Practice and client management

Industry hopes for a streamlined broker licensing process took a major hit Tuesday when the Senate adjourned without passing legislation that aimed to ease the ability of brokers to sell insurance in states across the U.S.

Without a well-conceived distribution strategy and enough methods of distribution, your carriers will find themselves with a dwindling customer base and shrinking revenues. So where does that leave you and your business? This is something brokers seriously need to consider, says columnist Jack Kwicien.

Commentary: Are you ready to move from opaque, largely hidden commission compensation to fully transparent fee compensation? The time is now, says columnist Nelson Griswold.

Delaying health plan renewals appears to be the new normal under the Affordable Care Act, especially for small businesses.

To the fanfare of many benefit advisers and industry associations, the House on Wednesday passed legislation that aims to cut through the red tape of state-by-state broker and agent licensing, streamline the licensing process and allow for brokers to sell insurance in states across the U.S.

Take a look around the benefits discussion table at many employers these days and you’ll see a wide variety of faces. With clients increasingly tying their benefits strategy to the other departments at their businesses, it’s no surprise that top brokers in the U.S. are taking a closer look at their own company structures in the process.

As if employee benefit brokers and advisers in California haven’t had enough uphill battles trying to preserve their standing along the changing HIX landscape, some of them also now have to worry about being paid for helping enroll more than 500,000 residents in the state-run public exchange. But at least one industry insider believes it’s much ado about nothing. …

Commentary: Advisers provide great value to colleges and universities, a Transamerica Retirement Solutions survey shows. Brodie Wood shares four specific areas that participants say are of the most value.

In exclusive interviews, Mercer’s Julio Portalatin and the heads of several other top brokerages — Gallagher, Lockton, Higginbotham, Willis and Pacific Resources —speak with EBA about their strategies for sustained development and staying ahead of the competition.

Perhaps the hottest trend in benefits right now is the exchange distribution model. In EBA’s ongoing series of discussions with heads of the country’s top brokerages, these leaders share their approach to the exchange system and how they see private exchanges impacting the future of benefits.

Wizened consumers who are able to analyze their entire out-of-pocket exposure. That’s the goal of ConnectedHealth’s private exchange, says Joe Donlan, the company’s president. However, he predicts that increased consumer engagement is just part of the wave toward more employers adopting private exchanges. Donlan shares his view on where the industry is headed and how brokers fit into the exchange system.

Americans’ approval of the Affordable Care Act is at a record low yet those uninsured who purchased coverage through the exchange are overall pleased with the quality of coverage they obtained.

The IRS plans to close a major loophole in the ACA by banning employers who offer ‘skinny’ medical plans without hospitalization coverage from qualifying as minimum value plans under the health reform law.

Millennials are not saving enough to take full advantage of their employer’s 401(k) company match, but benefit advisers say there are many tools employers can use to turn this trend around and engage the younger generation.

Commentary: Columnist Mel Schlesinger shares the secrets of selling your knowledge rather than relying on value-add services to close the sale.

A majority of brokers have seen some of their employer clients drop group coverage altogether in reaction to the ACA and double-digit rate increases. That trend, they say, will rise and advisers need to adjust the way they do business if they hope to survive.

Commentary: The problem with marketing surfaces when sales initiatives fail to meet expectations. This occurs because they’re based on ideas that don’t work, says John Graham. The sales expert shares how to avoid making such mistakes at your firm.

Commentary: As open enrollment season moves into full swing, columnist John Ludwig turns your focus to financial wellness, a growing concern for employers.

Commentary: Is your agency ready for 2015? Columnist Nelson Griswold shows how an in-depth analysis of a firm's strengths and weaknesses can help set goals for the new year.

As an effort to comply with the ACA, some employers have been considering offering employees a lump sum of cash to purchase health care coverage on the exchanges, but the DOL now says such an arrangement isn't going to cut it.