Practice management

Health and wellness startup HealthiestYou promotes productivity in the workplace and enables parents to conveniently meet with doctors, according to brokers who have firsthand experience.

Commentary: Zywave’s latest survey reveals what a range of employers across the country are looking for from their benefit adviser.

Commentary: Applying advice from two legendary coaches, adviser Eric Silverman shares the mantra that drives his recruitment efforts and creates the office culture that produces consistent levels of success for his entire team.

Covered California recently announced $10 million in new grants for the upcoming exchange open-enrollment season awarded to 68 “navigator” groups, including about 12,000 certified insurance agents who played a pivotal part in enrolling 43% of state residents for 2015.

Commentary: Many first impressions crash and burn because people are trying to present themselves as something they’re not. Here are four ways to avoid that fate.

Pilot program for Maryland Health Connection will have call centers directly transfer consumers to a broker to finish enrollment.

Brokers say they increasingly view the ACA as an avenue toward new revenue opportunities and roles around education and communication.

Commentary: Your clients need a roadmap, a strategic plan, to guide their tactical decisions; both their actions and reactions. To do this, you will need to become much more consultative in your approach, says columnist Jack Kwicien.

Commentary: Five ways to make positive progress with transforming your business, according to EBA Advisory Board Member Mark Gaunya.

This well-rounded Midwest adviser’s holistic approach to employee benefits, genuine character and trendsetting business practices set him apart.

Commentary: If the owner/seller has a management team that can’t sustain the growth of the company without his personal involvement, the business represents little value to a buyer.

Commentary: Why exclude an individual if they want to sign up for short-term disability on their Xbox or refrigerator’s Wi-Fi enabled display? This is what people expect in 2015.

Jiff CEO Derek Newell discusses the role data analytics plays in reducing health care costs as well as the company’s relationship with benefit brokers.

Advisers need to help clients understand their workforce, outline clear objectives and communicate effectively if employers want to establish a successful wellness program.

Commentary: Is the way I think hurting my business, or is there a lot of groupthink going on? Should I do the opposite of what I think, like Seinfeld’s George Costanza, asks Joe Markland.

Commentary: If an employer’s policy is unclear — or doesn’t exist — employees may be able to claim they are entitled to payment for their accrued but unused vacation upon termination.

Commentary: EBA columnist Nelson Griswold says benefits RFPs are universally awful and HR should abandon them. Advisers, he says, should also be wary of them.

While the HR tech platform Zenefits offers a solution that addresses certain employer pain points, it also asks employers to dump their current broker. A new tech solution promises the same benefits without asking employers to sever their current broker relationship.

Some have compared the changes in health care to the changes that occurred in the retirement industry 30 years ago when companies switched from pension plans to 401(k) plans and put the responsibility on consumers to pick investments. But George Tzinas, chief experience officer at BenefitAlign, says it is not the same.

Warnings of billions in crippling costs and TV attack ads are the latest salvos from opponents of the Labor Department's fiduciary rule after hearings closed last week. The industry's newest claim is that independent firms could get hit with a bill tallying up to $3.9 billion in startup costs alone should the rule go into effect.