Healthcare benefits

The honor recognizes extraordinary contributions such as significantly increasing a firm’s sales and/or market share, providing strategic consulting to help clients achieve their highest goals, fostering employee benefit innovations, advocating successfully for adviser causes and, in general, elevating the status of all women in the profession.

As another insurer megamerger takes place, how will employer health plans fare with a shrinking field of providers?

Michael Turpin, the former CEO of UnitedHealthcare’s Northeast region, shares his thoughts on the new landscape and the potential impact the deal could have on benefit brokers and the insurance industry.

With just three major insurance companies, brokers must distinguish themselves from carriers, create additional approaches to serve clients and develop alternative risk approaches to health benefits, industry experts say.

Worksite voluntary benefits are gaining in popularity on standard ancillary benefit offerings, but the adviser’s sales approach to each needs to be varied.

Commentary: Brokers are strategically positioned to encourage employers to commit to a more productive workforce.

Understanding these ACA compliance requirements and the tools necessary to track the required data can be confusing and overwhelming.

Commentary: Many of the world’s leading employers offer expert second opinions as a valued employee benefit that can save money by averting unnecessary testing and treatment, decrease absenteeism, and promote employee retention.

Employers offering high deductible plans – particularly those who have gone the full replacement route – still need to beef up their educational efforts.

How San Francisco-based Equity Risk Partners’ focus on private equity firms had made the small firm a big player in the niche market.

Commentary: Personal care in times of great distress not only delivers more effective care, but it also does it more efficiently, says Sam Fleet.

The ACA added new employer reporting requirements under Internal Revenue Code Sections 6055 and 6056, applying to employers that sponsor self-insured plans that provide minimum essential coverage regardless of size, and applicable larger employers.

As the Supreme Court’s recent ruling in favor of gay marriage in Obergefell v. Hodges changed the landscape of employee benefits across the country, the question of how the court’s decision would affect domestic partner coverage moved center stage.

About 6.6 million U.S. taxpayers paid a penalty imposed for the first time this year for not having health insurance, about 10% more than the Obama administration had estimated – though a portion didn’t need to.

The $34.1 billion blockbuster deal between Aetna Inc. and Humana Inc. is seen as complementary to both health insurers in terms of helping grow their involvement in private and public health insurance exchanges.

Despite the looming Cadillac tax, few employers are planning big changes to their health plans this year.

As employers search for ways to trim health care costs, advisers are increasingly exploring the use of data to steer plan design.

Commentary: Waiting for the results of the 2016 presidential election before doing any Cadillac tax planning is not a good benefits strategy.

Employers are becoming more proactive in asking hospitals to participate in The Leapfrog Group’s surveys.

Commentary: Insurance is complex and relying on technology alone for employee education isn’t realistic.