Practice management

Employer-sponsored plans — especially 401(k)s — help employees at the lower end of the wage scale to save.

The House of Representatives voted Wednesday to officially repeal the CLASS Act, the long-term care provision of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.

Do your clients have a process in place to comply with the laws that regulate their health plans? If the answer is no, then by default your compliance strategy recommendation to them is “keep your head down and hope you don’t get caught.” While this approach may actually be appealing to some overworked HR Managers, others in the organization, such as the CFO or CEO, may not be happy if they discover that federal law is…

Shhh .... don't tell anyone, but I've infiltrated the broker/consultant world of employee benefits. After 12 years of working in corporate benefits with seven different benefit broker/consultants, big and small, I recently crossed the line into their world - I'm the director of compliance of a midsize benefits broker/consulting firm in southern California. I'm here to report back to you, my fellow corporate benefit professionals, on three things you reasonably can expect in your broker/consultant relationships - in addition to competitive fees, top-quality service and proven employee benefits negotiation expertise.

We’ve all seen the research data documenting the positive effects that benefits have on employee morale. However, in today’s age of shrinking benefits and rising premiums, employees are likely missing the forest for the trees. During last year’s open enrollment, most employers likely had to raise their employee cost-share, increase their medical deductible, offer a new CDHP or all of the above. Employees can perceive these types of changes as takeaways and/or benefit reductions, resulting in…

The theme of this month's issue is strategic partnerships. It's one of my favorite issues of the year, and not just because the nerd in me enjoys the way exploring the importance of finding the right partner ties into Valentine's Day.

A couple of years ago Kris Allison was running Burnham Benefits Insurance Services, a well established employee benefits brokerage that offered a respectable level of financial services. Darin Gibson was managing a rising financial services firm with a decent book of benefits business. Today their companies, now Burnham Benefits and Burnham Gibson Financial Group, are a united team with one-stop shopping for their growing client base in Irvine, Calif., and satellite offices across the U.S.

Many of us are growing tired of the colder weather just as we grow weary of the grind of health care reform updates and downdrafts. And all of us are ready for the economy to improve in a meaningful and sustained manner. In some respects it is our winter of discontent. Not to mix literary references, but it is the best of times and it is the worst of times. Which will it be for you? That depends on whether your glass is half empty or half full. And it depends on whether you have a plan to succeed.

Employee assistance programs provide employees with support when they need it - from helping them through relationship difficulties to coordinating treatment for substance abuse. And while 69% of employers offer EAPs through external organizations, the potential still exists for them to be caught in legal entanglements. What are employers' potential liabilities and what can advisers do to help them mitigate risks?

As HR/benefits outsourcing becomes a larger part of employers' overall business strategy, industry professionals' primary job no longer is putting out small fires. Rather, practitioners are blazing trails toward workforce and organizational development.

Strategic partnerships come in all shapes and sizes. They can run the range from partnering on service offerings to joint marketing programs, but sometimes they involve technology. And when they do, you want to make sure that your partner's technology is aligned with your market strategy and the technology needs of your clients today and in the future.

What is the difference between a manager and a leader? According to Warren Bennis, founder of the Leadership Institute at the University of Southern California, "Managers do things right, but leaders do the right thing." A world of difference exists between these two individuals. Which camp do you fall into? Most people have some management acumen, but a minority has the stuff it takes to be a great leader.

This month we discuss the use of article writing in your marketing and positioning yourself as an expert in your industry.

Offering a retirement plan can be one of the most challenging - yet rewarding - decisions an employer can make. The employees participating in the plan, their beneficiaries, and the employer all may benefit when a retirement plan is in place. Administering a plan and managing its assets, however, requires certain actions and involves specific responsibilities governed by the Employee Retirement Income Security Act.

Employees do not save enough for their eventual retirement needs, research shows. But, with tools, help and education from financial advisers that paradigm may shift - benefiting not only the employee but the employer and adviser.

While many brokers are worried about the future, Mike Sullivan of Digital Insurance is excited about it and the many opportunities that will present themselves.

New research by Cheryl Retzloff, senior research director of LIMRA Markets, has identified a market that is largely untapped by life insurers — the single-household. According to LIMRA’s “2011 Life Insurance Buyer/Non-buyer” study that found only 39% of U.S. households recall having an opportunity to buy life insurance in the past two years, only 26% of single people recall having an opportunity to buy life insurance. This is compared to the 74% of married people.

Employees around the country are in need of direct, simple guidance to help them reach their retirement goals, according to a survey released by State Street Global Advisors.

Can you imagine a world where the “new norm” required insurers and providers to disclose what they charge upfront? Read as Mark Gaunya, president of the Massachusetts Association of Health Underwriters, shares two specific messages he took to the Hill at the Cap Conference and the outcome.

The health care system is “so screwed up in where we invest our money,” and that needs to change for costs to become manageable, said a health researcher Tuesday.