Employee Benefit Adviser articles from August 2006

Employee Benefit Adviser archives from August 2006

On HSAs, your guess is as good as the next guy's.
August 1, 2006... When asked how pervasive health savings accounts will be in five years, brokers have agreed to disagree. Nearly equal numbers of respondents said less than 20% or more than 40% of employees will be enrolled in a company-sponsored...

Suddenly you're pretty again.
August 1, 2006... Here's the worst kept secret in the benefits industry: Plan providers can be very fickle in the way they treat group benefit brokers. Those who have been in the industry any length of time can attest that vendors' attitudes and treatment...

Five trends to watch in supplemental benefits.
August 1, 2006... Worksite sales of supplemental benefits total more than $4 billion per year, and more than two-thirds of employers now offer this type of coverage, according to a report from Forbes. According to LIMRA, worksite marketing of supplemental...

How to boost business value before it's time to sell.
August 1, 2006... Frequently, we are asked about the easiest and most effective ways that business owners can optimize the value of their businesses. We realize you may not be ready to sell your agency, brokerage, or TPA business today. But perhaps you and your...

Sharpening broker skills: Carriers commit to strengthening broker education efforts.
August 1, 2006... Many insurance carriers are either strengthening existing training programs or setting up entirely new offerings for benefit brokers. The renewed interest in producer education is due in part to the increased complexity of the market, but it is...

New ideas about segmentation may help advisers marry the right audience with the.
August 1, 2006... Marketing experts and advisers agree that strong sales strategies marry the right audience with the right message. Talking to Generation X about the need for long-term care, for example, is frequently fruitless. However, if those Xers also...

Advisers don't mourn privatized retirement accounts.
August 1, 2006... Although Social Security privatization appeared dead in 2005, it actually quietly resurrected in 2006 - and died again. While there is debate, some industry experts argue that the death of Social Security privatization, along with life-time...

Section 409A may leave big footprint on deferred comp.(Interview)
August 1, 2006... In Part I of this series, in the July issue of EBA, we interviewed attorney Frank Palmieri, of Palmieri & Eisenberg, for background information on the general rules under Section 409A and their impact on nonqualified deferred compensation...

Insurance veteran recognized for helping brokers and carriers bridge the knowledge gap.
August 1, 2006... For nearly 20 years Gil Lowerre and his colleagues at Eastbridge Consulting have helped raise the profile of the worksite benefits market. A member of the Benefits Marketing Association's 2006 class of inductees to the International Worksite...

Just Rewards.
August 1, 2006... * BMA's class of 2006 announced. Joining Gil Lowerre as part of BMA's 2006 class of Worksite Marketing Hall-Of-Fame inductees are Warren G. Benoit, president of Benoit & Associates; Ron Kleiman, president of BenefitVision; and Eugene C. Sorrel,...

Dealmakers.
August 1, 2006... *Willis Group picks up Norwegian broker. Willis has agreed to purchase Link Forsikringsmegling, an insurance and employee benefits broker in Oslo. The company reported revenue of about $5 million in 2005. The purchase adds yet another piece to...

A broker, a benefits manager and a TPA walk into a bar ...
August 1, 2006... Are there any good benefit broker jokes? Sure, there are doctor jokes and lawyer jokes. There are even some accountant jokes out there. Benefit brokers, depending on their experience and level of expertise, can probably enjoy all three. But...

Real performance data helps rank payers.
August 1, 2006... It feels good to level the playing field. Payers rank physicians on everything from coding patterns to quality of care. But, before now, there have been few ways for employers or brokers to assess the performance of payers. What companies...