Employee Benefit Adviser articles from July 2004

Employee Benefit Adviser archives from July 2004

Legal? Yes. Unethical? You decide.
July 1, 2004... Brokers are the first to point out that they have relationships with insurers that involve compensation, whether in the form of commissions, fees or other remuneration. It is a perfectly natural, free-market relationship: Vendors need brokers...

Exchange-traded funds enter 401(k) investment arena.
July 1, 2004... Mutual funds and 401(k) plans are so inextricably linked that it is impossible to imagine one without the other. But advisers should familiarize themselves with an emergent option with lower management fees that some clients are trying to...

Worksite products become melting pot of innovation.
July 1, 2004... As worksite benefits evolve, the lines between individual and group products have blurred to the point of becoming nearly indistinguishable to clients. That means brokers, who are typically moving into the market with group platforms, must...

Band of brokers up in arms against UnitedHealthcare treatment.
July 1, 2004... A group of brokers serving the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area is crying foul over what they believe to be unfair treatment by Mid Atlantic Medical Services Inc. (MAMSI), a local health plan, and its parent company, UnitedHealthcare. ...

AIG moves into worksite marketing to micro-employers.
July 1, 2004... AIG American General's president and CEO Rod Martin says he and his staff plan to step up the company's worksite marketing presence, mostly by selling directly to the micro-employer market of one to 50 workers. But that doesn't mean AIG...

Waking up to Life: Brokers use plan design, education to rouse employers and employees to the need for life insurance.
July 1, 2004... First, let us acknowledge life insurance as one of the top-selling employee benefits. Last year, Eastbridge Consulting Group deemed it responsible, along with disability income and health products, for a 100% growth in worksite sales over five...

Windows on the world: Windows on the world.
July 1, 2004... A recent resurgence in employee Web portals after the air left the Internet bubble adds a new wrinkle to the self-service phenomenon in worksite benefits. Only a few years ago, the portal was the big new thing in the benefits world, as...

State investigations could leave brokers unharmed.
July 1, 2004... Benefits brokers appear confident that state investigations into compensation agreements between insurance carriers and producers and the disclosure thereof will leave their businesses relatively unscathed. "If you're disclosing to your...

IRS guidance goes short way to resolving HSA confusion.(health savings accounts, Internal Revenue Service )
July 1, 2004... Seven months after Medicare reform was enacted, advisers and their clients still are trying to puzzle through the nuances of one of its most celebrated provisions, the creation of health savings accounts (HSAs). While the picture is still...

Using workforce aging to open new doors to worksite sales.
July 1, 2004... There is a crisis in American business today. It's been years in the making. Now it's here, although just beginning to be felt in a serious way. Over the next 10 to 20 years it's going to get much worse. It's the aging of the American...

Don't get stuck in a P&C technology world.
July 1, 2004... You are a manager or employee of an employee benefits operation that is part of a larger property and casualty (P&C) firm. Your operation may employ between 15% and 30% of the staff yet can generate upwards of 50% of the total agency revenue....

Deal Makers.
July 1, 2004... * Marsh & McLennan Cos. will combine the defined contribution administration businesses of its Putnam Investments and Mercer HR Outsourcing subsidiaries to create a larger HR outsourcing organization. The newly created business will offer its...

E-Newsletter - Digest.(health savings accounts)
July 1, 2004... High-deductible plans will be called such under state mandates Good news for brokers looking to move health savings accounts (HSAs) to small businesses. The June 9 edition of the Federal Register featured U.S. Treasury Dept. guidance that...