Employee Benefit Adviser articles from September 2003

Employee Benefit Adviser archives from September 2003

Making the connection creates add-on sales.
September 1, 2003... The ability to see the connection between employee benefit products is a great way to build your business. And fortunately for broker-advisers, those connections are becoming stronger and more apparent all the time. Example: Say you've...

Voluntary benefits make steady inroads.
September 1, 2003... Worksite marketing continues to play a major role in businesses' benefit offerings, with almost two-thirds of employers offering at least one voluntary benefit and more small firms dipping their toes in the voluntary pool. In fact, LIMRA...

Cost control quest leads to disease management.
September 1, 2003... Because health care cost control has become clients' Holy Grail, sales opportunities are falling to advisers with products that help employers on their quest. And along the way, many companies are finding disease management to be a godsend. ...

Legal plans make a name for identity theft coverage.
September 1, 2003... Legal plans have responded to the national epidemic of identity theft, and they are trying to create market awareness of their employee benefit protections. Within the past year, Pre-Paid Legal Service Inc., Lawphone and ARAG Group have...

As benefit costs surge, employers.
September 1, 2003... Total compensation costs for civilian workers inched up 0.9% in the second quarter as benefit costs increased 1.4%, substantially outpacing the 0.6% quarterly rise in wages and salaries, according to the latest Employment Cost Index (ECI)...

Web platform helps brokers serve small plan sponsors.
September 1, 2003... Many, if not most, brokers will tell you that 80% of your revenue will come from the top 20% of your clients. That leaves the other 80% of your clientele, many of whom not only bring in less money, but also require much more maintenance....

Medicare Rx benefit would spur need for brokers.
September 1, 2003... Brokers will play an important role in helping clients coordinate retiree health benefits if Congressional negotiators agree on new Medicare prescription drug benefits. Observers representing underwriters, brokers and employers anxiously...

Embracing technology: Brokers need to get with the program on self-service,.
September 1, 2003... Like all good businesspeople, brokers put a premium on their relationships with clients. But in the Internet age, the sharpest also realize that even with a good product, a smile and a firm handshake, you need something more to close a deal....

After the hype: Will the real Internet please stand up?
September 1, 2003... All major technology advances go through three stages - exhilaration, disillusionment and rebirth. The Internet, and its impact on all areas of commerce, including the distribution of health insurance through independent producers, has clearly...

Carriers cooperate on crossover sales pacts.
September 1, 2003... Creative sales and marketing deals struck by top insurance companies this summer are redefining several competitive and international boundaries. In one instance, Mutual of Omaha and American Fidelity Assurance Co. negotiated a product...

Technology improves producer-client contacts.(Daymark Capital Advisors)
September 1, 2003... Brokers and worksite marketers need to embrace the trends toward more pervasive technology and older workforces in order to increase their sales, according to one prominent consultant. Jack Kwicien, founder and former president of benefits...

Seven secrets of a successful benefits adviser.
September 1, 2003... Feel like everybody else is closing business but you? Does it seem like everyone has a magic formula but you? You lament, "if only I was with the right agency, or if only I had gone to that expensive sales class," or whatever excuses you might...

Errors abound in insurers' online provider directories.(Brief Article)
September 1, 2003... While the convenience and acceptance of online health care provider directories is unquestioned, their accuracy is somewhat dubious, reports show. A 2002 study by research group The Commonwealth Fund that analyzed 40 directory sites finds...

BenefitNews.com Adviser.
September 1, 2003... Ohio insurer targets depression, comorbidities In the latest initiative to take on a disease affecting some 20 million Americans and costing U.S. employers $44 billion a year, an Ohio insurer Medical Mutual of Ohio has launched a new...

BenefitNews.com Connect.
September 1, 2003... Study finds disability sales surpass life insurance For the first time ever, disability product sales last year overtook life insurance sales, increasing 35% since 2001, according to a recent study of worksite marketing carriers. ...