Practice management

With hiring and turnover levels on the rise, employers are now experiencing challenges with both attracting and retaining employees, especially top performers and high-potential employees.

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.

While overall confidence in senior leadership is on the rise, employers still have room for expanding leadership development programs. One expert advises on aligning the future needs from leadership with the day-to-day activities now.

With so much emphasis on job qualifications, it’s easy to give little thought to certain personal qualities that, when combined with outstanding competencies, result in extraordinary performance. But it’s the star performers that are missing today, says sales expert John Graham, who shares seven signs that you've got one in your midst.

Despite pressure from clients to provide an immediate solution for rising health care costs – brokers need to proceed slowly and cautiously when discussing solutions such as private exchanges, according to a speaker at Employee Benefit News’ Private Healthcare Exchanges conference.

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: 5 tips that will enhance your guaranteed issue IDI strategy from The Standard’s Doug Waters.

Employers racing to keep up with changing regulations and stay ahead in the talent war are increasingly turning to their benefit advisers for help. In EBA’s ongoing series, executives at some of the top brokerages share challenges the industry is facing, as well as tips for firms of all sizes on how to tackle those challenges head-on.

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.

Organizations that approach severance programs proactively are better equipped to provide the best resources for employees who leave the company.

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.

This Thanksgiving, before you enjoy a few days off with family, friends, and a mountain of turkey, make sure you show one group of people just how thankful you are for them: your employees.

No short-term effects are expected from House GOP’s ACA subsidy lawsuit, but industry experts expect long-term implications on presidential authority and upcoming elections.

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.

Commentary: From the client perspective, brokers look the same, which makes you a commodity purchasing decision in their eyes. Q4intelligence’s Wendy Keneipp explains how to break away from this view and make yourself relevant and attractive to buyers.

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.

President Barack Obama outlined steps Nov. 20 that would revamp the nation’s “broken immigration system” by allowing undocumented immigrants to play by the rules and gain work authorization – potentially changing the rules for benefit managers.

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.