Practice management

Commentary: Columnist Nelson Griswold reveals the "sales triangle" and why closing the sale is not the biggest part of the puzzle.

Commentary: You only get one chance to make a first impression. Columnist Mel Schlesinger shares his tips on how to make that first appointment with a prospective client a successful one.

Earlier this week, Walmart announced it was dropping health care coverage for employees who work fewer than 30 hours a week, a move the company estimates will affect about 2% of its workforce. Here’s a wrap-up of our analysis, plus a look at the ways other large companies are handling rising health care costs.

The features and services that you think workers will appreciate and use may be completely different than what employees actually desire, so communication is key - maybe even in the form of a company survey. Easy access is also key to better utilization.

Aon Hewitt expects more than 1.2 million employees, retirees and their families to choose health benefits through the company’s exchanges — revising their earlier estimates upward.

Walmart’s announcement this week that it will drop health care coverage for its part-time employees reiterates that employer-sponsored health care coverage is changing, and those benefit advisers who plan to remain relevant to clients must change, too.

Benefits managers looking to overcome the reality that 90% of employees simply keep the same benefits during open enrollment need to employ a new, more personal communications strategy.

Private health care exchanges bring with them major implications for employer-sponsored benefits, including a shift to defined contribution health care and increased access to data.

Commentary: October is National Depression Awareness Month. Jeff Guardalabene, a mental health case manager with Standard Insurance Company, offers these tips on how to help your employer clients navigate this important but often uncharted territory.

How offering employers solutions to employee engagement can earn you an agent of record letter.

Health care reform has changed the role of the adviser from insurance broker to that of a trusted adviser, counselor and compliance guru. Advisers hoping to thrive in this new environment will embrace the change less as a burden and more as an opportunity.

Complicated and tedious ACA reporting requirements are forcing benefit advisers who want to stay relevant to adapt to a more automated way of doing business.

What tricks and treats do you have lined up for your employees to help them manage the frequently conflicting personal and professional priorities that arise during the holiday season?

A panel of some of EBA’s Most Influential Women in Benefit Advising discuss how women are claiming a role in the benefits industry.

With consumers shopping online for nearly everything nowadays, benefit advisers should be rethinking their approach to selling insurance.

All comprehensive wellness platforms should consist of four core programs — wellness, disease management, EAP and work life components — says Yale Mallinger of wellness company HMC-HealthWorks, but it’s what makes up those components that counts.

As the obesity epidemic and overall sedentary lifestyle continue to cripple the American workforce – drastically increasing health care costs – consider the inspirational words of Diana Nyad. The record-holding swimmer, who accomplished a near-impossible swim from Cuba to Key West, Fla., centers on one key message to help jump start the population: "Never, ever give up."

Targeting employee needs and purchasing preferences can boost engagement and enrollment with voluntary benefits. The way to personalize that message, experts say, is through the use of data analytics.

In a world where instant gratification and customization are a way of life, workplace wellness programs haven’t kept pace, says Scott Haverlock, senior manager, talent & total rewards with Niagara Bottling, Inc. and a keynote speaker at this year’s Benefits Forum & Expo.

Communication will be a critical component of benefits administration in the future, according to Aflac’s Teresa White, who outlines benefit and HR trends for the upcoming year.