With social media so pervasive in our daily lives, it’s easy overlook the fact that enterprise-ready tools to help companies capitalize on the technology are still nascent.

Speaking at EBA’s Workplace Benefits Mania in Chicago, John Penko points to the fact that in 2010, 51% of earnings in this country came from wages — the lowest percentage since the government started keeping records in 1929, and 18% came from government entitlement programs. Numbers that will continue to rise until they hit a tipping point.

A Ward Group survey reveals guarded optimism amidst instability and market uncertainties.

There is a need for an “extreme makeover” in the house of benefits with a delivery system built on partnership, collaboration, accountability and engagement — rather than competitiveness, says Larry Boress of the Midwest Business Group on Health.

It's long been said that what you don't know won't hurt you. Whoever said that clearly had no knowledge of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. Since its enactment in March 2010, PPACA and its impact on health plans, wellness programs,long-term care and even adoption benefits can definitely harm benefits pros who aren't on top of its provisions.

CHICAGO — There is a need for an “extreme makeover” in the house of benefits with a delivery system built on partnership, collaboration, accountability and engagement — rather than competitiveness, says Larry Boress of the Midwest Business Group on Health. Read more from Associate Editor Brian Kalish as he reports from Employee Benefit Adviser’s Workplace Benefits Mania Conference at the Fairmont Chicago Millennium Park.

Unum has partnered with United Concordia and will soon offer dental benefits.

A Fidelity Investments survey released on July 28 found that a majority of Americans do not understand how their pensions work.

State officials developing health insurance purchasing exchanges have voiced growing appreciation for the roles that can be played by benefit advisers.

I read your May Editor's Desk column ("Employers should model job recruiting after "American Idol," blogger says") with keen interest, as I've brought some of that "American Idol" hiring mentality to my current job and it's been a great success.

If we could peek inside the medicine cabinets of the nation's employee benefits advisers focused on small- and mid-sized businesses I suspect we'd discover a disproportionate quantity of sleep aids. Those who haven't experienced a few restless nights must be oblivious to the powerful forces at play in our industry.

We're headlong into the heat of summer and many of you will be taking some well-deserved vacation time. I've found that's often when you do your most creative thinking since you are in a relaxed state of mind. Released from the pressures of day-to-day responsibilities, our thought processes are often more free-form, and new methods for addressing critical issues often emerge. Given all the pressure and additional workload created by health care reform, you probably just want to forget about business for a while.

The hardest part of starting any business is getting clients. Whether you own a restaurant, are an attorney, an author, or an insurance broker, clients are your most valuable asset. The energy required to develop a client base at the start can seem overwhelming. However, if you treat each new client like the very first, your time spent prospecting will decrease as your business grows. It is better to have 50 clients who each feel like they are your one and only than it is to have 100 clients who think you're mediocre. Those clients will eventually go elsewhere, lured away by even the smallest dangling carrot.

Although both fixed indemnity and expense incurred limited medical plans continue to be impacted by the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, fixed indemnity plans are weathering the storm relatively intact, while the expense incurred structure has taken a beating, experts say. Fixed-indemnity plans do not have to comply with PPACA regulations because they do not mimic major medical insurance policies as expense incurred plans do.

The traditional model of the benefits brokerage is terminal and on life support. As I talk with brokers and consult with agencies across the U.S., there's a growing desperation as they realize that "carrying quotes" isn't enough anymore. Even modifying the plan design and then shopping the medical for the lowest quotes no longer will get - or keep - the account.

Wellness programs and solutions providers have been around for a while and are continually evolving based on both successes and failures and the continually changing market landscape. The most recent market impact, of course, is the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and it continues to loom large. Many of the national, commercial and local brokers we work with each day are deploying wellness solutions as part of their expansion of services. Brokers are on the front lines when it comes to wellness. Many are making use of social business software capabilities to help employees collaborate and participate.

If you are not working on self-funded medical plans, or are unfamiliar with the concept, now is the time to get up to speed. Last month's EBA was full of great tools and ideas, but most of them will only work well with self-funded plans. You need access to the guts of a medical plan and its data - you don't get all of that with fully-insured plans.

To sell is to close. It is the penultimate conclusion. Selling is of no value unless one can close the sale in a timely manner.

To be successful in the sale of voluntary insurance products the agent will have to be transformed into a member of the business owner's employee benefit advisory team.

In case you have not noticed, there has been a flurry of regulatory activity surrounding defined contribution plans and DC advisers in particular. While there will be greater disclosure requirements, more advisers will be considered a fiduciary and it will be harder for advisers to represent a DC plan and the participants at the same time. Experienced DC advisers can use this activity to further distinguish themselves and grow their businesses.