Insurance

In the Land of 10,000 Lakes, concern has been mounting that Minnesota’s state-run HIX is slowly sinking into insolvency exacerbated by downward revisions in projected enrollment and speculation that it could be supplanted by Healthcare.gov at some point.

Insurance company CEOs discuss the essential role of the broker and how they can make themselves stand out as new players enter the insurance space.

Wellness programs focused on biometric screenings and health risk assessments remain popular but are slowly giving way to more nontraditional wellness benefits such as paid time-off, parenting classes, leadership training and communication and community volunteer projects.

Although consumer-directed health plans are on the rise, few Americans report comparing the quality and price of plans, hospitals or doctors.

More than 1 million Americans enrolled in consumer operated and oriented plans known as CO-OPs over the past 18 months during which average premium rates in states with these nonprofit alternatives to commercial carrier options were found to be lower than those without such plans.

With the Affordable Care Act hitting its five year birthday and the second open enrollment period nearly finished, Americans are turning their attention and wishes for Congress and the Obama administration to a focus on prescription drugs.

Voya Financial, Inc. has hired a new CEO of retirement. Charles Nelson will join the company on May 1, overseeing tax-exempt and corporate markets and retail wealth management.

Employers are bracing for double-digit pharmacy cost increases in the next year, but advisers can help them to take steps now to mitigate those cost increases for both their active and pre-retiree populations.

Commentary: All Americans are concerned about escalation of health care expenditures. But, does anyone really want the government in the middle of how we access care? Legislation in New York could make that happen.

Commentary: Employees can make the transition to high-deductible health plans and be successful when provided some key education and support from the financial services marketplace.

If I had a dollar for every time an industry professional reacted to my choice of college major with, “Risk Management and Insurance?  I didn’t know you could major in that,” I would be a rich man. From what I see, many people who make up the industry did not set out with the intention of working in insurance or employee benefits. So why would a young professional just entering the job market choose employee…

Commentary: Despite all the media coverage of the Affordable Care Act, there is still a fair amount of confusion and misunderstanding about the law, even among employees whose job it is to administer benefits.

Commentary: When evaluating the nonmedical space and the products with the greatest level of applicability to an employee, auto and home insurance provide significant protection, comfort and well-being to an employee and their family.

There may be a convergence of public and private exchanges and if that happens carriers need to adopt a more holistic approach and consider multiple retail channels to distribute their products as part of a multi-carrier approach or alliances such as those seen within the CO-OP market.

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission released a proposed rule today on wellness programs, removing what at least one business group calls a “big cloud” that has been hovering over employers as they struggle to ensure their wellness incentive programs don’t run afoul of the EEOC.

Ownership of life insurance has been on a steady decline, and the reason many experts point to are other more pressing financial priorities — particularly with retirement income becoming such a hot priority.

Commentary: By shifting some of the focus to the advisers, the DOL is getting closer to the heart of the problem, but it still doesn’t go far enough.

Commentary: ERISA lawyer shares 9 initial reactions to the Department of Labor’s proposed fiduciary definition rule, including how the proposal differs from the DOL’s 2010 effort.

Commentary: The new proposal will provide greater transparency regarding fees and a uniform definition of who is a fiduciary.

Technical difficulties may have marred public exchanges' first year of operation, but at least providers were able to breathe a collective sigh of relief about not being inundated with a sharp increase in new or sick patients scheduling appointments.