Insurance

Employees who don’t factor health care costs into their retirement planning could be in for a rude awakening.

With nearly two dozen CO-OPs created under the Affordable Care Act continuing their financial struggles, attention is turning toward why they’re experiencing such difficulties.

More choice through private exchanges means more complexity for employers, employees and brokers. What can be done to improve the process for all involved?

Five ways to tell if your employees are getting the service they deserve from your benefits company.

Offering minimum essential coverage plans not only helps employers stay compliant with the ACA, it can also provide solid compensation for brokers and can lead to gap coverage sales.

Teams of benefit experts debated each other on which type of plan is the future of employer-paid health care during a discussion Tuesday at EBA’s Workplace Benefits Summit in Orlando.

Employers more than ever are seeking innovative solutions for health care cost containment from their benefit advisers, and one industry expert says emerging strategies to help brokers thrive in the coming decade should include voluntary benefit sales and plan integration.

High-profile merger and acquisition activity in the health insurance market has some employers squeamish about decreased competition and carrier responsiveness, but some industry experts say employers have methods for recourse.

Increased regulatory requirements and rising health care costs have spurred more employers to consider defined contribution health care plans, a trend industry experts at EBA’s Workplace Benefits Summit say is a result of a more transformative approach to health care benefit strategy.

Despite thousands of dollars spent on marketing, one key item is missing for critical illness insurance sales. What is it and how can four simple questions help improve sales?

The House has agreed to pass legislation that makes possible a repeal of the ACA’s controversial expansion of the definition of a small employer — a bill hailed by the benefits industry for protecting the small and mid-size businesses they feel the expansion threatens to harm.

Offering a supplemental plan for retired military employees can save employers from potential claims — and it also helps brokers add value to their clients and increase their book of business.

Health Republic Insurance of New York, the Affordable Care Act insurer that got $265 million in U.S. loans, will stop selling policies and eventually cease operations under orders from New York and federal regulators.

When it comes to benefits management, the most important number for any small to mid-sized business to know is how many full-time employees plus full-time equivalent employees it averaged in calendar year 2014.

Questions over program effectiveness, legality and data storage have employers hesitating to implement such plans.

The IRS has posted a webpage, dubbed the ACA Information Center for Applicable Large Employers, which features information and resources for employers on how the health care law may affect them.

Health insurance carriers have not poached healthier customers from the exchanges for plans sold outside the exchanges, which some feared would lead to adverse selection in the public exchange market, concludes a recent issue brief.

If an employer says they don’t have concerns about the Affordable Care Act’s looming excise tax set to go into effect in 2018, they’re probably fibbing.

The ruling is not likely to affect demand for individual fixed indemnity products, which have been on the decline, nor to have impact on overall health insurance market, experts say.

Zenefits announced today it is offering small and mid-sized employers an ACA compliance tool for free. Some industry experts say the offering raises the bar again for competing benefit brokers, but others claim it is too little, too late.