Practice and client management

If employees are not well prepared for retirement it should be a major concern for both employees and their employers, experts say.

Commentary: At the end of an unsuccessful enrollment campaign, an adviser may wonder why participation was so low after they spent time and money on communications. It’s simple, says David Melton: Brokers employing the same old strategy will not succeed.

With year three open enrollment on the horizon, state-run health care exchanges are busy building out systems and processes while renegotiating contracts, all to improve the customer experience, data flow and costs.

A new $250,000 national advertising campaign running on several popular political TV programs casts the Affordable Care Act as a positive force that is saving lives. It also seeks to counteract continued threats of repeal or scaling back the landmark legislation.

Chances are you have seen article after article claiming brokers need to buy more technology to help sell and service clients this year. Although partially true, blindly accepting these blanket statements can be costly for brokers. What I want to share with you is my experience working with these technology systems and a simple yet powerful approach you can take to make sure you don’t waste time and money on inefficient technology solutions. …

Multi-employers that continue to offer health care benefits to retirees are embracing retiree-only plans as a cost-saving measure. While retiree-only plans are not subject to all of the rules of the ACA, there are still requirements employers and advisers should be aware of.

Commentary: It is a lot of fun to be able to help employers make sound decisions through benchmarking. Oftentimes, that’s the start of a prosperous relationship, says Zywave’s Dave O’Brien.

The DOL’s proposed fiduciary rule could have dire consequences for the business of benefit advisers, according to NAIFA. The association is taking its concerns straight to The White House and lawmakers in Washington, D.C.

Commentary: There’s no worse way to set your business up in the eyes of your clients than to call yourself a free service, says columnist Wendy Keneipp.

Commentary: By reframing and renaming these benefits, you can avoid any knee-jerk reaction to or bias against “voluntary benefits,” says columnist Nelson Griswold.

Commentary: Small things get big in a customer’s mind, and the next thing you know, the customer is gone — for good.

Commentary: Many benefit brokers live by the idea that face-to-face onsite service is the only way to provide quality service. Certainly that is one of the advantages a local broker has, being local. But times change, says HR Technology Advisors’ Joe Markland.

Commentary: There are certain areas of an asset allocation where there is real danger to blindly investing in passive investments.

Success on Wall Street and buyer demand has created ‘a crazy marketplace right now.’

Employers using Aon Hewitt’s multi-carrier fully-insured private health care exchange experienced average annual health care cost savings more than 4% lower than industry projections.

Smaller companies and non-profits are among the organizations that are contemplating a switch in how they manage employee benefits.

Younger workers have begun to recognize that working well into their traditional retirement age will likely be the new normal, as Social Security and even workplace savings plans may not support their lifestyles.

Explosive growth in the individual market is forcing brokers who work with very small groups to change their business models —and often receive less commission in the process.

Most private health care exchanges are geared toward active employees. But Tampa, Fla.-based Brown Insurance Group has an eye on part-timers who may have lost coverage or who never had access to group plans. Eric Brown, principal, explains how his private exchange allows employers nationwide to provide coverage to such employees through an exchange-like environment. Brown Insurance also assists with Healthcare.gov enrollment.

Big data is playing an increasingly larger role in benefits strategic planning and if a broker, health plan and employer work together, the opportunities for using such data to lower costs and increase well-being can be realized.