Employee Benefit Adviser articles from February 2006

Employee Benefit Adviser archives from February 2006

Readers support an international alternative to high health costs.
February 1, 2006... Several readers wrote to us after we published broker Jonathan Edelheit's column, "Surgical outsourcing: An overseas solution for a domestic problem," in the Be Advised department in the November/December 2005 issue. Surprisingly, nobody seemed...

Can you expect employer loyalty?
February 1, 2006... So far, nobody seems terribly worried about the prospect of Wal-Mart-owned Sam's Club, the discount membership retailer, selling health insurance to small businesses. Maybe there isn't anything to worry about. After all, according to...

HSA reform becomes more likely as stakeholder mobilization picks up.
February 1, 2006... Experts and policymakers are trying to goose consumer interest in health savings accounts by remedying what appears to be a primary reason for the slow uptake: fundamental design flaws. Rep. Eric Cantor (R-Va.) introduced a bill in December...

Powerful demographics depict a pretty future for voluntary benefits market.
February 1, 2006... It's often said that the one constant is change. Nowhere is this more accurate than in the employee benefits arena. With change comes opportunity, and as the benefits industry evolves, voluntary benefits present virtually unlimited...

Carriers in trouble: Knowing when to fold and when to walk away.(to introduce customer rankings with insurance companies to avoid bankruptcy and failures)
February 1, 2006... Veteran brokers remember the Executive Life Insurance Co. fiasco, when, in 1991, the largest life insurance company in California suddenly was declared insolvent and seized by the state insurance department. Newer advisers have followed...

Advisers and sponsors play automatic rollover roulette.
February 1, 2006... It used to be easy to cash out benefits of participants in qualified retirement plans who terminated employment before the later of age 62 or normal retirement age. The tax code compliance rules enabled the plan sponsor to distribute the...

Behind this door...Two distinct groups of investors have emerged in recent.
February 1, 2006... Once upon a time, when the high-flying stock market created a game show atmosphere around investment returns, everyone felt like he'd outwitted Monty Hall. It was impossible, it seemed, to make a mistake with your 401(k) portfolio, and it was...

The tooth fairy cometh: Consumer-driven innovations in dental plans offer advisers, clients more money under their pillows.
February 1, 2006... Is it possible that advisers dread dentists more than patients do? Given their interest in the subject of group dental, the answer for many is yes. The truth is, most advisers give dental little attention. The majority of employers already...

Taking the fight to whom?
February 1, 2006... The compensation debate that began in 2004 still rages as plaintiffs' attorneys continue their attack on longstanding industry practices. At least two class-action lawsuits have been filed one in New Jersey and one in California on behalf of...

A HIPAA guide for brokers and consultants.
February 1, 2006... Attorney Alden Bianchi details in this installment of his guide the general outlines of the HIPAA privacy and electronic security rules and how group health plans are regulated under the regulation. Next month, he will talk about how brokers...

Sam's Club's move into small group health insurance doesn't scare benefits brokers.
February 1, 2006... Advisers are not alarmed by warehouse retailer Sam's Club's intention to sell health care plans to their small business customers. Maybe they should be. The membership retailing division of Wal-Mart announced late last year it would work...

Moving the Needle.
February 1, 2006... In this issue, Gerald C. Vigneron, managing director of Concord, Mass.-based North Bridge Advisors Inc., comments on the purchase of Benefit Consulting Group by Oneida Financial, and on the decision by Sam's Club to sell health insurance to...

Dealmakers.(Ameritas Acacia Mutual Holding Co merges with Union Central Mutual Holding Co)(Oneida Financial acquires Benefit Consulting Group)(Euclid Insurance Services acquires Environmental Insurance Brokers)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2006... * HUB International sold Talbot Financial, based in San Francisco, to a buyout group that includes four members of management. HUB also acquired Denver-based Employee Benefit Specialists. *W. R. Berkley created Berkley Accident and Health...

Just Rewards.(Pacific Life receives award)(Mullin Consulting raises $60,000)(Lincoln Financial Group Foundation awards grant to Eagles Charitable Foundation)
February 1, 2006... * The U.S. Department of Labor is suing professional employer organization ePEO Link and owners Roger Jeffrey, Jacqueline Holvka and Frederick Roh, for a bevy of ERISA violations, alleging the company failed to properly evaluate and underwrite...

Learning the finer points of executive sales.(executive benefits)
February 1, 2006... Recent corporate scandals, such as Enron, highlighted the differences between benefits for highly paid executives and those for rank-and-file employees. It wasn't a pretty picture: Enron executives' retirement plans allowed them to sell stock...

E-newsletter.(medical costs increases)(rules for 401k plans)(Cadmus Communications takes care for employee wellness)
February 1, 2006... Medical spending increases decelerate Research confirms earlier evidence that medical costs are rising at slower rates. Health care spending rose 7.9% in 2004, down from 8.2% in 2003 and 9.1% in 2002, according to a report by the Centers...

Readers ponder personal client relationships.(Letter to the Editor)
February 1, 2006... The broker business, so the axiom goes, is based on relationships. But how much time do you really have to cultivate those relationships? Our question this month addresses advisers' ability, or lack thereof, to get to know their clients...

Union agreements provide more opportunity for longer-term health care planning.
February 1, 2006... It is late summer, and you have just received a stack of Jan. 1 health plan renewals for your experience-rated and self-funded clients. The best are coming in with 8% increases and the worst with 28%. Not again! Most of your clients...