Employee Benefit Adviser articles from June 2007

Employee Benefit Adviser archives from June 2007

Your mission if you choose to accept it: Employers need help with onsite clinics.
June 1, 2007... Worksite health centers have been around for a while, but for the most part they've been a solution that employers find on their own. Clinics are no longer just for industrial workplaces and they don't just handle occupational health and flu...

Opportunity is knocking, softly: 401(k) record keeper change continues to lag.
June 1, 2007... In case you haven't noticed, 401(k) plan sponsors don't like changing record keepers. Never did and probably never will. While plans started moving in September 2003 as the market improved and the fund scandals hit, the percentage of plans...

The other half of the equation: Annuities offer tool to deal with post-accumulation period.
June 1, 2007... Defined contribution plans, once historically viewed as supplements to defined benefit plans, are now the focus of the retirement funding solution. Unlike defined benefit plans, which provide a guaranteed lifetime benefit, DC plans provide an...

Answering the call: A "by the numbers" approach to telemedicine.
June 1, 2007... Employers seeking new programs to improve care delivery and cut costs are considering - or reconsidering - telephone medical consults. Here are some general guidelines for advisers investigating how and why telemedicine might work for their...

The urge to merge: Personalities, not valuations, kill most business marriages.
June 1, 2007... In this multi-part series, we have been talking about the various issues to be considered when contemplating a merger. High on everyone's list of questions in any transaction is: what is the price? The more important question is: what are...

Minding the mission: Survey shows planning pays off for health care advisers.
June 1, 2007... A funny thing happens when employers and their benefit advisers take the time to map out just what it is they are trying to accomplish with the company's health plan. They save money. At least that's what Hewitt's latest annual survey...

Dealmakers.
June 1, 2007... * More big brokers might go PE route. Investment banking firm says more private equity buyouts of major insurance brokers could follow Hub's recent announcement. They won't be as lucrative for shareholders, though. While Hub stockholders...

A whole new ball game: Joe Purisky goes to bat for voluntary benefit advisers looking to expand their business.
June 1, 2007... Babe Ruth once said, "Yesterday's home runs don't win today's games," and the same rings true in the benefits industry. As the industry adjusts to changes in the major medical market, advisers see voluntary as the place to be. Unfortunately,...

Linking 401(k) plan behavior to employee performance reviews.
June 1, 2007... Twenty-five years ago, when I began my career as a retirement planning professional, I would get a predictable reaction from human resources and benefits executives to my suggestion that they provide financial education and counseling to their...

The low down on the spend down.
June 1, 2007... Everywhere I go people are talking about the spend down - how people will manage their money once they retire. In just the past week I've spoken with several people - many of them attendees of the Investment Company Institute's annual...

Laser Vision: Programs help advisers, clients laser in on thehealth benefits of a good.
June 1, 2007... Get a vision benefit conversation started with your average broker and materials costs and trading dollars for lenses about sum up the dialog. This regularly happens despite the fact that for years experts have detailed the broad salutary...

As employer interest grows, so too should advisers' knowledge.
June 1, 2007... As employers start to better appreciate the value of a good vision benefit, advisers must become more adept at evaluating carriers for their clients. Here are 10 questions Optometrist Paula Newsome, president of Advantage Vision Center, in...

Ask the Coach: Tips and tactics for managing the gatekeeper.(Interview)
June 1, 2007... Editor's note: Sales guru Mel Schlesinger returns to the "Ask the Coach" format to help Stan vault the dreaded gatekeeper. Mel, I have read your articles on telemarketing but you have not provided a strategy for getting through the...

Employee Benefit Adviser of the Year.
June 1, 2007... EBA is now accepting nominations for the first annual Employee Benefit Adviser of the Year Award. The competition is open to benefit brokers, advisers and consultants. Nominate yourself or a colleague using our nomination form online at...

Others think Corporate Synergies is playing hardball, too.
June 1, 2007... Our first letter is from a reader reacting to our discussion of the Mount Laurel, N.J.-based adviser from April's Sales Call department. Also, brokers are encouraged to know their stuff when they are talking about wellness with their clients....

Risky business: Jacob Hacker talks about how recent risk transfers imperil America's famed middle class.
June 1, 2007... Many Americans appear to be doing fine. They've got nice cars. They've got good jobs. They've got families. But they also have an abysmal savings profile and mountains of debt. The slightest disruption - a job loss or health incident - can and...

Dow dishes on how advisers can improve health outcomes.
June 1, 2007... The aggressive components of Dow Chemical's wellness strategy are not only improving the company's corporate culture, but also its bottom line. Now, the company is part of an initiative to determine what specific wellness efforts do the most to...

Blogging and employers' rights, as if there weren't enough to fret about.
June 1, 2007... Like it or not, the phenomenon of blogging has become a means of communication that has changed the way people express themselves. To date there are over 71 million active blogs. Probably not since the mid 1400's has a communication medium had...

Defender of the blog.
June 1, 2007... While most advisers have little interest in reading blogs or writing their own, one consultant says advisers are missing out on a innovative business strategy. In addition to being a proponent of onsite clinic consulting (see "Employers need...