Healthcare benefits

Dependent eligibility verification audits are sometimes tough to communicate to employees, but as employers look for financial savings in their health plans, many are contemplating them.

Many employees will soon be receiving new forms that are critical to their ability to file their tax returns and to their employers’ ability to accurately fulfill their own Affordable Care Act reporting requirements.

The Affordable Care Act, new ways to fill the sales pipeline and Zenefits dominated EBA’s BeAdvised blog commentary this year. The top 10 most-read blogs of 2015 detail the growing number of ACA regulations and reporting requirements, explain why advisers don’t accurately understand the threat behind a tech-focused brokerage and highlight simple-yet-effective ways producers can increase existing client revenue and get prospects to open the door.

Throughout the year, a number of guest bloggers have provided valuable insights to EBN readers on the complex changes and issues affecting healthcare, retirement and other benefits programs.

The U.S. Senate voted Thursday to repeal the core of the Affordable Care Act, bringing Congress closer to sending legislation to President Barack Obama for the first time that would dismantle his signature domestic achievement.

Healthcare coverage is a significant piece of your employees’ overall financial package. If your plan doesn’t appropriately meet their needs, it can be a source of stress for them throughout the year.

Commentary: What we can do to support them, make them feel more welcome in our company culture and help strengthen our own company in the process.

Commentary: Adviser David C. Smith says he’s seen “a handful of imaginative approaches that all fail to satisfy the IRS’s prohibition” on standalone Health Reimbursement Arrangements.

EBA Advisers of the Year, as well as other industry insiders, share their insight on some of the major issues employee benefit brokers face. Take a look as these experts reflect on everything from the Cadillac tax to benefits technology to voluntary products.

Commentary: To ensure employees receive safe and necessary healthcare and maintain ethical practice, smart healthcare HR department leaders will want to keep their antenna up for any whisper or whiff of providers routinely waiving copays, coinsurance and deductibles for their patients.

The cancer support program at CBS involves everything from helping an employee find providers to facilitating transmission of medical records to obtaining second opinions and more.

Bring many of the industry’ leading minds together with brokers and advisers from across the country who are eager to learn and share insights on the latest market trends and best practices, and you’ve got some of the year’s most thought-provoking conversations. For those who missed out, here are the highlights from EBA’s 2015 conferences.

Commentary: Everyone expects to hear from you at open enrollment, but what about the other 11¾ months of the year?

Commentary: With so many moving parts and delays, it’s been understandingly difficult for employers to figure out exactly what their responsibilities are when it comes to the Affordable Care Act. But when it comes to healthcare reform, what you don’t know really can hurt you.

Commentary: For the employer, the need to retain employees is strong and absorbing additional cost in the benefit plan will have strong short-term consideration.

Commentary: Be on the lookout for NextAgency, an enrollment and administration firm with benefit adviser interests in mind.

How small companies are making use of their employee assistance programs.

Employee benefit departments are perceived by some as the “soft underbelly” in the world of corporate hacking targets, according to Adam Solander, a member of law firm Epstein Becker Green.

Commentary: Even the best hospitals are not immune to medical mistakes. However, there are steps employers can take to educate themselves about its costs.

Small employers such as Beehive PR and Beach Cities Health District create a culture of mental wellness with a suite of day-to-day programs that encourage work-life balance, employee involvement and employee growth and development opportunities.