Several members of Congress from both political parties expressed support last week for the role of the agent and broker post-health care reform. The legislators addressed a crowd of more than 700 at the National Association of Health Underwriters’ annual Capitol Conference in Washington, D.C. — including calls for the medical loss ratio provision of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act to be altered.

With Federal District Court Judge Roger Vinson ruling PPACA unconstitutional in 26 states that joined in a class action lawsuit, what happens to Obama Administration efforts to implement provisions of the law as the legal issues move to the Court of Appeals and Supreme Court?

Apple’s iPad tablets and iPhone smartphones are gaining ground against mobile devices based on Google’s Android operating system, Microsoft’s Windows mobile platforms and Symbian, used by Nokia — and the fastest adopters of iPads are financial services firms.

SourceMedia, the publisher of Employee Benefit Adviser, has acquired Insurance Broadcasting, a provider of online news and live events to employee benefits professionals.

At Jan. 26 hearings on health care reform held by both the House Budget and Ways and Means Committees, the new Republican majority took the opportunity to question Obama Administration officials on the economic repercussions of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.

The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act is unconstitutional, a federal judge in Florida ruled Jan. 31.

Small company, big heart It's been a tradition at The Unity Group to give clients chocolates during the holidays. But in 2009 the Bellingham, Wash., firm made the decision to discontinue the expensive (and not exactly healthy) practice in favor of a donation to the local food bank. "With the economy down, we thought that was a great place to give back," says Kari Glennon, sales manager.

There was a time when providing good service at the local level and keeping in touch with employer groups was a marketing strategy in itself. In fact, it may even have been the only marketing strategy a benefits broker needed. But those days died with the changing economy, and the reality is that they aren't coming back.

It's now the middle of winter, and the collegiate and professional football seasons have drawn to a close. While the gridiron battlefield is now silent, another one is not - the battle of gridlock in Congress and the courts over health care reform is still going strong, and it's likely to continue for some time.

Staying in touch. It's what we do with our family and friends ... the people we care most about. So wouldn't it make sense that we also stay in touch with our clients?

The National Business Group on Health has launched an ambitious, three-year initiative aimed at helping employers design benefit plans that reflect the latest information and expert recommendations on cancer treatment and prevention.

Worksite voluntary benefits as we know them are dead. Driven largely by the spiraling cost increases in group health insurance, over the past decade or so employers have been shifting benefit costs to employees.

The cover story of this month's issue of Employee Benefit Adviser provides insight into how brokers can make innovative use of social software in their practices. Understanding the use of social software technology in the workplace is complicated because it is a broad and evolving category and the vendors competing in this space are coming from different perspectives and areas of expertise.

January's cover story made a very important point - if you are a long-time adviser, give something back. Give back to your industry organizations. Give back to the new people entering the profession. The need for professionalism and expertise in our field has never been more important than right now.

In the next several columns I will be putting on my benefit sales trainer hat, with a series of columns called, "If you want to sell, do this." These will be detailed selling techniques that producers in my firm's FutureOffice Network use every day with great success.

It's now February - the perfect time to take stock of where you are and where you are going.

To say that the industry's segmentation and understanding of defined contribution plan advisers is crude would be quite an understatement. At the grossest level, the industry looks at whether advisers are commissioned or fee-based and whether they serve the small-plan market or the large-plan market.

Every year brings something new in this business, but the changes you'll see this year - and the ones you'll be anticipating - could be dramatic. That's thanks to a bevy of new regulations, some final and some still in the proposal stage, from the Department of Labor.

These are busy times at the Marsh & McLennan Agency. Last month, MMA announced that it had acquired Strategic Benefit Solutions, a $4 million benefits brokerage and consulting firm based in Alpharetta, Ga., and RJF Agencies, one of the largest independent agencies in the upper Midwest. Those steps followed closely on the heels of MMA's acquisition of Pennsylvania-based Trion Group in December 2010.

One of the hottest games on Facebook is Cafe World. More than 22 million participants play to run their own virtual restaurant. In the game, a "buzz rating" indicates customers' satisfaction with the virtual restaurant. The goal: to create and maintain a high buzz rating.