Employee Benefit Adviser articles from March 2009

Employee Benefit Adviser archives from March 2009

On the lookout for back-office brilliance.(From The Editor)
March 1, 2009... Byline: Robert Whiddon, Editor-In-Chief I'm speaking figuratively when I say whiplash, of course. The cover nicely captures this month's article on how two brothers (actually, there is a third though he didn't make the article) hope to...

Multi-year strategic benefits planning catches on with advisers and employers.(Your Business)
March 1, 2009... Byline: Robert L. Whiddon More and more benefits professionals - both advisers and clients - are investigating multi-year benefits planning as a strategy to better accomplish their goals and objectives. There are a variety of reasons why...

The stimulus package: a proper start for health care reform?(Movers & Shakers)(Interview)
March 1, 2009... Byline: Elizabeth Galentine As the economic stimulus package President Barack Obama calls "a down payment on America's future" moved its way from the House of Representatives to the Senate for their approval, EBA spoke with Jim Klein, a...

Success with CDHPs comes from understanding employer objectives.(Sales Call)(Conference notes)
March 1, 2009... Byline: Mel Schlesinger Recently, I was on a call talking about the agenda for a national industry conference. One participant made the comment that we did not need another "how to" presentation on selling CDHPs, given that most of the...

With the right tools, adviser success becomes more science than art.(Tips on Technology)
March 1, 2009... Byline: Rob Nielsen In work, as in life, we need goals. If we don't have a goal, if we don't have direction, where are we going? Even if we have a goal, without a plan, what chance do we have of arriving where we want to be? As we...

Online cafA[c] aims to help advisers get comfortable with LTC.(Tips on Technology)(long term care)
March 1, 2009... Byline: Editorial Staff There's a new space on the Web for LTC professionals to get together. LTCi CafA[c] may not offer lattes and cappuccinos, but SellingLTC.com wants the newest section of their Web site to be a gathering place for...

Consultative selling is dead.(Be Advised)
March 1, 2009... Byline: Craig J. Davidson Consultative selling is dead. Don't believe me? Let's walk through the process. You visit a prospect and give them your card, noting that you are a benefits consultant or something similar. You ask your diagnostic...

Enough with the gloom, it is time to get fired up.(Sound Off)(Column)
March 1, 2009... Byline: Michelle McMullen I don't know about you, but I think I've turned the corner on this whole recession thing. It's clear that it's here, that it's not going to change for the foreseeable future, and that everyone is impacted. So we...

What's Fresh on EBA's Raw Bar.(Sound Off)(Employee Benefit Adviser)(Brief article)
March 1, 2009... Check out who we've been talking to online. Visit eba.benefitnews.com/podcasts. Todd Feinman of Identity Finder Advisers are familiar with identity theft products as an employee benefit, but what about your firm? How are you protecting...

Front and Center; Move over health care the brothers Alfred aim to equip retirement plan participants with just the kind of tools and information that the CDH movement has been hungering for for years.(Cover Story)
March 1, 2009... Byline: Robert L. Whiddon, Photographer Lou Mora What a difference a historic economic crisis can make. For years now, health care has dominated the employee benefits conversation. And for good reason, the cost escalation has been...

Media trends benefits every professional should understand.(Feature Story)
March 1, 2009... Byline: Jennifer Benz, illustration By Michael stone New technology and a new digital experience are changing expectations for how, why and when people receive information. You might be able to argue that they are changing how we think. The...

EAPs can help stressed-out workers, but they are not miracle benefits; Many employers have such programs but whether workers no about them is another story.(Health)
March 1, 2009... Byline: Robert L. Whiddon The headlines are horrific and familiar. A recent one tells of how a father of five is believed to have murdered his family and taken his own life after losing his job, and his ability to comprehend how he would...

What you need to know about using incentives to change employee behavior.(Health)
March 1, 2009... Byline: Thomas Parry For decades, employers have offered medical benefits to help attract and retain skilled employees. Now, they show growing interest in the health-related productivity effects of their benefits programs. It's not just...

Ever-worsening economic crisis puts stable-value funds on shaky ground.(Retirement)
March 1, 2009... Byline: Gary Mink Remember the days when employees sat down with their HR/benefits representative to decide which of the available investment funds to include in a 401(k) retirement portfolio? One fund looked like a sure thing -...

DC overtakes DB.(Retirement)
March 1, 2009... Byline: Editorial Staff It's too soon to know where the current economic crisis will rank in the history of recessions, but a recent study by the Employee Benefit Research Institute confirms one thing for sure: The stock market slide is...

Economic woe should spur advisers to branch out.(Retirement)
March 1, 2009... Byline: Fred Barstein When the only businesses that are doing well are outsourcing and placement services, you know that times are tough. Even employment benefits and retirement advisers who might have thought they would be relatively...

Narrowing the knowledge gap.(Voluntary)
March 1, 2009... Byline: Elizabeth Galentine As companies continue to downsize their comprehensive benefits packages and the resulting gaps in health care coverage grow wider, a proactive broker will often advise customers to fill those gaps with voluntary...

Volatile market jostles permanent life's place on the voluntary menu.(Voluntary)
March 1, 2009... Byline: Elizabeth Galentine There's not much love for voluntary permanent life insurance policies these days. While interest in the product depends on the audience (age being a top determining factor), brokers say the average employee...

Be more influential.(Your Business)(customer relationship management)
March 1, 2009... Byline: Jack Kwicien The first quarter is racing to a close and your firm has likely finalized your beginning of year renewals. So that wraps up your 2008 business loose ends. So what about 2009? We recently kicked off a new series of...