Practice management

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?

Adviser help is sorely needed to lessen employer/employee disconnect during open enrollment. Recent research from Aflac shows tools and resources that employees find useful are not always made available by their employers, further complicating an already confusing process.

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.

Long an afterthought, retirement firms and advisers are pushing their clients to add auto escalation to employer plans.

Commentary: Continue to provide value-added personal service to your clients with these practical tips for marketing benefit programs, says ThinkHR's Laura Kerekes.

Commentary: Brokers don't achieve high organic growth by accident. Successful agencies and brokers have their eyes up — they consistently look ahead, and this foresight drives thoughtful planning that leads to an effective execution strategy, says Zywave's Dave O'Brien.

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

Commentary: Being facilitative and consultative will help you to engage the client in a discussion — not a sales pitch — and it will enable you to make more informed recommendations that are responsive to the client’s values and needs.

Commentary: A new opportunity has emerged, and we have entered another inflection point in an era of change. What each of us does next could very well determine our long-term destiny, says Digital’s Mike Sullivan.

Commentary: Although in their infancy, private exchanges have not yet met predicted adoption rates. Wells Fargo’s Dan Gowen shares why this may be the case.

Commentary: There’s a fine line between permissible and impermissible comments — and employers shouldn’t make any requests that could discourage employees from exercising FMLA leave.

Commentary: Benefit firms hoping for agency growth must manage their producers or suffer the consequences of relinquishing control of the firm’s future, says EBA columnist Nelson Griswold.

Robo retirement firms entering the small-plan 401(k) market won’t replace human advisers, industry leaders say.

In the first year of open enrollment on its private benefit exchange, brokerage Lovitt & Touché made some mistakes. But the firm won’t be repeating them, says the Phoenix-based brokerage’s senior vice president.

Commentary: Benefit professionals should take advantage of new technology and services to protect employees and help them resolve ID theft situations, says VEBA’s Tinker Kelly.

Commentary: Being surrounded by experienced underwriters and “Excel wizards” is just enough to make one’s head spin, but it is right where Brian Murphy needs to be as he enters the world of benefit advising.

Broker group hopeful hotline is “first step” in making enrollment through federally-facilitated marketplace an even playing field for agents and brokers

The DOL’s proposed fiduciary rule presents complex challenges to advisers, clients and will exacerbate the savings crisis in America, NAIFA warned Congress Thursday — two weeks before the comment period on the controversial rule closes.