50 lives and larger) is a great way to engage clients in a discussion about what are they trying to accomplish with their benefits program and expenditures over the next three to five years. Your clients are going to be coping with all the market dynamics and the rippling effects of regulatory compliance, so what they need is a process for managing change. And you can be their "change agent."

Throughout his 35-year career in the employee benefit business Larry Brodsky has come across few opportunities to introduce a product to an employer that is both new and almost universally appreciated. The president of Lawrence S. Brodsky Agency in Palatine, Ill., found such a product about two years ago after a Web search for pet insurance introduced him to Pet Assure. Not an insurance program - but a discount plan for pet owners.

How well is your agency managed? Is it being managed to generate maximum top-line revenue and maximum bottom-line profit?

When HHS published its template for a Summary of Benefits and Coverage my first thought was, "Wow, this looks a lot like the summary information available in my products and many other products on the market. Now we have yet another version of how to communicate benefits to consumers, and we have the government telling the experts how to do something we have been doing for years."

With health care reform swirling all around us and impacting the way we all do business, I'm switching gears for a moment to focus on our future by glancing back at our past. Remember the pride you felt when you graduated college? Good grades, good memories and a diploma . . . your ticket to dreams of a bright, successful future - do you remember asking yourself, "OK, now what?"

Benefits sales technology can help you sell more. It's a proven fact, but unless you've tried the right technology and someone trained you how to make the technology sing like a song bird, you would not know.

If you are like most of the group health insurance agents that I speak with you sell new groups one of three ways: 1) You wait for the occasional referral; 2) You call companies asking for a chance to quote on their health plan; 3) You call companies asking for an opportunity to stop by and introduce yourself.

The Hartford's recent announcement to divest its retirement division has more to do about the economy and the parent's corporate direction, perhaps instigated by an activist investor, than it does about the quality of its retirement business.

The pending implementation of the Department of Labor's new rules on fee disclosure was one of several topics that had hundreds of financial advisers, consultants, fiduciaries, IRA experts and record keepers gathered in the Big Easy, at the American Society of Pension Professionals and Actuaries 401(k) Summit buzzing with nervous anticipation.

The concept of value-based benefit design is still an evolving one, but it boils down to the market's effort to determine how to best derive value out of a health care plan, says Stephanie Elliott, director of activation strategies at UMR. EBA spoke with Elliott and client Rebecca Shipley, director of total rewards at Vail Resorts, about the success Vail has achieved in a few short months by using VBBD with its unique employee base.

If businesses were people, most of them would be feeling a bit under the weather these days. A host of nagging issues continue to nip away at their health - the economy, sagging profit margins and rising benefits costs, just to name a few. But many companies are getting some relief now that they've added wellness programs to their benefits offerings. And your clients can, too - with a good benefits communications strategy that helps their program succeed.

When the recession hit, older employees put the brakes on their retirement plans and companies shelved plans to hire, train, develop and promote younger talent. With the economy growing again and retirement savings beginning to recover, baby boomers are again thinking about retirement. As a result, employers are again thinking of ways to attract, engage, and retain new talent.

Next month, the Supreme Court is expected to hand down its opinion regarding the individual mandate contained in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. Their ruling on the constitutionality of requiring every American to purchase health insurance may affect how health reform moves forward. But, one thing the ruling will not significantly alter, in all likelihood, is the development of state-run health insurance exchanges. That's because regardless of the individual mandate, employers and individuals will still be looking for a vehicle that provides affordable health insurance that meets their needs - and exchanges may indeed be the answer.

As advisers continue to look for ways to become more of an asset to their clients, medical tourism is a field that continues to evolve and grow, often saving employers and employees tens of thousands of dollars in the process.

The last week of March was a busy one here at EBA HQ. With the Supreme Court hearing oral arguments on the constitutionality of health care reform's individual mandate in our own backyard, EBA couldn't miss the opportunity to head down to Capitol Hill to check out the scene for ourselves - and bring you the latest news on the proceedings in the process.

It used to be commonplace to find employees of Las Vegas-based Insurcorp at the casinos at 2 a.m. Not to blow off steam after a long workday, but to continue it, conducting benefit meetings for graveyard shift staffers.

Sure, there's the obvious medical, dental, life, disability, 401(k). Over time, things such as legal, auto/home and, yes, pet insurance, have been added to the list of employee benefits.

Here is a recent roundup of industry accomplishments. Check to see if a colleague is mentioned this week.

The sale of asset-based long-term care insurance protection continues to grow significantly, reveals research by the American Association for Long-Term Care Insurance.

Republicans on Thursday issued a politically charged report that quoted President Barack Obama's corporate advisers as predicting his 2010 health care overhaul would raise — not lower — the cost of care.