Practice management

What do you do when the trust you place in a carrier is violated? You assume your producer's agreement is in place to protect you. Think again. When we send carriers a request for proposal, we are trusting them to act in good faith. Sadly, I found out not all are trustworthy.

As medical costs go up and household income lags behind, more people are likely to qualify for health care tax deductions.

From carriers to brokers, enrollers to consultants, the message was the same to the more than 600 attendees gathered Tuesday in Atlantic City, N.J. for the Workplace Benefits Renaissance: Voluntary benefits are a mounting source of opportunity for those who are prepared to take advantage

With health care reform swirling all around us and impacting the way we all do business, I’m switching gears for a moment to focus on our future by glancing back at our past. Remember the pride you felt when you graduated college. Good grades, good memories and a diploma . . . your ticket to dreams of a bright, successful future – do you remember asking yourself, ok now what? …

The Department of Health and Human Services has awarded grants totaling $229 million to 10 states to establish health insurance exchanges, authorized under the Affordable Care Act.

Insurers relying on social media sites for customer intelligence may need to look elsewhere, according to new research. Yet, as social network site users become more savvy, it may also present challenges.

More than a third of Americans say they most trust financial advisers to better understand retirement issues, according to a new survey.

Although voluntary benefits popularity continues to grow, administration of premium billing and accounting is also a growing aggravation and/or problem. In today’s BeAdvised Tinker Kelly provides tips and shares on how you can help your client overcome this with an easy solution.

When American workers engage in healthy habits offered in consumer-driven health plans, they can lower their total medical costs an average of $9,700 per employee over a five-year period, according to a recent study.

The fifth annual national survey assessing household saving revealed that — despite hopeful macroeconomic signs — an increasing number of Americans are having difficulty saving to meet goals ranging from meeting emergencies to affording retirement. Over the last three years, the number who spend less than their income and save the difference, are building home equity, have adequate emergency savings, and think they are saving enough for retirement has declined. However, the survey also revealed that having a savings plan has beneficial financial effects, even for lower-income families.

Although North American life, annuity and pension administration systems technology providers have seen a decline in deals since 2009, vendors with stand-alone systems have increased their deal volume.

A leading group of U.S. doctors is trying to tackle the costly problem of excessive medical testing, hoping to avoid more government intervention in how they practice.

Last month we discussed the importance of analyzing your clients to determine those with which you have the greatest success and satisfaction and those that were less profitable and suck the energy out of you. As discussed last month, for us it was working with middle market, entrepreneurial service companies. Our challenges were twofold: What to do with the clients that no longer fit our business model? How to expand our target markets opportunities? …

Enrollment in health savings accounts and heath reimbursement arrangements continues to grow, but contribution patterns to these account-based health plans are changing, according to a new report from the nonpartisan Employee Benefit Research Institute.

Nine in 10 life insurers surveyed recently are meeting producer demands with mobile technology initiatives, according to a new report issued by LIMRA, a worldwide research, consulting and professional development organization.

Insurers have spent years and years enduring negative criticism. Consumers may be changing their tune, at least according to 10,000 U.S. consumers surveyed for the 2012 Temkin Experience Ratings.

As more benefits advisers struggle to articulate their value proposition to their clients and prospects, many are realizing that being the access point to products is not the differentiating value that clients want or expect. Personally I have not thought that was the case for more than a decade. Clearly our clients need our advice, expertise and counsel. But given all the competition that exists, especially in the mid- to large-case market, that’s not enough in…

Financial advisers have turned decidedly more optimistic about the market’s prospects for 2012, according to an SEI Quick Poll. Nine in 10 of the advisers surveyed in early February, including bank advisors, say they expect a positive return for the S&P 500 in 2012, up 18% from a similar survey conducted in mid-January. More than six in 10, 63%, predicted gains greater than 5%, a sentiment that spread dramatically from just three weeks ago.

Six federal agencies have issued a final rule requiring insurers to provide to consumers at the time of enrollment a plain-English summary of benefits and coverage, and a uniform glossary of terms.

When it comes to creative, non-traditional benefits no idea is a bad idea. EBA contributor George Lane shares why your creativity could be the most valuable asset you can bring to your clients.