IS THE BENEFITS GLASS HALF-FULL OR HALF-EMPTY?    Benefits brokers must forge strategic ties to HR departments I am going to say right up front, the opportunities on the benefits side of the insurance business have never been greater. Unfortunately, not every agency will survive to take advantage of those opportunities. Every week, I speak with many agencies. Not surprisingly, I get asked a lot of questions about the future of health care. • What exactly does it mean now that health care reform is a reality? • What does it mean for the country, the industry, our clients, and, of course, for us? • Is it going to put us out of the benefits business? My answer is, "It depends." It depends on many different factors. Just because the legislation has been passed, the true impact cannot yet be predicted. However, health care reform isn’t the only issue impacting our future on the benefits side of our industry. The other—what HR will look like after the recession—is also going to have a significant impact on our future. Regardless of which of these issues you see as most pressing, the key is to take control and start preparing to play a new role with your clients. Click here for the complete article …

TWO-PRONGED APPROACH    From its inception, MHBT has offered P-C as well as benefits to its clients It's a cowboy movie staple: the two-gun kid eyes the villain and prepares to draw both six-shooters at the bad guy's first move. The results are always explosive-and heroic. The stereotype is a little silly, but still applies to McQueary Henry Bowles Troy LLP (MHBT), a Dallas-based independent agency that has been outgunning the competition with a sophisticated approach to employee benefits management to match the firepower of its property/casualty insurance expertise. Established in 1996 through a series of mergers, MHBT has branch offices in Austin and Fort Worth. The agency originally operated as a property/casualty risk management specialist; but from the start, the agency leadership had its eyes on the burgeoning employee benefits market. The new agency quickly began to acquire employee benefits expertise in its client services operations and started to retool its producer force, requiring that producers be licensed in both property/casualty insurance and employee benefits, explains Chief Operating Officer Carla Sans. Click here for the complete article …

SMALL BUSINESSES - BIG BUSINESS    Improving economy bodes well for employee benefits Small is beautiful. And small businesses are often beautiful clients for independent agents and brokers that specialize in providing personal service to business owners. Their business risks are often narrowly defined and easily quantified and measured. But on the other side of the insurance spectrum, small businesses often pose challenging employee benefits problems; and, as health reform takes hold, ugly days may be ahead for employees, employers and their insurance advisors. Small businesses have never had it easy when designing effective employee benefits programs. While they may have smaller payrolls, they have all of the human resource needs of larger companies. They need to recruit and retain employees who can compete with bigger organizations and compensate them with comparable salaries and benefits. They need to manage health care costs that can escalate rapidly, affected by just one or two large health claims in a policy year. Click here for the complete article … THE "SUNNY" SIDE OF BENEFITS    Sun Life Financial partners with agents to deliver benefits choices at the workplace In a still struggling economy, with health care costs rising relentlessly and many employers forced to cut group health benefits, a welcome bright spot is the growing popularity and availability of so-called voluntary benefits. With most or all of the cost paid by employees via payroll deduction, employers can reduce expenses while their employees enjoy the flexibility of selecting insurance options that suit their needs and lifestyle. A leader in the expanding market for voluntary benefits is Sun Life Financial, Inc., an insurance and financial services organization with operations in the United States, Canada, and numerous overseas locations. With a solid 145-year history and an A+ Best's rating, Sun Life is among the top 10 employee benefits providers in the United States, and it works with agents and brokers throughout the country to design and implement both employer-paid and voluntary benefits programs. Click here for the complete article …

A PASSION FOR WELLNESS

Agency executive sees wellness as more than a business driver--"it's the right thing to do"

Five years ago Neace Lukens, a Louisville-based regional insurance broker with 500 employees, was deriving about 10% of its revenues from employee benefits business. Today that percentage stands at around 25%. One of drivers of that growth was an acquisition in 2007 of an Indianapolis employee benefits consulting firm headed by Mike Campbell. Campbell brought to Neace Lukens not only his benefits consulting clients but an expertise in developing wellness programs. He has been a national speaker on wellness for 20 years, and is currently serving as president of the Wellness Council of Indiana. As managing partner, health and productivity for Neace Lukens, he is able to promote wellness to both P-C and employee benefits clients. Click here for the complete article …