Practice and client management

Employers are seeking help from benefit brokers and advisers as health care costs have them searching for alternatives to the current system of health care delivery.

There is no distinction between client and prospect for benefit broker Will Glaros, managing partner of the Meyers Glaros Group in Dyer, Ind. — he’s there to help them all.

Commentary: When the discussion about retirement plan costs focuses too heavily on fees, Blogger Aaron Friedman says it's up to advisers to demonstrate the value employers receive in return for the price they pay.

Employers and employees more than ever need the help of their trusted adviser to communicate in plain language the complexities of today’s health care landscape.

Employers say in 2015 they will continue to shift toward offering CDHPs, but many need adviser help to engage employees in better health care decisions and understand the benefits of a private exchange.

Recognizing that benefit brokers play a key role in the marketing of voluntary benefits, insurers are beginning to offer them more flexibility in the marketing process.

Commentary: Columnist and management consultant Craig Davidson discusses what your prospect wants from you now, and in the near future, in return for an agent-of-record letter.

Commentary; 2015 is getting close and the Employer Shared Responsibility Mandate (“Play or Pay”) under the Affordable Care Act (ACA) is almost here. So what does this mean for your organization?

Brokers and assisters will need to work closer together to help consumers during the 2015 ACA open enrollment, but most agree that will involve overcoming some underlying issues.

After a booming jobs growth spurt in June, hiring slowed, but still grew overall in July. The U.S. economy added 209,000 jobs last month, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Friday. And with that growth, many employees are becoming just as selective as employers have been in choosing their next career path.

A day in the life of benefit adviser Bob White from Plan Benefit Analysts of Tulsa, Okla.

As the country’s demographics continue to shift, employers are facing changes in the makeup of their workforce, according to a report from the Council of Economic Advisers. With those changes come new benefits needs for working families. Brokers can help their clients keep up with these evolving requirements and expectations.

Even with a four-year high in the hiring, manufacturing and service sectors, benefits managers are utilizing higher pay and improved benefits to deal with their ongoing recruitment challenges.

While the logistics of health care growing increasingly complex, benefit advisers could and should play a crucial role in helping employers and employees understand the new health care delivery system.

Benefit advisers hoping to stay ahead of the trend of employers transferring some of the burden of increased health care costs to their employees, should be prepared to discuss a variety of new and old cost-sharing strategies, as well as additional cost-saving tools.

Private exchanges are a complex tool in a complex market, but they continue to evolve as employers switch to them, and brokers learn to work with them. Panelists discussed where they will go next during at opening keynote Tuesday at EBA’s Workplace Benefits Mania.

Hiring and fast turnover are on the rise in offices around the world, including in the U.S., and experts say employers need to look at what it is their employees value most if they want to retain their current talent.

United Benefit Advisors has named insurance veteran Les McPhearson its new chief executive officer. In a Q&A with EBA he talks about trends in the benefits industry and the future role of the trusted adviser.

Road to Workplace Benefits Mania: Ahead of next week’s conference, speaker Reid Rasmussen talks about new employee needs that are likely to erupt in the coming years and how brokers might be able to create an opportunity out of them.

For some employer groups, setting high standards starts with hiring the right people, and from Manchester United Foundation’s mindset, as one of the most popular and successful sports teams on Earth, strong leadership and culture is “imperative” to high performance among employees.