Employee Benefit Adviser articles from September 2006

Employee Benefit Adviser archives from September 2006

In confusion there is profit.
September 1, 2006... They stopped and smelled the roses at the White House a few weeks ago as President Bush signed the bipartisan Pension Protection Act of 2006. Certainly many advisers have been pouring over the law since it was enacted, but if you are still...

Custom funds become next generation of lifecycle products.
September 1, 2006... Lifecycle funds, consisting of a portfolio that gradually changes over time targeted to the participant's date of retirement, remain a hot product for plan sponsors. However, there is an even newer option that is generating buzz among both...

Variable annuities in 401(k)s confront cost concerns.
September 1, 2006... Insurance companies are rolling out variable annuity investment products that provide guaranteed retirement income for 401(k) plan participants. Unlike mutual fund 401(k) investment options, these products are designed to protect against...

CDH popularity coincides with insurance rate dip.
September 1, 2006... A new survey from Milliman indicates the lowest health insurance rate increase in seven years, the fourth year in a row the rate of increase has declined. Actuaries estimate that health care costs are continuing to soar, however, and that more...

Cross-selling is the secret to boosting business persistency.
September 1, 2006... We have been discussing what you as the owner of an agency, brokerage, TPA, or enrollment firm can do to increase the value of your business. We realize you may not be ready to sell your business today. But perhaps you and your partners are at...

The measure of the movement: Several years into the movement, most consumers find CDH an ill-fit.(consumer-driven health)
September 1, 2006... Why aren't we further along in the consumer-driven health movement? Some say it is too soon to grade the industry on its decision to reverse course from two decades ago and put America's health care consumers center stage in the national debate...

Risk aversions: Long-term effects of CDH could cut productivity, increase workers' comp fraud.
September 1, 2006... Risk management experts say the broad-based shift of medical cost and responsibilities to workers through consumer-driven health might increase the risk of workers' compensation fraud and lost productivity. It's not something that many...

Popular equity-based compensation practices cannot elude 409A.(Frank Palmieri)(Palmieri & Eisenberg)(Interview)
September 1, 2006... In Part I of this series, in the July issue of EBA, we interviewed attorney Frank Palmieri, of Palmieri & Eisenberg, for background information on the general rules under Section 409A and their impact on nonqualified deferred compensation...

Can Internet radio cure the American consumer's health care ignorance?
September 1, 2006... Unfamiliar with MySpace and YouTube? You're not alone. However some of your colleagues and competitors are up on the latest communication technologies and Internet properties, and they are using them to their advantage. Whether it's Sharon Alt...

Benefits tag team: Benefits manager, adviser make an award-winning pair.
September 1, 2006... If there's such a thing as benefits mojo, Karrie Andes and Yvonne Waterman have it. As HR director at Deffenbaugh Industries, a Shawnee Mission, Kan.-based waste management company, Karrie Andes has successfully recruited and retained...

Just Rewards.(Principal Financial group)(New York Life Insurance Co.)(Mercer Human Resource Consulting L.L.C.)(Accenture Ltd.)
September 1, 2006... * Principal tops voluntary benefit sales growth. Eastbridge Consulting says Principal Financial group had the largest percentage increase in voluntary sales over the last three years amongst carriers with more than $25 million in sales in 2005....

Carrier continues to strengthen agents' abilities in women's markets.
September 1, 2006... Continuing a four-year strategic build-up, MassMutual just added a four-part seminar for its captive agent force that details successful selling to women. If the carrier is right, its gender focus could give agents a leg up in the competition...

Could what you think you know hurt you?
September 1, 2006... Health care is big business. Estimates say Americans spend more than $2 trillion a year on it. It's also a hotbed of entrepreneurial activity. It's an investor's playground. Advisers, especially those that focus on health benefits, also...

Dealmakers.
September 1, 2006... * Senior Health Care Consultants partners with Pyramid Life. Medicare products are Pyramid's long suit and SHC hopes that means a greater portion of the baby boomer market. "I find Pyramid Life to be a perfect fit... with [our] goals of...

Consumer-driven health care: What's it going take for this "silver bullet" to find its mark?
September 1, 2006... As employers ask brokers to ease rising health insurance costs, one answer is crisscrossing the country: consumer driven healthcare. Is this the silver bullet the industry has been searching for? The "big idea" behind CDH is increased...